5 places to find strange and scary Japanese ghost stories

If you’re a fan of spooky Japanese mythology and folk tales (kaidan), then you probably know a few Japanese ghost stories and yokai (an umbrella term for Japanese monsters, demons, and supernatural creatures of every weird and wonderful kind). I adore yokai and the folklore that accompanies them, hence their appearance in my books. If [...]

Read Full Post »

Quick quiz: Is your persimmon haunted?

Ever thought you might like to munch a chocolate bar instead of an apple? Prefer to eat banana cake and not bananas? Well, you’re probably wise. Fruit can be dangerous for your health! Take the persimmon, for example. Persimmons are shiny orange fruit full of vitamin C and calcium and iron and lots of other [...]

Read Full Post »

4 ways to recognise a Japanese iso-onna vampire

Introducing the aquatic vampire: iso-onna… The iso onna (磯女 or ‘beach rock woman’) is a super-scary Japanese yokai found in fishing villages all over Japan. She has many different names, and all of them seem friendly enough: – iso onago = rock girl – umi onna = ocean woman – umi hime = ocean princess [...]

Read Full Post »

You’ve heard of the headless horseman? How about the headless horse?

You’ve heard of the headless horseman, right? He’s a famous legend that grew from a character in a story published in America nearly 100 years ago. But…have you heard of the headless horse? The headless horse is the favourite method of transport for a Japanese ogre called Mr Yagyo, or Yagyo-san. Introducing Yagyo-san Mr Yagyo [...]

Read Full Post »

More top teaching resources from the Dept of Education and Hyogo Centre’s Year 9 Japanese workshops

This month I’ve been working with the team at the Hyogo Prefectural Government Cultural Centre on some workshops for Year 9 students of Japanese. The workshops were great fun and involved: – lots of useful Japanese, – some spooky Japanese art and culture (thanks to the Art Speaks Japanese language resource kit from the Japan [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

The Filth Licker on Facebook! Share your akaname and yokai links…

Hooray! Takeshita Demons: The Filth Licker is published today in the UK!! Have you got your copy?   LIKE ME! LIKE ME! Any yokai or monster trivia you want to share? Any cool filth-licker links to pass on? Check out the Filth Licker on Facebook (http://on.fb.me/filthlicker) and add your questions and cool demon facts to [...]

Read Full Post »

8 signs that your snail is an ogre: Sazae-oni revealed

Ever squashed a snail in the street? Ever eaten a snail, albeit with French cheese? Ever filled an icecream container with snails, painted their shells different colours using your new set of textas, then raced them all afternoon? (OK, so maybe this last one is just me and my sisters, but still…) Ever wondered what [...]

Read Full Post »

What colour were yōkai demons? Download colouring-in sheets

The Takeshita Demons books feature Japanese monsters and demons, called yōkai (or youkai). Many yōkai were first drawn by Toriyama Sekien, a Japanese artist who lived in the 1700s. These colouring-in sheets feature his original drawings. Head to the resources section of my website to download PDFs for these activities. A kappa is a water-loving [...]

Read Full Post »

Japanese yokai memory game: test your memory, learn some Japanese and spook yourself out!

Want to hunt some yokai? You’ve come to the right place! I’ve posted a new game on my website: It’s a ‘match-the-pairs’ challenge that uses the artwork of Toriyama Sekien. Sekien is famous for his early depictions of Japanese monsters, better known as yokai. HOW TO PLAY It’s simple! Use your mouse to click on [...]

Read Full Post »