about the book
Of Irish and Greek heritage, Lafcadio Hearns (1850-1904) loved everything Japanese. He moved there, married and raised a son, and took on the name Yakumo Koizuma. He was a Victorian gothic international writer, best known for his collection of Japanese mysteries, myths, and ghost stories.
For the first time in graphic novel format, this book collects six of his famed “kaidan” stories about terror, vengeful spirits, mischievous men, and wayward journeys. It is an introduction to the subtle scare of Japanese horror, with illustrations that mirror the dark mood found in the original books.
But be prepared, dear reader. These are not your average gory revengeful spirit tales you find in contemporary stories. With a moral or an allegory at play, some of the stories are about honesty, greed, love, and playing with powers one shouldn’t mess with. They present a variety of creatures, some benevolent, some curious, others just plain cunning. These bewitching spirits mete out karmic justice in some horrifying ways. Perhaps the best word for them is eerie…the type of thing that makes the hair on the back of your neck rise and causes nightmares for days, weeks, months—maybe years!
All the stories originated in the Edo era, also known as Kaidan. These are oral narratives that are strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching. Though some have their beginnings in older Chinese, Shinto, or Buddhist versions, they are all very well known in Japan. There they call ghosts and demons yokai, which means “the mysterious and weird.” Today, these tales are often found as basis for films and manga.
What is even more spooky is that, although these ancient legends come from the other side of the world decades ago, some themes are consistent with urban legends we hear today in the western world. This graphic novel has been nominated for the 2016 prestigious Eisner Award, the top award in the USA for sequential art.
about the author
While growing up in Edinburgh, Scotland, Sean Michael Wilson was deeply inspired to create comic books early on by the comic series 2000 AD and the work of British and American creators Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and Eddie Campbell.
While studying sociology and psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University and Edinburgh University, he focused on writing poetry and short stories. After graduating, he lectured on those two genres at the University of London. There he mixed teaching with making documentaries for British television.
Eventually he decided to focus on his first love, comic books, and moved to southern Japan. By 2014, he was listed among the Ten Great Scottish Graphic Novel Creators by the Scottish Book Trust. He has written more than twenty books, published by US, UK, and Japanese publishers. Sean has been nominated for both the Eisner and Harvey book awards, and won a medal in the Japanese government’s International Manga Award (the first British person to receive the honor).
Sean writes western style graphic novels and works with Japanese illustrators on manga style books. He has written a unique line of books on Japanese themes, venturing in unusual areas such as historical, biographical, and social issues. His work has even been published in the Keitai/mobile phone manga format, very unusual for a Scottish creator.
Sean splits his time working on original creations and adapting existing classical works into graphic novel form. Probably best known are his adaptations of A Christmas Carol and Wuthering Heights. He also works with a variety of organizations such as the British Museum, the UK Arts Council, the Global Institute for Tomorrow, Asia Literary Review, the Norwegian People’s Alliance, the British and American Humanist Associations, Bristol University, and various US colleges and Universities.
Sources:
Author website
Author biography: Wikipedia
Author biography: Scar Comics
Also by Sean Michael Wilson:
Secrets of the Ninja : The Shinobi Teachings of Hattori Hanzo. Blue Snake Books. 2015.
The Story of Lee : 2. NBM Publishing. 2015.
Musashi. Shambhala Publications. 2014.
Parecomic : Michael Albert and the Story of Participatory Economics. Seven Stories Press. 2013.
Fight the Power! : A Visual History of Protest Among the English-Speaking Peoples. Seven Stories Press. 2013.
The Story of Lee : 1. NBM Publishing. 2011.
about the illustrator
Michiru Morikawa was born in Japan in the little town of Yamanomae. After high school she moved to Tokyo, earned a BA in fine art, and worked as a part-time librarian and a freelance illustrator/cartoonist. Michuru has always enjoyed British children’s novels and when she draws, their childlike storybook themes weave into her character development and plots. “I thought it would be good to tell about childlike existence in my Manga style. My work represents the inner child that is in all of us.”
One day she decided to go to England to see where the movie Mary Poppins was produced. Truth is she also wanted to learn more about the many British children’s books illustrators who so influence her cartoon style. During her four-year stay, she earned a master’s degree in illustration from the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. Freelancing once more, she joined a local cartoonist group and won the prestigious grand prize for the International Manga & Animation Festival. “I didn’t expect to win because my work is quite abstract. The prize means that there might be a future for European Manga culture.”
Michiru is currently back in Japan where she is busily teaching art and working as an international illustrator and cartoonist. She is especially known now for being especially adept at moving between intense and subdued scenes and having a great grasp of facial expressions. She enjoys drawing animals, especially giraffes, elephants, whales, horses, walruses and lots of cats and dogs, including her own schnauzer pup Koharu. She doesn’t like drawing slugs and maggots—GROSS!
She and Sean Michael Wilson, a British writer who now makes his home in Japan, have created four graphic novels: Buskers, Yakuza Moon, The Demon’s Sermon on the Martial Arts, and Lafcadio Hearn’s the Faceless Ghost and Other Macabre Tales from Japan.
Sources:
Illustrator website
Illustrator biography: NBM Graphic Novels
Illustrator interview: Down the Tubes
Illustrator feature: BBC
Also by Michiru Morikawa:
Musashi with Sean Michael Wilson. Shambhala Publications. 2014.
read more!
Musashi by Sean Michael Wilson
Samurai Musashi Miyamoto (1584–1645) was a legendary swordsman renowned for his two-sword technique and his art and writings. Iori Miyamoto, his adopted son. recounts Musashi’s humble beginnings raised and educated by a Buddhist monk, his formative years focusing on his samurai skills and duels, and his later years highlighting his appreciation of the arts and his Book of Five Rings.
Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
Inspired by common folktales and familiar themes, this graphic novel offers a collection of five dark twisted short stories, each set in a different historical era, such as Colonial times and the Roaring Twenties. Be prepared for parasitical possession, hideous evil, and gruesome entities.