R2 – ようかい

Which Yokai did you pick? Why?

I chose the Shojo Yokai because it’s translation stuck out to me. Shojo roughly translates to “Drunken ape”. It was also funny learning about what the drunken apes do. All they do is drink alcohol on the beach, and sometimes prank sailors.

Name some characteristics and provide a background/history on your Yokai.

As I said before, the Shojo only really get drunk and mess around. They sing, dance play on the beach, and just enjoy life. They prefer not to bother humans, but if they do come across them, they can understand and even mimic the human language. Drunken apes absolutely love sake and other alcohols, and can even brew their own. Although uncommon, when encountering humans, they are friendly and gentle. When drunken apes are feeling devious, they sometimes steal sake from sailors and jump in the sea.

Do you think Japanese Yokai differ from Western monsters and mythical creatures? Explain. 

Yokai are a lot scarier in my opinion compared to western monsters. The scariest monster I can think of from the west would be a skinwalker, maybe bigfoot. I read one of the Yokai stories and in that story a girl got assaulted, hit by a train (losing her lower half in the process), and she now crawls around at 150 kmh with a sickle, trying to find people to chop in half. Japanese Yokai definitely have a longer history and are in my opinion, a lot scarier.

Do you believe in Yokai, monsters, ghosts, or mythical creatures? Why or why not?

I would sure hope that some Yokai are real, more specifically the drunken apes, I can’t say I believe in them. The same thing goes for monsters or mythical creatures, but ghosts are a different story. I actually do believe in ghosts, at least the idea that when you die you can float around and mess with people.

A drunk ape
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