Matt Alt from AltJapan sent me this book he and Hiroko Yoda wrote about Japanese monsters. He must have known of my infatuation (perhaps long-term romance is another word) with Godzilla and other monsters, so of course, I enjoyed going through it immensely.

The great thing about this book is the general feel of it. It’s the size of a normal Japanese book (which tend to be smaller and sexier), but it also reminds me of manga that you would find in Japan. Still, on the other hand, the inside is more like a book (though with tons of pictures). The illustrations are really great, and the content is a mix between “facts” and “stories,” which is something I dig as a blogger (separating out information into categories makes things easier to read!).

There’s a little over forty “Yokai” featured in this book, all consisting of a few pages each (including illustration) spanning five chapters (Ferocious Fiends, Gruesome Gourmets, Annoying Neighbors, The Sexy & Slimy, and The Whimps). The stories are for the most part really interesting (think “Japanese Monster History Lessons.” Why couldn’t we have that in school?), and even include funny bits like “favorite foods” and “surviving an encounter.”

At the end of the book there are also some “Yokai Resources,” which I got a kick out of, including this one, which is the “Strange Phenomenon and Yokai Legend Database” (You’ll need to read Japanese for this one, though).

Overall, this was a really fun and smooth read, especially with the awesome illustration. I suppose I only have one complaint about it, and I’m sure many of you can guess what it is. No Godzilla. That makes Godzilla (and me) very very sad Godzilla Pandas.

But besides that, it was an awesome book, and I found myself wishing I had lifesized posters of some of the monsters on my wall. It’s on Amazon, and it’s pretty cheap, so if you like Japanese Monsters (or have a significant other that does), go get it before the rest of your stocks flo

*update: Aww, so I suppose Godzilla isn’t a Yokai. Oops on that one. Godzilla > Yokai ;)