Collection
Description
"Shigeru Mizuki--Japan's grand master of Yokai comics--adapts one of the most important works of supernatural literature into comic book form. The cultural equivalent of Brothers Grimm's fairy tales, Tono Monogatari is a defining text of Japanese folklore and one of the country's most important works of literature. This graphic novel was created during the later stage of Mizuki's career, after he had retired from the daily grind of commercial comics to create personal, lasting works of art. Originally written in 1910 by folklorists and field researchers Kunio Yanagita and Kizen Sasaki, Tono Monogatari celebrates and archives legends from the Tono region. These stories were recorded as Japan's rapid modernization led to the disappearance of traditional culture. This adaptation mingles the original text with autobiography: Mizuki attempts to retrace Yanagita and Sasaki's path, but finds his old body is not quite up to the challenge of following in their footsteps. As Mizuki wanders through Tono he retells some of the most famous legends, manifesting a host of monsters, dragons, and foxes. In the finale, Mizuki meets Yanagita himself and the two sit down to discuss their works."--… (more)
Publication
User reviews
Basically, it's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, with Japanese peasants, hunters, and woodcutters minding their own business in the mountains, suddenly seeing an odd creature, spirit or ghost, yelling yikes, and either a) getting on with their day, b) gaining great fortune, or c) dying two days later. Most stories are only one or two pages, with a few getting an epic eight-page treatment.
Shigeru Mizuki inserts himself as a narrator, but instead of being, say, the Crypt-Keeper and playing up the creepiness, he's more like your old grandfather, just shaking his head and going, "Huh, how 'bout that." (He also brings along his Kitaro character for a cameo.)
Interesting for what it is, but mostly dull and repetitive.
As the creator of the seminal manga GeGeGe no Kitaro, Mizuki himself also had a significant role in popularizing the yokai and mystery of Japanese folklore both in Japan and across the world, making him an ideal conduit to explore this standard in Japanese folklore study. Along with background information provided by translator and folklorist Zack Davisson on the Shinto meanings behind these lore, the tales lend themselves to Mizuki’s comical yet grounded style. Both eerie and oddly prosaic, the tales reflect the everyday life and concerns of the people of this remote place, both their fears and their desires. Including legends of the kappa, the tengu, snow women, and other supernatural entities, other tales discuss local landmarks and eccentric townspeople while aspects of daily life like farming and hunting continue throughout. Mizuki’s sympathetic yet questioning musings are an ideal medium for revisiting Yanagita’s work and the integral place it has in Japanese folklore study.