The best books on yokai in English
The books we keep coming back to for Yokai Almanac. Whether you want scholarship, a field guide, or a night of ghost stories, start here.
Which yokai book should you read first?
Pick the line that sounds like you.
You are new to yokai and want to understand them
The Book of Yokai →A clear, scholarly introduction. It explains where yokai come from, then covers the major creatures.
You want the original Edo-period pictures
Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien →Toriyama Sekien's four bestiaries (1776–1784), every picture reproduced with its caption in English.
You want an illustrated field guide
The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons →Each creature comes with a full-colour painting.
You want something light and fun
Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide →A playful pop guide to the most famous yokai, full of facts.
You want ghost stories to read at night
Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things →Lafcadio Hearn's 1904 classic, which shaped how English readers met kaidan.
All yokai & folklore books
- The Book of Yokai →
Michael Dylan Foster
The most readable scholarly introduction to yokai — where they come from, what they mean, and the major creatures.
- Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien →
trans. Hiroko Yoda & Matt Alt
The complete Edo-period bestiaries that so many of these entries trace back to, in full English translation.
- The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons →
Matthew Meyer
A beautifully illustrated field guide to Japan's yokai.
- Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide →
Hiroko Yoda & Matt Alt
A fun, fact-packed pop guide to the most famous yokai.
- Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yōkai →
Michael Dylan Foster
How ideas about yokai changed in Japan, from Edo-period encyclopedias to modern manga.
Ghosts and ghost stories
- Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things →
Lafcadio Hearn
The classic 1904 collection of Japanese ghost stories that shaped how the West first met kaidan.
- Japanese Ghost Stories →
Lafcadio Hearn
More of Hearn's spare, haunting retellings of Japan's supernatural tales.
- Yūrei: The Japanese Ghost →
Zack Davisson
Where Japanese ghosts come from, told through old paintings, kabuki and ghost stories.
Foxes
Kitsune and Inari, Japan's fox god.
- The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship →
Karen A. Smyers
A study of Inari, Japan's fox god, based on fieldwork at real shrines and temples.
Cats
Bakeneko, nekomata and other supernatural cats.
- Kaibyō: The Supernatural Cats of Japan →
Zack Davisson
A full guide to Japan's supernatural cats, from shape-shifting tricksters to loyal guardians.
For kids
Picture books and short stories for young readers.
- Japanese Yokai: Explore the Magical World of Monsters, Demons and Mythical Creatures →
Fleur Daugey, illustrated by Sande Thommen
A colourful picture guide to more than 30 yokai, from kitsune to Hanako. Ages 8–12.
- Yokai Stories →
Zack Davisson, illustrated by Eleonora D'Onofrio
Sixteen short stories for children about yokai such as the baku and the kappa.
- Japanese Children's Favorite Stories →
ed. Florence Sakade, illustrated by Yoshisuke Kurosaki
Twenty classic folktales for children, including Peach Boy and the magic teakettle.
Japanese folktales in English
The old stories themselves, in translation.
- Japanese Tales →
ed. and trans. Royall Tyler
About 220 short tales from medieval Japan: miracles, ghosts, demons, jokes and legends.
- The Legends of Tono →
Yanagita Kunio, trans. Ronald A. Morse
The 1910 record of village legends from Tōno, with kappa and zashiki-warashi. Hardcover.
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