Pandemonium and Parade Pandemonium and Parade Japanese Monsters and the Culture of YOkai Michael Dylan Foster UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley . Los Angeles . London University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. Frontispiece and title-page art: Details from Kawanabe KyOsai, HyakkiyagyO-zu: Biwa o ou otoko, c. 1879. Ink and color on paper. © Copyright the Trustees of The British Museum. Excerpt from Molloy, by Samuel Beckett, copyright © 1955 by Grove Press, Inc. Used by permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc., and Faber and Faber Ltd., © The Estate of Samuel Beckett. An earlier version of chapter 3 appeared as Michael Dylan Foster, “Strange Games and Enchanted Science: The Mystery of Kokkuri,” Journal of Asian Studies 65, no. 2 (May 2006): 251–75, © 2006 by the Associ- ation for Asian Studies, Inc. Reprinted with permission. Some material from chapter 5 has appeared previously in Michael Dylan Foster, “The Question of the Slit-Mouthed Woman: Contemporary Legend, the Beauty Industry, and Women’s Weekly Magazines in Japan,” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 32, no. 3 (Spring 2007): 699–726, © 2007 by The University of Chicago. Parts of chapter 5 have also appeared in Michael Dylan Foster, “The Otherworlds of Mizuki Shigeru,” in Mechademia, vol. 3, Limits of the Human, ed. Frenchy Lunning (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008). University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2009 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Foster, Michael Dylan, 1965–. Pandemonium and parade : Japanese monsters and the culture of yOkai / Michael Dylan Foster. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-520-25361-2 (cloth : alk. paper)— isbn 978-0-520-25362-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Japan—Folklore. 2. Animals, mythical—Japan. 3. Supernatural. 4. Spirits. I. Title. gr340.f67 2009 398'.450952—dc22 2007050923 Manufactured in the United States of America 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 10 987654321 This book is printed on Natures Book, which contains 30% post-consumer waste and meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper). To my parents, Joan and Jerry Foster This page is intentionally left blank And in spite of all the pains I had lavished on these problems, I was more than ever stupefied by the complexity of this innumerable dance, involving doubtless other determinants of which I had not the slightest idea. And I said, with rapture, Here is something I can study all my life, and never understand. Samuel Beckett This page is intentionally left blank Contents List of Illustrations xi Acknowledgments xiii Note on Japanese Names and Terms xvii 1. Introduction to the Weird 1 2. Natural History of the Weird: Encyclopedias, Spooky Stories, and the Bestiaries of Toriyama Sekien 30 3. Science of the Weird: Inoue EnryO, Kokkuri, and Human Electricity 77 4. Museum of the Weird: Modernity, Minzokugaku, and the Discovery of YOkai 115 5. Media of the Weird: Mizuki Shigeru and Kuchi-sake-onna 160 6. YOkai Culture: Past, Present, Future 204 Notes 217 Bibliography 259 Index 277 This page is intentionally left blank Illustrations 1. Kitsune and tanuki from the KinmOzui 37 2. Mikoshi-ny[dO from the Wakan sansaizue 44 3. MOryO from the Wakan sansaizue 45 4. KawatarO from the Wakan sansaizue 47 5. Kappa from Gazu hyakkiyagyO, by Toriyama Sekien 58 6. Tanuki from Gazu hyakkiyagyO, by Toriyama Sekien 59 7. Mikoshi from Gazu hyakkiyagyO, by Toriyama Sekien 60 8. Ubume from Gazu hyakkiyagyO, by Toriyama Sekien 61 9. Yanari from Gazu hyakkiyagyO, by Toriyama Sekien 63 10. MOryO from Konjaku gazu zoku hyakki, by Toriyama Sekien 64 11. Mokumokuren from Konjaku hyakki sh[i, by Toriyama Sekien 67 12. Himamushi-ny[dO from Konjaku hyakki sh[i, by Toriyama Sekien 68 13. Hemamushi-ny[dO 69 14. Photograph of Kokkuri from a 1912 book on hypnotism 86 15. Westerners (?) play table-turning against a background haunted by fox spirits 94 16. KitarO with Medama-oyaji 167 17. Nurikabe, from Zusetsu Nihon yOkai taizen, by Mizuki Shigeru 168 18. TenjO-name, from Hyakki tsurezure bukuro, by Toriyama Sekien 172 19. Nonnonb1 explaining about tenjO-name 175 20. Mizuki’s rendition of Kuchi-sake-onna 190 xi This page is intentionally left blank Acknowledgments For a book concerned with listing, naming, and classifying, it is appro- priate to begin with a list of names, variously classified, of the individ- uals and institutions to whom I owe thanks. There are many of them. Without a doubt, the first person on such a list must be Susan Matisoff, who was not only a wonderful mentor throughout my graduate studies at Stanford University, but who also generously continued to provide per- spicacious guidance—both intellectual and practical—as this book grad- ually took form. I also owe a great debt of gratitude to Tom Hare and Jim Reichert for their keen insight, advice, and unstinting encouragement. Similarly, Bernard Faure and Miyako Inoue both inspired me with their inquisitive minds and scholarly passion. In Japan I had the distinct honor of receiving guidance for a short period from the late Miyata Noboru, a scholar whose erudition was matched only by his magnanimity and eclectic sense of humor. My deep- est appreciation goes to Komma TOru of Kanagawa University, whose piercing creativity challenged me to look harder not only at my own project but also at all cultural processes and human communities. I am also profoundly indebted to Komatsu Kazuhiko of the International Re- search Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken) in Kyoto. Professor Ko- matsu inspired me constantly with his critical eye, his boundless curi- osity, and his ability to cross and combine disciplines. He also generously provided me extended access to the resources of Nichibunken and to his “yOkai workshops,” where I met scholars and writers who greatly in- xiii xiv Acknowledgments fluenced the direction of my work. In particular, I thank Jutta Hausser, Manabe Masayoshi, Takahara Toyoaki, Takeda Masaya, Tsunemitsu TOru,Yamaguchi Masao, andYasui Manami. I also extend special thanks to Ichiyanagi Hirotaka of Yokohama National University for his re- freshing sensibilities and warm guidance. My project benefited immensely from discussions with members of the Shingetsukai at Kanagawa University and the Chiba University Cryptozoological Association. I particularly thank Ariga Takashi for many exhilarating hours of perceptive humor and imaginative thinking. Although research I conducted on the island of Shimokoshiki-jima in Kagoshima Prefecture ultimately made no direct appearance in the pages that follow, in subtle ways the island is a presence in this text. I am es- pecially grateful for the lasting friendship of Ozaki Takakazu, Shirasaki Hiroki, Hironiwa Yoshitatsu, and their families. For research in Japan from 1999–2001, I was generously funded by a fellowship from the Fulbright Foundation, and while writing my dis- sertation I received financial support from the Department of Asian Lan- guages, Institute for International Studies, and the Center for East Asian Studies, all at Stanford University. The munificence of the Geballe Dis- sertation Fellowship provided me a year at the Stanford Humanities Cen- ter, where my project benefited immensely from the critical insight of the other fellows, especially Michael Saler, Ethan Segal, and Jason Weems. As the dissertation developed into a book, my colleagues in the Depart- ment of Comparative Literature and Foreign Languages at the Univer- sity of California, Riverside, supported me enthusiastically; I am partic- ularly grateful to Sabine Doran, John Kim, Mariam Lam, Mimi Long, Henk Maier, Thomas Scanlon, and Dawn Whelchel. At UCR, I also ben- efited greatly from two quarters at the Center for Ideas and Society, and I thank my workshop colleagues there. In the final stages of the project, the Freeman Spogli Institute for In- ternational Studies at Stanford University generously provided me with financial support and time away from teaching. I am indebted to Anne Allison for her thoughtful guidance as I sought a publisher, and Kären Wigen who shared her time, wisdom, and brilliant editing skills. At the University of California Press, two anonymous readers provided invalu- able suggestions, and Reed Malcolm, Kalicia Pivirotto, Jacqueline Volin, and Bonita Hurd patiently and intelligently transformed my manuscript into a book. It would be impossible to mention all the many others who showed support along the way, but my appreciation especially goes to Susan Acknowledgments xv Antebi, Ann Ayton, Christopher Bolton, Suzy Cincone, John Clayton, Claire Cuccio, Lisa Dipko, Adam Foster, Mark Gibeau, Hank Glassman, Gunji Satoshi, Hashimoto Hiroyuki, Kanazawa Kodama, John Katz, An- nette Keogh, Naomi Kotake, Shu Kuge, Dylar Kumax, Kurihara Naohiro, Michele Mason, Miri Nakamura, Sayuri Oyama, Elizabeth Oyler, Kanni- kar Sartraproong, Shibuya YOichi, Roberta Strippoli, Suzuki Ken’ichirO, TakeuchiYuka, TateokaYOko, Kenji Tierney, Robert Tierney, and Leslie Winston. The ideas in the pages that follow were also shaped by innu- merable encounters with individuals in big cities, tiny towns, restaurants, bars, buses, and trains—all those people, friends and strangers alike, who shared their thoughts and experiences made this book possible, though the responsibility for any errors rests solely with me. My profound gratitude goes also to my family. The Suzukis, Tatsuo and Yumi, welcomed me into their home for many an evening of culi- nary enchantment and calm, insightful conversation. As for my parents, Joan and Jerry Foster, any words here can but dimly reflect my appreci- ation for years of patient support.