Humanities & Social Sciences
March 2020
Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Susano, Orochi, Oni, Kappa, Kisune: immerse yourself in the exciting Japanese culture, its beliefs, rites, deities, monsters, and creatures. All the enigmatic myths and legends from the Kojiki, and the Nihonshoki, to the survival, and dissemination of these narratives in pop culture, manga, anime and video games. Japanese culture has been able to continue to transmit its myths, stories, and legends to the present day, camouflaging them among the fantastic stories that we can easily find in manga, anime, and video games. But these narratives have their origins many centuries ago, and have been varying and evolving as they have been told generation after generation. Religion has walked alongside them, from the rise of Shintoto to the arrival of Buddhism which, by living together, caused supernatural, and fantastic beings to multiply. The adventures of the peach child Momotaro, the antics and deceptions of the Tanuki, the wicked Oni, or the great gods such as Amaterasu, Susanō, and Tsukuyomi are at the heart of each of these stories.
