GeGeGe no Kitaro

gegege no kitaro (old version)
Uploaded by long_naga

I wish I could have seen these when I was a kid. With the popularity of anime and manga, I am surprised that one of the most popular Japanese characters (since the 1960s), Gegege no Kitaro, has not been exported to the USA.

This anime for TV is in Japanese; but it is fun to watch. Without understanding Japanese, it is a little difficult to sort out all the odd supernatural beings. I think the unique character of these yokai may be the reason Gegege no Kitaro doesn't translate easily to a western audience - enjoy.

Mizuki Shigeru: GeGeGe No Kitaro

Friend, living in Japan now, sent me a couple book by the master manga artist Mizuki Shigeru. These are reprints of some of his stories from the late 1960's and early 1970's. The books are digest size and much smaller than the original printed manga; but the reproduction and printing still allows you to see the masterful line work. I can only dream of reading Japanese and wonder what set that giant cat off and who is that enigmatic creature in the bamboo?

There is presently running on Japanese daytime TV a series based on the 2008 autobiography of Mura Shigeru, Mizuki's wife. GeGeGE No Nyobo, (I also see it spelled GeGeGe No Nyoubou) began airing last spring and the 156 episodes will end in mid September. I have been watching the TV episodes off the internet in Japanese and I think I have been able to follow most of what is going on. A movie based on the book is also scheduled to open this year. I hope either the TV show or the movie will be available with English subtitles.

GEGeGe No Kitaro Stamps

If anyone enjoys stamp collecting, Japan issued a set of GeGeGe No Kitaro stamps in February this year. The USPS issued a set of Universal monster stamps several years back. There must be more stamps out there with monster themes.

GeGeGe No Kitaro Theme Song

I have never seen a clip of the old 60's version of GeGeGe No Kitaro with the subtitles and Romaji for the theme song. Maybe I can finally learn it. MAYBE?

Gegege No Kitaro inspiration?

 I was reading through a book that is a large collection of Japanese folk tales. This short one caught my interest and reminded me of Gegege no Kitaro's origin. Here is a link to a modernized version of Kiaro's origin. http://www.veoh.com/watch/v6302034e3cge6Rd

The Ghost that Cared for her Child

A woman came every night around midnight to buy ame (a sweet) at a little candy store in the village. She always put her hand through the door and she bought with the same coin. The owner of the shop thought it strange and followed her. After she went as far as the garden, she turned into a flame which went out beside a grave. The shopkeeper was sure she was a ghost. The next day when he went around to where the flame had vanished, he found a hole open in a new grave. He dug and found a baby boy with wide-open eyes sitting by a woman's corpse. The child had been born after the woman had died, and she was taking care of him with the ame she bought each night for him to eat. It is said that the child became a famous priest later.

Shimabara

The Yanagita Kunio Guide to the Japanese Folk Tale: Edited and Translated by Fanny Hagin Mayer (Indiana University Press, 1986)






Sometime after the above book was published, it's editor and translator Fanny Hagin Mayer published another version of many of the tales.  Here is the revised version to this tale.

6. The Ghost That Cared For Her Child

Once upon a time a woman died in childbirth. The family pitied her and buried her instead of cremating her. They put a one mon coin in her coffin, according to the custom at her village, and carried her out to the edge of the moor.

From that time, somebody came every evening at about the same hour to buy ame. A hand would be thrust between the same doors and the same coin was always used to pay. The storekeeper thought this strange, and he sent his clerk to follow the customer. She went as far as the garden patch, but there she turned into a flame and leaped off. The flame went out at the grave. The clerk was sure it was a specter and ran home astonished.

The next day two or three people went to the grave where the flame had gone out to investigate. They found a hole in the new grave. This seemed strange to everyone. When they dug to see, they found a wide-eyed baby boy sitting there. He had been born after the woman had died, and he was being nourished by the ame.

It seems that this child became a famous Buddhist priest later.

Seki Keigo

Shimabara, Nagasaki

Ancient Tales in Japan

An Anthology of Japanese Folk Tales

Selected and Translated

by FANNY HAGIN MAYER

INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS

Bloomington, Indiana

GeGeGe no Kitaro

In Japan it is Tanabata Star Festival, 07/07/07. I'm always in the mood to celebrate with some GeGeGe no Kitaro, which has nothing to do with the festival.

Gegege No Kitaro Creator Shigeru Mizuki Interview

It is not very often that an interview with Gegege no Kitaro's creator Shigeru Mizuki is available translated into English. It is nice to read that he has had a lifelong relationship with monsters. I wonder if his autobiography, Born a Yokai, is or will ever be available in English?

I also have found another interview from the Japan Times in 2005, when he was 82 years old. Maybe there is more information out there than I thought!

Mizuki Shigeru : GeGeGe no Kitaro

I received a pretty cool box of stuff from Japan today. Friends who are living in Maebashi sent an assortment of GeGeGe Kitaro items. One of their students recently visited Mizuki's hometown of Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture. So, my friends decided to surprise me with a few things from a store their.

I wish I could read Japanese. I would like to be able to read the printed toilet paper.

In past posts I have wondered why Mizuki's Graveyard Kitaro hasn't translated its long popularity in Japan to an audience in the USA. I still think Kitaro's focus on stories involving uniquely Japanese folklore creatures is not easily understood in the US.

GeGeGe no Kitaro Books

I came across a reference to the Canadian publisher Drawn and Quarterly acquiring the English publishing rights to Shigeru Mizuki's Kitaro work.

I'm a fan of these books and am looking forward to the first book coming out in early spring 2013. Now scheduled for release on August 6, 2013.

I have made several posts about this character and it's creator. If you are interested in reading more, CLICK HERE.

• In ancient Japan it was believed that life dwelled in all things and that everything in nature was of divine origin. It was strongly accepted among the Japanese that creatures with supernatural powers coexisted with humans. Most of us in the West are familiar with the giant monsters, daikaijuu, from the Godzilla movies; but there are hundreds of traditional yokai in Japanese folklore. Yokai, monstrous spirits, is a general category to fit all of the various forms of these creatures into. The influence of the Shinto religion may be one reason for so many supernatural spirits in Japanese culture. Shinto is an ancient animistic religion; and it is easier to accept a sprit's existence if a more human form is given to it. Yokai come in many styles and shapes, from the comical looking umbrella ghost, kasa obake, to a more malicious creature like a kappa, the only thing these river spirits like to eat better than children are cucumbers. There is a wall that appears unexpectedly present a barrier, a flying piece of white cloth, ittan momen, and many many more. During Japan’s Edo Period, 1603-1867, the belief in yokai was at its peak; but as the the Maji Period, 1867-1912, progressed, the increase in scientific thinking decreased the belief in the supernatural. The cartoonist Shigeru Mizuki created a manga, Gegege no Kitaro, in the 1960’s about a boy who had been born in a cemetery and was part demon. Kitaro worked to smooth out the coexistence between yokai and humans. These popular comic books, and later anime , reintroduced and popularized the traditional monsters.

Mizuki Shigeru: Hometown Photo

Mizuki Shigeru (nice English language site with some translated stories and links) and his wife lived in near poverty during their early years together in Tokyo. With his eventual success and fame as the creator of GeGeGe no Kitaro, Mizuki's hometown, Sakaiminato, Tattori Prefecture, has honored him with a museum and decorated the main street, now named for him, with bronze statues of some of his characters and the yokai, supernatural folk creatures, he drew in his manga, Japanese comics.