Thursday, December 31, 2009

The Japanese New Year: Tradition, Celebration, and Yōkai

Today I think I'll jump-start the entries I have planned with a preview installment of a new series I'd like to share with you all.  I've realized that I mention yōkai a lot, and not everybody may know what that means, or perhaps there are those that are interested, but are having trouble finding information online.  So I've decided that I'll do a continuing series of information about yōkai, what they are about, the differences between many of them, and some modern-day examples of where you'll still find them, most notably in anime, manga, video games and Jrock.  Of course I'll still explain some of the traditional artwork they can be found in, too, but it's also tied into modern media as well, because a lot of Visual Kei especially rely on the knowledge of the viewer or listener to understand the symbolism of the yōkai, and it may be missed by someone who is foreign to that information.

So I'd like to have a fresh start going into the New Year, beginning to be more focused on doing my journal when I want to, and trying to put an end to the constant procrastination.  New Year is a special time in Japan, so I'll tell you a little about that first.