Japan Powered recounts one story about a curious thing that happened to a logger out in the forest: “One day a logger was going about his work. Since logging is an exhausting business, seeing as how this was Edo period Japan and the chainsaw hadn’t been invented yet, the man decides to take a short … More October Mythology Special: Jorogumo/Tsuchigumo and Indigenous History
Welcome back to another first impressions post. I didn’t get a chance to do one last season, mainly because there was really only one romance show that season worth talking about, Banana Fish. It seemed like a lot of other bloggers had that one covered so I figured I could skip the first impressions post. … More Fall 2018 Anime First Impressions
Welcome back to another installment of “Last Week in Geekdom” where I comb the internet for all the news you need to know so you don’t have to. The last week or so has been tough for me and I think I might be getting sick, so I’m sorry if I missed a few key … More Last Week in Geekdom – Your Weekly News Round-Up (10/15 – 10/21)
Never clip your nails at night. Make sure to hide your thumbs when a funeral procession goes by. Don’t whistle at night or you’ll invite a snake into your home. These are just a few of many superstitions that can be found in Japanese culture used to scare children into good behavior. Another common one … More October Mythology Special: Raiju/Raijin and the Superstitions around Belly Buttons
The creation of artificial human life has long been connected to alchemy and can be traced back to the first recorded recipe for creating a Homunculus in an Arabic work titled The Book of the Cow. So what does an aspiring alchemist need in order to create artificial life? Well, according to this book you’ll … More October Mythology Special: Homunculi and Alchemy
A.B. Mitford’s Tales of Old Japan has in it an enchanting story of a very particular wedding, a fox’s wedding. He tells of two young, white foxes here: “Now it happened that in a famous old family of foxes there was a beautiful young lady-fox, with such lovely fur that the fame of her jewel-like … More October Mythology Special: The Legends Surrounding Sun Showers
Welcome back to another installment of “Last Week in Geekdom” where I comb the internet for all the new you need to know so you don’t have to. I’m in the thick of researching for the rest of the month’s October Mythology Specials, so if you’d like me to talk about anything in particular, now’s … More Last Week in Geekdom – Your Weekly News Round-Up (10/8 – 10/14)
In Noriko Reider’s Japanese Demon Lore, she recounts one curious tale of an Oni: “Shuten Dōji, the chief of an oniband, lives on Mt.Ōe. During the reign of Emperor Ichijō, Shuten Dōjiand his oni band abduct people, particularly maidens, enslaving them and eventually feasting on their flesh and drinking their blood. The concerned emperor orders … More October Mythology Special: The Multifaceted Nature of Oni
This edition of October Mythology Special comes with a true story from a pretty famous mangaka: Mizuki Shigeru, the creator of GeGeGe no Kitaro. Everything is Scary recounts his story on their site: “In his historical memoir, Showa, Mizuki depicts an encounter that brought him incredibly close to the most senseless of all deaths. While … More October Mythology Special: Nurikabe (The Wall Yokai)
Welcome back to another installment of “Last Week in Geekdom” where I comb the internet for all the news you need to know so you don’t have to. The blog’s October Mythology Special is in full swing with three posts so far on the 100 Candles Ghost Game, Gremlins, and the legends of the Zashiki … More Last Week in Geekdom – Your Weekly News Round-Up (10/1 – 10/7)
Bloom Reviews 