Hideki Smith by A.J. Hartley

Myths and Legends week continues with a guest blog from A.J. Hartley about new novel and character Hideki Smith but also about the Japanese traditions and deeply rooted stories that inspired him.

 

When I was a teenager I stumbled on a collection of tales from Japan set down by a foreign traveler at the end of the nineteenth century (Lafcardia Hearn’s Kwaidan), and was instantly captivated. I suspect that, somewhere deep down, that book was part of what made me want to go to Japan in the first place. Of course, when I got there I found a thoroughly modern country, one which was in many ways more technologically advanced than the one I had come from, but Japan is also very deeply rooted in its traditions, its sense of the past, and that meant that the stories of ghosts, demons and other mystical beings (collectively known as yōkai) were still very much around. In Japan you’ll see them everywhere, not just in old pictures or temple statues, in the annual festivals where regions celebrate their heritage, but in computer games, TV programs, even company logos! Yōkai are alive and well.

And there are so many of them! Some are quite harmless, even funny, like the teapots and umbrellas which, after years of human use, come to life, sprouting little legs and big blinking eyes. There are the long-nosed mountain beings called tengu, famed as teachers of martial arts and military strategy. They have to be dealt with carefully because, like many yōkai they are not simply good or evil but can lean in either direction depending on how they are treated. Other yōkai are less well disposed to humanity. There are giant, horned, and murderous ogres called oni, water creatures that are half turtle and half monkey which drown unsuspecting swimmers (kappa), and spectres whose tragic lives have driven them to terrorize the world after their deaths (Onryō).

But where Japanese folklore really shines is in its wealth of shape shifters, particularly animals such as the racoon-like tanuki, a (mostly) playful trickster which likes to take the forms of everyday objects to startle or make fools of people. There are cats who can appear as old priests at remote temples who offer a hot meal and a bed to lost travelers, but then take their true, massive form to attack and eat those who have accepted their hospitality. Hearn tells of the mujina (a kind of badger) which can look like an ordinary person until its face suddenly vanishes, becoming smooth and featureless as an egg, scaring people out of their minds. The supreme shape-shifter is the kitsune—a mystical fox—which is so expert at imitating humans that he or she (magical female foxes–sometimes called megitsune—are very common) can actually live among people for many years, even getting married and having children until, either caught out or driven by strong feelings, they reveal their true nature and vanish into the woods which are their true homes.

Such creatures remind us that nothing in life is entirely as it seems, that reality is stranger than we can possibly imagine, and that even as people we are mysteries to each other, our true natures unknowable to others. After all, you assume your friends and neighbours are all ordinary people like you. But what if they aren’t? What if some of them are cleverly disguised foxes with powerful magical abilities? Maybe believing that would make us treat each other just a little bit better, if only because we don’t want our bad behavior being met with giant teeth and claws.

 

Hideki Smith by A.J. Hartley, With Hisako Osako and Kuma Hartley
Publication Date: 21st September 2023
9781915235770 Paperback | 14 years +

 

Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Federation.