Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan

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An in-depth exploration of the sometimes charming, sometimes gruesome feline creatures and ghosts of Japan. Davisson illuminates the vast realm of kaibyō, or supernatural cats, with historical and modern cultural context. Lushly illustrated in full color with dozens of ukiyo-e prints and drawings. A must-have book for the Japanophile and cat-lover alike! First in a forthcoming series about the supernatural animals of Japan. a b c McDonagh, Maitland (17 October 2011). "Kuroneko: The Mark of the Cat". The Criterion Collection . Retrieved 13 July 2021. As a manga translator, Davisson was nominated for the 2014 Japanese-US Friendship Commission Translation Prize for his translation of the multiple Eisner Award-winning SHOWA: A HISTORY OF JAPAN. Other acclaimed translations include Satoshi Kon’s OPUS and THE ART OF SATOSHI KON, Mamoru Oshii’s SERAPHIM: 266613336 WINGS, Leiji Matsumoto’s QUEEN EMERALDAS, Kazuhiro Fujita’s THE GHOST AND THE LADY, Go Nagai’s CUTIE HONEY, and Gou Tanabe’s Eisner Award-nominated HP LOVECRAFT’S THE HOUND AND OTHER TALES.

Right from the start, I loved this book. The front cover is a work of art in itself and feels gorgeous to hold - always a key factor for me when reading books of this nature. Inside, the quality is no different; there's a multitude of full-colour illustrations from different eras of Japanese history - from the Edo period to the modern day. review by Scot D. Ryersson and Michael Orlando Yaccarino, co-authors of Infinite Variety: The Life and Legend of the Marchesa Casati and The Marchesa Casati: Portraits of a Muse Then there are the cat demons, witches, and other monsters (including a nice piece depicting a female cat playing an instrument). The author tries to provide as much context as relevant along with brief summaries of notable fairy tales relevant to each chapter. Have you ever wondered where "the inviting cat" derived from? Those cat statues found in pan-Asian shops all over, even in the homes and offices? This book has it, as well as a full description and history of every "sub-Neko" that is still celebrated today both in literature and pop-culture. Dannery, Letizia (31 May 2018). "Enfer et damnation au Quai Branly". L'Express (in French). Archived from the original on 13 July 2021 . Retrieved 13 July 2021.Davisson lectured on translation, manga, and folklore at Duke University, UCLA, University of Washington, Denison University, as well as contributed to exhibitions at the Wereldmuseum Rotterdam and Henry Art Museum. He has been featured on NPR, BBC, and The New York Times, and has written articles for Metropolis, The Comics Journal, and Weird Tales Magazine. I have a fondness for yokai, and the more I learn about them, the more I discover just how limited my knowledge is. Japan isn't sometimes called The Land of Eight Million Gods and Demons for nothing; prior to reading Kaibyo, I was familiar with nekomata (from the Shin Megami Tensei series of RPGs), and maneki neko (ubiquitous to Asian restaurants), but I really wasn't acquainted with any other varieties of cat yokai. I'm happy to say that this slim volume went a long way toward remedying that, covering the shape-changing bakeneko, to the whimsical gotoku neko (that made me think of one of my dearly departed cats, and her love of the fireplace), and more. All that said, though, it ultimately feels more like a good coffee table book than some kind of reference book for Kaibyo (which admittedly is probably beyond what it's trying or claiming to be). Curran, Beverley; Sato-Rossberg, Nana; Tanabe, Kikuko, eds. (2015). Multiple Translation Communities in Contemporary Japan. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-83170-4. This book was a gift from a friend who knows me oh-so-well, and knows my adoration for all things supernatural and all things cat-related. I've also been a long-time fan of Japanese folklore, particularly the weird and wonderful yokai; so much fodder for future book inspiration!

a b Fujiki, Hideaki; Phillips, Alastair, eds. (2020). The Japanese Cinema Book. British Film Institute. p.301. ISBN 978-1-8445-7678-4. It's also not clear where some of the excerpts come from (particularly those that start the chapters) and it's my impression they may be the author's invention -- which can be fine to get the right sense across to the reader and introduce an idea, but since this book is specifically about Japanese folklore (and presenting as an authority on Kaibyo), I wish it was made clear whether anything was created, and if so: what was original; how much was derived but written in the author's own words; and why it was included as it was. Without that clarity, there is some danger in how these bits might be interpreted by readers present and future (i.e., as specific examples of Japanese folklore when they may more accurately be interpretive representations or suggestions of it). As for the content itself? It's neatly divided into chapters - with each section focusing on a different form of cat-yokai. Expect all sorts of bizarre feline spirits here; from the eerie bakeneko (the shapeshifting cat) to the terrifying kasha - which is more of a demon than a yokai. It's not all scary though; there's also a chapter on the maneki-neko, which you may know better as the cheery waving cat (often gold) that is so often spotted in people's homes or in Chinese takeaways! (We've got one sat cheerily waving away in our spare room...). Monster cat" or "ghost cat" films ( kaibyō eiga or bake neko mono) are a subgenre of Japanese horror films featuring kaibyō, derived primarily from the repertoire of kabuki theatre. [10] The subgenre first gained popularity prior to World War II; its popularity declined after the war, arguably because Japanese audiences no longer believed in or feared such entities. [10] However, the subgenre experienced a resurgence of popularity in the 1950s and 1960s due to actress Takako Irie appearing in "monster cat" film roles. [10] Films featuring depictions of kaibyō include: Marak, Katarzyna (2014). Japanese and American Horror: A Comparative Study of Film, Fiction, Graphic Novels and Video Games. McFarland & Company. p.101. ISBN 978-0786496662.Sharp, Jasper (2011). Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810857957. Fun, easy read. The visual layout of the text is excellent. Having virtually no familiarity with the specific subject on my way in, I do get the sense that it covers the fundamentals. The author appears to know his history, writes succinctly and with authority but is simultaneously very approachable, and doesn't dance around anything -- If he doesn't know something, he says it outright. Davisson mixes each chapter with the origins of the kanji used to describe each kaibyo, a history of their emergence (mainly in the Edo period) and their respective powers, some fantastic artwork of the cats themselves to help you visualize how their creators saw them, and a short story or two featuring that particular type of kaibyo, often with a moral message for the audience.

A wonderful retrospective on the history and legend of cats in Japan, with a wealth of folk tales, historical context, and artMacalanda, Dana (28 October 2017). " 'Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan': Traditionally spooky felines". The Japan Times . Retrieved 13 July 2021. Tombs, Pete (1998). Mondo Macabro: Weird & Wonderful Cinema Around the World. St. Martin's Griffin. p.169. ISBN 978-0312187484.