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Miyoshi Mononoke Museum – Japan’s First Yokai Museum<\/h2>\n\n\n\n We’ve already established that yokai<\/em> are like monsters, but that definition is too narrow. Yokai <\/em>can be spirits, physical beasts, demons or gods, or even supernatural phenomena. Some yokai <\/em>are widely regarded as real, while others as just folklore. The popularity of yokai<\/em> exploded during the Edo Period, when illustrated stories, such as the famous “The Night Parade of 100 Demons<\/strong>” could be reproduced using woodblock printing in mass quantities. Interest in yokai faded during the Meiji Era, but was revived again in the 1960s by Mizuki Shigeru<\/strong>, a manga artist who drew on yokai <\/em>tales he learned as a child to create the popular manga series, “Gegege no Kitaro<\/strong>.” As recently as 2013, yokai <\/em>have continued to be popular among children in “Yokai Watch<\/strong>” video games and anime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/li> <\/figure><\/li> <\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMizuki Shigeru has his own museum in nearby Tottori Prefecture, but the yokai<\/em> museum here in Miyoshi is quite different. Known as the Miyoshi Mononoke Museum<\/strong> (mononoke <\/em>is another word for yokai)<\/em>, it consists of part of the collection of Yumoto Koichi<\/strong>, the former director of the Kawasaki City Museum, who is considered an authority of yokai<\/em> history. About 5,000 items in Yumoto’s collection are available to the museum and are rotated into the exhibits throughout the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/li> <\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAccording to Yumoto, it was “man’s fear of nature and anxieties that gave birth to the yokai.” Before electricity, people lived in a world of pitch-black nights; even corners of their homes that were unused were shrouded in darkness. Imaginations ran wild, and they began to see common household items come to life, stray cats become fire-breathing monsters, the dead returning as vengeful spirits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, it is no coincidence that Miyoshi was chosen as the city for the Mononoke Museum to be built. In the 18th century, a strange incident occurred here, during which a young samurai named Ino was visited by yokai<\/em> for 30 consecutive nights. The facts and embellishments of the story have long been blurred together, but it is a historical fact that the government banned tourists to Miyoshi for a period of time because of the sheer number of people who were showing up in this little town to find out what was happening. The centerpiece of the museum is the scroll that documents this local supernatural tale. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe museum itself is well thought out and interesting for people of all ages. Each section displays different ways people would recognize or imagine yokai<\/em> in their lives. Images of yokai<\/em> were carved into everyday items, woven into articles of clothing, or printed on game cards. There were even severed limbs of creatures purported to be yokai<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n