The Book of the Hakutaku: A Bestiary of Japanese Monsters (Yokai)

I follow the writer on Kickstarter where he first puts up his books. All his books deal with Japanese folklore and ghost/monster stories. He does his own drawings and they are fantastic.

This book list information of many unknown yokais, which somes we can found in pop culture, but don't know them. The highlight of the book is explaining on Japanese beliefs & their origins. Some beliefs trace back so far to India and Persia for many thousand years. They come with Buddhist religion, trading, or political phenomenon, which giving more clearly picture on Japanese & Asian cultures. So this book is not just a fiction, but also cultural guide for Asian culture interests.

Found this book amusing and scary. Written about Japanese spirits, demons, monsters. Some tales bring back memories in our family.

When I originally bought this book, I was worried that it wasn't going to be worth the very high value, but once it came in the mail I was blown away by how great it was. This is the first time I ever wrote a review on Amazon but you can definitely tell the author put a lot of time into this book. The illustrations are absolutely amazing and done in color. They also give you a lot of information on each creature.

The third installment of this series not only covers more of the mythical yokai that could not fit into the two previous books, but also delves into the origins behind these fascinating creatures of folklore. Most of the entries in this volume have small sections detailing the myth or piece of folklore from another country that inspired the Japanese version of the creature in question. This volume also covers a few old favorite creatures of mine that have popped up in anime and manga, such as the mythical tennyo from the classic manga, Ayashi no Ceres (a.k.a. Ceres Celestial Legend). Once again though, I strongly recommend getting the e-book version over the physical version just because of the price. I still prefer physical books over tablets, but if you want to save some money the e-book is definitely the way to go.

I enjoyed this whole series but the 3rd book is in a different format that makes it a little more difficult to read on the phone. The stories were still very excellent so I removed 1 star for inconvenience of reading.

Having lived in Japan I couldn’t pass this up. This book is an amazing, beautiful compilation of the true old Japanese culture. Hakutaku are a fascinating element alive and well in Japan and Anime today. I was impressed with the introduction to Japanese, sounding out the syllables and the 3 forms of written language. That was a surprise which is well-done and makes a huge difference when using the book to teach or just as a good reminder. A keeper for the library forever. I only wish the paper was thicker and more color used. Despite that, I would buy again and as a gift. Thank you for this rare find and amazing work. Note that Hakutaku are many and some frightening. Pay attention to the use of this beautiful book with children. My 11yr old son devoured it but every once in a while had to “save this one for day reading.”

If you love Yokai then this is a must have! Matthew Meyer is a well trusted scholar on Japanese yokai and his stunning art work. Each entry comes with a color illustration drawn by Matthew Meyer. Hakutaku is his third book to have been successfully funded on Kickstarter, while I was not a Kickstarter backer, I was able to buy it on Amazon. Also sorry if the picture quality on the photos aren't great, the camera on my phone is not great.

okay

Having read the previous two books in the series, I was delighted to find this one just as insightful about the world of mythical monsters from Japan. The style of the artwork and the layout delights the eye, and while selves deep into the stories, doesn't overwhelm the reader. I was also very happy to find out that there is soon to be a fourth. The Fox's Wedding. So here is to many more books and many more yokai.

I've been a fan of Matthew's japanese bestiaries since the first one, The Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons. This third book doesn't dissatisfy the expectations: it contains several description of yokais, each one followed by an illustration of the yokai in question in a style similar to medieval japanese art. If you are a fan of japanese folklore, and want to know more, this book is defintely a must-have!

As described

Très intéressant quand on s'intéresse aux yokais, les illustrations sont magnifiques