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yokai
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| Are yokai ghosts or demons? |
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Re: yokai
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YÅkai are demonic (evil) ghosts. Wan, tsuu! "To be forgotten, is worse than death." |
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Re: yokai
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Well there are alot of names for monsters in Japan. Yokai are a very ungeneralized word for demons and ghosts. It doesn't have one meaning like yurei which the literal tranlation of ghost. I will list all the monster words I know of. youkai kaiju kaibutsu yurei bourei oni akuma bakaemono mononoke obakae I am sure there are more.  Jomunga eats your avatars. |
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Re: yokai
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Yuurei are traditionaly female and dress in a white kimono. They typically lack feet and legs, and are frequently depicted as being accompanied by a pair of floating flames, hi-no-tama, in eerie colors such as blue, green, or purple. These ghostly flames are seperate parts of the ghost rather than independent spirits. Yuurei also often have a triangular piece of paper or cloth, hitaikakushi, on their forehead. Some are depicted with long, black hair. Youkai can include both demons and ghosts, though I was also led to believe that 'youkai' was a term for animal demons. The list that Jomunga has includes several 'categories' of demons and ghosts. 'Oni' is a cateogry that includes a specific type of demon: gigantic creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and long horns (anywhere from one to three horns) growing out from their heads. They are shown with unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers or toes. Their skin may be any number of colors, but red, blue, black, pink, and green are most common. Their fierce appearance is only enhanced by the tiger skns they tend to wear and the iron clubs they favor- kanabou. |
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Re: yokai
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| Can I add "kappa" to that list, or is that too specific? |
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Re: yokai
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Actually, from what I've researched, 'youkai' doesn't automatically mean 'evil.' According to wikipedia.org, where I looked this up, it's basically a term for anything elemental or supernatural. My friend Chie from Tokyo says that 'demon' and 'youkai' aren't really very synonymous. It's kind of a blanket word. Also, in a more Eastern Kingdoms way of thinking, 'demon' doesn't mean the thing's bad, so much as it means monster--and monster, to circle back to what I mentioned above, is non-human. Whether it's good or evil is determined more specifically.
"I always say perserverance is nine-tenths of any art--not that it's much help to be nine-tenths an artist, of course."
Mabruk the Wizard, The Last Unicorn
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Re: yokai
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Well Here are some more Youkai Kitsune(Demon fox)(E.g Kyuubi From Naruto) Tanuki(Racoon dog)(E.g Shusaku From NAruto) Ookami(Japanese wolfs Now extinct) You want more go to this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures_in_Japanese_mythology  |