Yokai by Aotoshi Matsui
Matthew Meyer, a former Philadelphian living in Echizen, Japan, is putting together a very interesting book. It’s called The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.
It’s a collection of 100 illustrations and descriptions of Yokai, supernatural beings from Japanese myth and folklore.
They appear as monsters, demons, shapeshifters, and/or just generally unpleasant creatures. From a metaphoric perspective, you might say they represent our shadow sides.
Yokai can be found everywhere in Japan, from beer labels, to store signs, to monastery statuary. Not unlike Tarot symbols, they’re so prevalent we hardly notice them unless we’re looking.
In the book, each illustration will be accompanied by a description of the habits and habitat of each Yokai, done in the style of a bestiary from the middle ages. The book is meant to be an art piece in itself.
Though there’s still almost two weeks left in his campaign, Meyer has already raised more than three times what he was looking for to fund the project.
But you might want to donate anyway. The perks include a copy of the book in either a digital version, paperback, or a limited edition hardback.
It’s sounds like it going be amazing. I wonder if he’s considered making it a deck of cards.
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