This blog has been created for people interested in visiting sites associated with Yokai: Japanese supernatural beings and other spooky phenomena. As this is a niche hobby, I'm going to assume that people clicking in already know something about Yokai and would like to see their old haunts, but either don't know where to find them, or are new to Japan and need help getting around. Tourists are very welcome here and I hope I can in some small way give your trip a little extra "kick"!
Japan is a culturally vast country though, and I need to narrow my scope a bit. Most people when they come to Japan-- to see Japan, will hit the Kanto Region (Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures) and the Kansai Region (Osaka and its surrounding prefectures). As I happen to live in Osaka, this blog is going to be very Kansai-centric, using Osaka as a convenient travel hub. For those not familiar with Japan, Kansai includes Nara and Kyoto Prefectures (amongst others), so we will not be short on historically significant sites to explore.
Unfortunately, much Yokai-related phenomena does not always occur in the most popular or picturesque locations. The Kansai Region bloomed over many hundreds of years from what is considered to be the "Cradle of Japanese Civilization," and over time expansion has eroded and built around (and often over) many important sites. Rashomon, the great southern gate of the old capital of present-day Kyoto, and famously in the Akira Kurosawa movie of the same name, is now a stone marker in a nondescript children's playground. Yet the gate appears in more than one Yokai legend, so a determined visitor to the site is required to pack (besides a bucket and spade in the case of Rashomon) an extra supply of imagination.
Luckily, not all Yokai haunts are as stripped of content as to make detouring to them a complete waste of time. However, to make this blog as accessible as possible, I'm going to include the popular and well-known tourist sites that are in the same area, on the same train line, or as a last resort, in the same general direction. Even this won't always be possible, but for the very dedicated or the Japan resident like myself who doesn't have to worry about time, they will hopefully provide a novel outing. Just remember to always have your imagination at the ready!
I'm going to start my blog with a few getting-around posts, and also a master list of sightseeing spots that I will update as often as I can. Each listed item will contain enough basic info that an independent traveler with the Internet should be able to find the location by themselves. As I progress, each item will become a separate entry with more detailed information on how to get there.
If you have a request, a suggestion, or have a trip to Japan planned soon and need some info about a sightseeing spot, feel free to send me an e-mail. If you're Japanese and have a local folktale to share and a sightseeing spot to go with it, I would love to hear from you too. Nihongo de douzo!
Driver Gragma (yokaitourbus "at" mail "dot" com)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yokaitourbus/
The Master Lists
Osaka: http://yokaitourbus.blogspot.com/2015/08/6-the-master-list-osaka.html
Hyogo: http://yokaitourbus.blogspot.com/2015/08/6-b-master-list-hyogo.html
Kyoto: http://yokaitourbus.blogspot.com/2015/08/6-c-master-list-kyoto.html
Shiga: http://yokaitourbus.blogspot.com/2015/08/6-d-master-list-shiga.html
Nara: http://yokaitourbus.blogspot.com/2015/08/6-e-master-list-nara.html
Mie: http://yokaitourbus.blogspot.com/2015/08/6-f-master-list-mie.html
Wakayama: http://yokaitourbus.blogspot.com/2015/08/6-g-master-list-wakayama.html
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