Yōkai are Japanese spirits and haunting creatures from Japanese folklore that can be harmless as well as malicious. This booklet introduces you to several of them.
Author: 品川恭子（しながわちかこ）
Illustrations: マット・マイヤー
Publisher: ジャパンタイムズ出版
Length: 12 pages
I personally always enjoy a good ghost story, especially now that it’s getting darker and spookier this month.
Learning about an unfamiliar culture by looking at our folk tales and exploring what we warn our children about is probably fascinating in every language. However, Yōkai being unique to Japan definitely ensures that there’s always something new to discover in reading about it in Japanese!
日本のおもしろい妖怪 is part of the Genki Tadoku Books series and is based on lesson 19 from the 2nd Genki textbook. In this booklet the writing runs right to left and horizontally, getting you used to how any modern novel in Japanese would be written. However, the sentences are still pretty straightforward and use the familiar Genki vocabulary. All unknown vocabulary is included in a vocabulary list right at the start of the book.
If you are interested in reading this book, you can read a few pages of the online preview on the publishers site.
The Genki Tadoku booklets come in boxed sets, giving you 10-12 little books – each in simple Japanese that becomes just a little bit more complex with each booklet. 日本のおもしろい妖怪 is part of the last box set, which includes Genki lessons 19-23.
You can get the boxes for example through Amazon Japan or OMGJapan. If you decide to purchase the Genki Tadoku Books through either of these links, I receive a small percentage of what you’ve paid as a comission.
If you are interested in Japanese folklore and ghost stories, definitely also check out the free graded reader お化け（おばけ）!
dokushoclub.com 