The History of Yokai in Japan! - Gaijin Goombah

#GaijinGooombah #CultureShock #Yokai
Yokai are EVERYWHERE in games and anime. Mario, Pokemon, Digimon, Animal Crossing, Pocky and Rocky, Inuyasha are ALL homes to these curious Japanese folklore creatures. But what ARE yokai? Where did they come from, and what do they mean to Japan. Today we're breaking down the FULL history of yokai for the soft launch of our new series, Yokai Watchers!

Music by: Noteblock Remix!

Summon Animation by: Volta Bass
Sound Design by: Darkmoon

Intro, Background, and Sprite Assets by: TheGeckoNinja

[AkiterraVarlineau]

(points at video) My husband made this. I love him. (is a proud wife)

[masterexistence]

So basically:

Yokai are natural phenomena given form for the ancient Japanese as a way to explain the mysterious and unknown, but over time as the Japan got more advanced, one guy archived and explained all the mysterious phenomena and everyone’s perception of the phenomena changed. Another guy got interested in these personified phenomena and made stories with them, and then others made more and more until they eventually evolved into mascots for Japan’s past.

Or

Guy explains weird things, ruins everyone’s imagination, then other guy writes fanfics and reignites Japan’s imagination.

[Icalasari]

...Wait, Pokemon Trainer was essentially a _legitimate occupation_ once?

[stripeyghost]

That summoning animation was FREAKING AWESOME

[GaijinGoombah]

I will clarify for the sake of confusion that Lafcadio Hearn was actually born Greek/Irish, THEN moved to the U.S. Spent the majority of his adult life living and writing there, then finally settling in Japan where he now rests at Zoushigaya Cemetery.

[TheFoxofShadows]

As a personal lover of mythology, the Yokai and Kami share a lot in common with the legends of the various Fae of Celtic, Irish, and British folklore as well as similar folklore throughout Europe and Russia.

[kingkid]

Hot Damn that animation of lil G summoning and controlling his Shikigami! Awesome work as always Gaijin :)

[calimantis]

It was the Touhou Project that really got me interested in youkai and their origins interestingly enough. Creative liberties are taken with the various youkai that show up in the games, but they always more or less stay true to what they are and how they interact with the world they live in. Everything about the games, the characters and their origins have become something of one of the greatest loves of my life.

[heroever]

Yes more yokai I love this stuff keep it up man

[coloreddrops]

I am from Jpn. Thanx for posting this video.
Watching this video has become a great study for me, even Japanese.

[tinturnin]

WOW! These donuts are great!, Jelly filled are my favorite! **stares at rice balls**

[zeethezebra]

Despite the generic anime style, I learned the most about Yokai from Touhou. Most of the characters seem at least a little faithful to their Yokai inspiration.

[Flameblight]

So there's a theory I've had for a while now. People seem to think that yokai are a weird exclusively japanese thing but there actually is a very similar western concept.

Fairies. And I don't mean tinkerbell. I mean the broad, helpful, malicious, or just plain strange creatures that collectively go by The Fair Folk.

There are of course differences, but things like Banshee, Dullahan, Pixies, Goblins, Kelpies, and such have stories and natures behind them that would often fit right in with many yokai.

They were also used to explain strange and poorly understood things in nature and similarly feared and revered.

There's also the interesting similarities between The Hyakki Yakkou and The Wild Hunt.

That's not to take anything away from Yokai, but to me it seems like they might be distant kin of sorts born from the same questions and inevitable similarities of early rural human societies.

I personally find it an interesting topic to think about at any rate.

[LupineShadowOmega]

Personally, as a kid I always thought of the Yokai as a cultural counterpoint to the Fae. Both were mysterious creatures with really specific rules of conduct, and really capricious natures. Some are somewhat benevolent and others utterly malevolent. It was only when I'd gotten older that I understood stuff like Kami. In short, I was kind of a weird kid, but I loved some mythology.

[notheresir]

THAT INTRO IS AMAZING! Did gecko do the art?! Its beautiful!

[yshio_fps]

1.there is a mountain path that a lot of people missing.
guy A: I hear there are bandits that attack people that path through there at night.
guy B: I hear there are bandits that attack people and they even eat victims body.
guy C: I hear there are monsters that attack people and eat their meat.
this is what yokai is

[WonkOfWonkyness]

Great way to start this "series" PLS do more👍👍👍

[gregorydh]

My family run an acting association in Sweden, and we've several times played various tales from Kwaidan such ad Aoyagi, Yuki-Onna, Shojos (the sea youkais with mystical ama-sake), jikki ninkis and Akinosuke's dream. And even in a country as disinterested in other cultures as Sweden, these stories are a blast for people to watch.
I myself am in love with mythology and tales and have dwelled deep into various myths, their history and sometimes political connotations, like how the Egyptian god Set changed from a god of love, trade, roads, and storms into a god of malice and destruction, most likely due to Egypt growing weary from foreign invasions and a changing political climate favouring a patriotic god like Horus.
I'm so gonna watch more youkai episodes!! :D

[pessimisticzinogre]

Me: love his ninja series. Didnt know there was so much history to them. How could he possibly make a better-

Gaijin goomba: *makes this*

Me: ILL TAKE YOUR ENTIRE STOCK

[mattwo]

One thing I always found fascinating about youkai folklore is how much it parallels things like ancient religion and _especially_ European faerie folklore. Drawing parallels to how people in ancient times explained stuff is always fascinating (unless you're comparing the Greeks to the pre-Christan Romans because there's just a _bit_ too much overlap...)