Abstract

This book will decipher the reality of the "inhuman things" or "unnatural beings" that people in ancient times feared and worshipped, such as gods, spirits, invisible things like demons and tengu, and animals with spiritual powers like foxes and snakes. Were gods and demons originally one and the same being? Did tengu originate from shooting stars? The twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac had nothing to do with animals? The origins and history of the unnatural beings and their relationship to people's lives are explored from a folkloric perspective.

Author’s Information

Itsuki Asazato（朝里 樹）. Born in Hokkaido, Japan in 1990, he graduated from Hosei University in 2014 with a BA in Japanese Literature. He majored in Japanese Literature. While working as a public servant, he independently collects and researches unnatural phenomena and ghosts. He is the author of "Nihon gendai kaii jiten (Japanese modern ghosts encyclopedia)" , "Nihon no okashi no gendai yokai zukan (Japansese strange modern ghosts picture book)" (Gentosha), "Nihon Gendai Kaii Jiten Hukudokuhon (Japanese modern ghosts encyclopedia supplementary reader)" (Kasama Shoin) and "Rekishi Jinbutsu Kaiidan jiten" (Dictionary of historical figures' ghosts stories)" (Gentosha).