Meet one of Japan's most popular characters of all time—Kitaro, the one-eyed monster boy Meet Kitaro. He’s just like any other boy, except for a few small differences: he only has one eye, his hair is an antenna that senses paranormal activity, his geta sandals are jet-powered, and he can blend into his surroundings like a chameleon. Oh, and he’s a yokai (spirit monster)! With all the offbeat humor of an Addams Family story, Kitaro is a lighthearted romp in which the bad guys always get what’s coming to them. Kitaro is bestselling manga-ka Shigeru Mizuki’s most famous creation. The Kitaro series was inspired by a kamishibai, or storycard theater, entitled Kitaro of the Graveyard. Mizuki began work on his interpretation of Kitaro in 1959. Originally the series was intended for boys, but once it was picked up by the influential Shonen magazine it quickly became a cultural landmark for young and old alike. Kitaro inspired half a dozen TV shows, plus numerous video games and films, and his cultural importance cannot be overstated. Presented to North American audiences for the first time in this lavish format, Mizuki’s photo-realist landscapes and cartoony characters blend the eerie with the comic. Translated from the Japanese by Jocelyne Allen.

Manga’s most beloved creator ventures into Japan’s mythical past and emerges with a menagerie unlike any other Shigeru Mizuki is no stranger to the supernatural and its portents. Kitaro and Tono Monogatari reimagined the obscure folktales of his youth, bringing them to life with whimsy. Mizuki the cartoonist certainly left an indelible mark on comics as world literature. Mizuki the fine artist, on the other hand, rounds out the full scope of his fascination with the otherworldly and fantastic, bringing these worlds to life in robust color. Yokai: The Art of Shigeru Mizuki showcases his expertise of not only folklore, but celebrates him as a naturalist. Elements of Mizuki’s lush compositions—flora, fauna, and everything in between—showcase his mastery of form and love for nature. These popular renderings of a disappearing, rural Japan are his contribution to the preservation of a cultural heritage that would have otherwise been forgotten. The grotesque realism central to his body of work is offset by the ingenuity of his fancy for the macabre. Pieces in this deluxe, full-color edition call to mind the playful pop-sensibility of Maurice Sendak informed by the technical prowess of traditionalists like Dürer and Doré. And like any other Mizuki classic, each oeuvre is a unique snapshot of spirit, human or otherwise, in constant transition. Yokai: The Art of Shigeru Mizuki includes supplementary writing by acclaimed Mizuki scholar and translator Zack Davisson.

The beloved mangaka adapts one of his country—and teh world's—great works of supernatural literature Shigeru Mizuki—Japan’s grand master of yokai comics—adapts one of the most important works of supernatural literature into comic book form. The cultural equivalent of Brothers Grimm’s fairy tales, Tono Monogatari is a defining text of Japanese folklore and one of the country’s most important works of literature. This graphic novel was created during the later stage of Mizuki’s career, after he had retired from the daily grind of commercial comics to create personal, lasting works of art. Originally written in 1910 by folklorists and field researchers Kunio Yanagita and Kizen Sasaki, Tono Monogatari celebrates and archives legends from the Tono region. These stories were recorded as Japan’s rapid modernization led to the disappearance of traditional culture. This adaptation mingles the original text with autobiography: Mizuki attempts to retrace Yanagita and Sasaki’s path, but finds his old body is not quite up to the challenge of following in their footsteps. As Mizuki wanders through Tono he retells some of the most famous legends, manifesting a host of monsters, dragons, and foxes. In the finale, Mizuki meets Yanagita himself and the two sit down to discuss their works. Translated with additional essays by Mizuki scholar and English-language translator Zack Davisson, Tono Monogatari displays Mizuki at his finest, exploring the world he most cherished. Tono Monogatari was translated by Zack Davisson, an award-winning translator, writer, and folklorist. He is the author of Yurei: the Japanese Ghost, Yokai Stories, Narrow Road, and Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan and translator of Shigeru Mizuki's multiple Eisner Award-winning Showa: a History of Japan and famous folklore comic Kitaro. He also translated globally renowned entertainment properties such as Go Nagai's Devilman and Cutie Honey, Leiji Matsumoto's Space Battleship Yamato and Captain Harlock, and Satoshi Kon's Opus. In addition, he lectured on manga, folklore, and translation at colleges such as Duke University, UCLA, and the University of Washington and contributed to exhibitions at the Henry Art Gallery, The Museum of International Folkart, Wereldmuseum Rotterdan, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

THE FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF MIZUKI'S BEST-LOVED WORK NonNonBa is the definitive work by acclaimed gekiga-ka Shigeru Mizuki, a poetic memoir detailing his interest in yokai (spirit monsters). Mizuki’s childhood experiences with yokai influenced the course of his life and oeuvre; he is now known as the forefather of yokai manga. His spring 2011 book, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, was featured on PRI’s The World, where Marco Werman scored a coveted interview with one of the most famous visual artists working in Japan today. Within the pages of NonNonBa, Mizuki explores the legacy left him by his childhood explorations of the spirit world, explorations encouraged by his grandmother, a grumpy old woman named NonNonBa. NonNonBa is a touching work about childhood and growing up, as well as a fascinating portrayal of Japan in a moment of transition. NonNonBa was the first manga to win the Angouleme Prize for Best Album. Much like its namesake, NonNonBa is at once funny and nostalgic, firmly grounded in a sociohistorical context and floating in the world of the supernatural. Translated from the Japanese by Jocelyne Allen.

A master cartoonist and veteran tells the life story of the man who started the second world war Seventy years after his death, Adolf Hitler remains a mystery. Historians, military tacticians, and psychologists have tried in vain to unravel his complex motivations for leading Germany into the Holocaust and World War II. With Shigeru Mizuki's Hitler, the manga-ka (Kitaro, NonNonba, Showa: A History of Japan) delves deep into the history books to create an absorbing and eloquent portrait of Hitler's life. Beginning with Hitler's time in Austria as a starving art student and ending with a Germany in ruins, Shigeru Mizuki's Hitler retraces the path Hitler took in life, coolly examining his charismatic appeal and his calculated political maneuvering. The Munich Beer Putsch, Hitler's ascent to chancellor, the sudden death of his half-niece Geli, the Battle of Stalingrad, his relationship with Eva Braun, and his eventual demise: all are given equal attention in this thorough and compelling biography. In Mizuki's signature style, which populates incredibly realistic backgrounds with cartoony people, Japan's most famous living cartoonist has created an overview of Hitler's life that is as fascinating as it is informative. Translated from the Japanese by Zack Davisson.

Brit-pop meets Japanese folklore, Shigeru Mizuki summons equal parts humour, spookiness and sheer absurdity Kitaro the Vampire Slayer is the fifth volume in Shigeru Mizuki’s bizarre stories about a yokai boy and his entourage of otherworldly friends. One of the most popular Kitaro tales, the title story pits Kitaro and his family against a Beatles-inspired mop-topped, guitar-playing vampire named Erit and his castle of horrors. In an unexpected twist—spoiler alert!—Kitaro meets his demise, but even death is hardly enough to keep our favorite yokai boy down. Along with the villainous vampire, Kitaro faces a trio of monsters straight from Japanese folklore. Mizuki often pulled from classic Japanese folk tales for inspiration, as shown in these three stories. A certain serpent and temple bell appear in “The Phantom Steam Engine,” then it’s onto a bird-like creature with a big beak in “Ubume,” and Kitaro had better not look behind him when the Ushiro Gami comes to town. The four stories in this volume are collected from the late ’60s golden age of Gegege no Kitaro. Appearing in English for the first time, this kid-friendly edition is translated by Mizuki-scholar Zack Davisson and includes bonus features like “Yokai Files,” where we are introduced to Japan’s folklore monsters, and the fifth installment of the “History of Kitaro” essay by Davisson. For fans of quirky horror, Kitaro the Vampire Slayer is not one to miss! Translated from the Japanese by Zack Davisson.

Meet one of Japan's most popular characters of all time-Kitaro, the One-Eyed Monster Boy The Birth of Kitaro collects seven of Shigeru Mizuki's early, and beloved, Kitaro stories, making them available for the first time in English, in an all-new, kid-friendly format. These stories are from the golden era of the late 1960s, when Gegege no Kitaro truly hit its stride as an all-ages supernatural series. Mizuki's Kitaro stories are both timelessly relevant and undeniably influential, inspiring a decades-long boom in stories about yokai, Japanese ghosts, and monsters. "Kitaro's Birthday" reveals the origin story of the yokai boy Kitaro and his tiny eyeball father, Medama Oyaji. "Neko Musume versus Nezumi Otoko" is the first of Mizuki's stories to feature the popular recurring character Neko Musume, a little girl who transforms into a cat when she gets angry or hungry. Other stories in The Birth of Kitaro draw heavily from Japanese folklore, with Kitaro taking on legendary Japanese yokai like the Nopperabo and Makura Gaeshi, and fighting the monstrous recurring villain Gyuki. With more than 150 pages of spooky and often funny comics about the titular yokai boy, The Birth of Kitaro is the perfect introduction to the award-winning author Mizuki's most popular series, seminal comics that have won the hearts of Japanese children and adults for more than half a century.

Tegneserie - graphic novel. A autobiographical and historical account of Showa-era Japan

Everyone has heard of vampires and werewolves, but how many have heard of the rokuro-kubi, the tsuchinoki or the sagari? Japan has a wealth of ghosts and monsters, collectively called yokai, which are totally unknown in the West. The bizarre and wonderful folklore of Japan includes giant corpse-eating rabbits, flaming pigs that steal human genitals, perverse water goblins, blood sucking trees, a dragon that impregnates women, cats who animate dead bodies, a zombie whale and a huge flesh eating sea cucumber that grows from a pair of discarded knickers!

"A modern day Lafcadio Hearn is picking up his ghostly torch. Zack Davisson is the author, translator, and folklorist following in Hearn's footsteps." —tofugu.com Mysterious demons, ghosts and monsters have haunted Japan for centuries! The Ultimate Guide to Japanese Yokai presents 100 of the strangest creatures you have ever seen—from evil demons and terrifying monsters to mythical ghosts and enchanted beasts. In this book, Yokai expert Zack Davisson explains how Yokai are highly elusive, and yet without understanding them you will never truly know Japan. The Yokai profiled in this book include: Amabie: A mysterious half fish, half bird creature said to heal any affliction merely by gazing upon its image Tofu Kozo: A harmless Yokai that appears like a young child dressed in a fancy kimono with a straw hat carrying a plate of wobbly tofu Kyokotsu: The pitiful spirit of a person who was thrown down a well and died—with pale skin and a shock of white hair growing from a bleached-white skull Akaname: A disgusting Yokai who skitters about licking the scum from filthy bathtubs Kanibozu: Massive crabs, who shapeshift into human form, disguising themselves as monks asking riddles, but killing anyone who fails to answer correctly! And many more! Packed with interesting facts and entertaining stories, this book is richly illustrated with over 250 color woodblock prints and paintings that reveal the fascinating world of the Yokai.