There’s a tanuki in the classroom! Japanese language learning and yokai demons

Creative language teaching ideas Today I was at the Hyogo Prefectural Cultural Government Centre as part of a series of workshops organised by Ms Yuko Fujimitsu, Japanese Language Advisor for the Department of Education as part of the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program (NALSSP). We worked with Year 9 students from three [...]

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Japanese ghost stories: of a mirror and a bell

Lafcadio Hearn, also known as Koizumi Yakumo, was a journalist best known for Kwaidan, his book of super-spooky Japanese ghost stories. Hearn’s ghost story “Of a mirror and a bell” appears in Kwaidan and is a spooky tale of curses and regret. “Of a mirror and a bell” is reproduced below… ENJOY! OF A MIRROR [...]

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Awesome fun with Kappa and Tanuki

Want to see just how ubiquitous yokai demons are in Japanese culture? Check out the awesome tanuki and kappa animations and resources the Tokyo-Mitsubishi bank put together as part of an advertising campaign for their DC card. The ads feature a shape-shifting tanuki and a (traditionally) blood-hungry kappa. And they’re very cute! (I can’t imagine [...]

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Before Ben 10, there was 弁天, and she’s actually a woman

Some of you might think Benten is a ten-year-old boy with an awesome watch and a habit of turning into alien creatures. Well, you’re half correct. Why only half? Because you’re missing out on the original Benten (弁天): For a start, Benten isn’t a boy, she’s a woman. And she’s around 1500 years old, not [...]

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Yokai featured in Takeshita Demons

Subarashii! Yabai! Takeshita Demons Things are going super-well for Takeshita Demons at the moment. The Filth Licker is ready for pre-order in the UK and Monster Matsuri is in its 50-millionth-draft-phase, so getting where I want it (YAY!). If you have read Takeshita Demons you will know that Miku Takeshita and her pal Cait run [...]

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IBBY review of Takeshita Demons:

…For full text of the review, please scroll to bottom of post… Thanks to the International Board on Books for Young People, or IBBY, and reviewer Anna Warren, for this ace review of Takeshita Demons. “…exactly the kind of story the children in my class would love…” “The pace is just right, and the language [...]

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Awesome kids site: Folk legends of Japan

I’ve just discovered a terrific site for kids (and big kids) interested in learning more about Japan: Kids Web Japan. There’s a cool section on Japanese folk tales, including the Tongue-cut Sparrow, The Mouse’s Wedding, and Japan’s tale of star-crossed lovers, Tanabata. Plus, of course, my favourite folktale: Momotaro, the story of a boy born [...]

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8 cool myths about dogs, and why the inugami dog-god didn’t make it

The Filth Licker is almost finished and I’m flat out researching for book 3 of the Takeshita Demons trilogy, Monster Matsuri. All this research reminded me: just because a book has a plan, doesn’t mean things always go to plan. A big example of this is the inugami. Inugami, exit stage left The Filth Licker [...]

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Ride on the yokai train? I’d be too scared!

BAKE-DEN NI NOTTE Ride the “Transforming Train” YOKAI SUTORITTO E! To Yokai Street! The awesome artwork on the left is part of a promo for the Bake-den, a train service in Kyoto that occasionally features some spooky Japanese monsters, or yokai. Bakeru is a verb meaning  “to transform” (pronounced BA as in BARber;  KE as [...]

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The JET program, budget cuts and Return On Investment

Yokozo Japan! I studied Japanese at high school, but my first trip to Japan was as part of the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, or JET, a huge international exchange program that now has 50,000 alumni around the world. I was a JET in Kawanishi (the town Miku Takeshita and her family come from ). [...]

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