Are you afraid of ghosts?

Beware – the month for Yurei (Japanese spirits or ghosts), yokai (supernatural monsters) and oni (demons) has arrived. While October in the West is associated with the spookiest time of year, here in Japan it is August. Obon is the time of year where the Japanese honor their ancestors who are said to return to visit household shrines, and with Obon upon us, now is the time it is thought that the supernatural come out to play.

Japan has a long history of things that go bump in the night, and the Japanese have an equally long love for telling these tales to give each other hair-raising goosebumps. Hyakumongatari (one hundred stories – see page 14) is a daring game designed to conjure spirits similar to the Western idea of saying “Bloody Mary” in the mirror multiple times. These days many gather for a more modern fix of J-horror, films often featuring a modern take on onryō (a vengeful spirit) with the now infamous long, black, hair-over-the-face look of Sadako from the movie Ringu (“The Ring”). What better time to give yourself an all-natural chill down the spine to take your mind off the heat? We’ve got the lingo you need to get you started, unless you’re okubyou mono (chicken)!