Yōkai (妖怪, ‘strange apparition’) are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. In ‘Adventures of Takuan from Koto’, yokai are referenced in the books only once, in the context of demons ravaging the Earthen Realm during and after the Great Storm. They hunted people, caught them and
Hatsukoi is the protagonist of the ‘Prince of Blue Flowers’ and of the rest of the ‘Adventures of Takuan from Koto.’ The full story bears his monastic name which he got in the monastery on the Mount White. Hatsukoi, like the celestial marten Ta-Guan, is a trickster. His monastic name
The universe of ‘Takuan’s Adventures’ is built as most fairy-tale universes are. It follows the Vedic tradition, where the Universe — Trailokya — is divided into three parts: Urdhva loka (heavens), Madhya Loka (human realm), and Adho Loka (infernal regions). The Christian Universe follows the same pattern of Heaven, Earth, and
Yanwang Umma-ö appears before us as a stern ruler of the Under Realm and a hunter of weredemons. Yanwang’s brother, the Jade Emperor himself, instructed the ruler of the Under Realm to catch all the demons who annoyed both mere mortals and celestials. The reader is introduced to Yanwang
The Most Beautiful and Eternally Wise Goddess of the West lives in the Heavens, but sometimes descends to the Middle Realm, where her temple and peach garden are located on the top of Mount Gunlun. Xiwanmu is the first of the celestials that the reader meets. As befits a goddess,