Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch and Grassman, can be found in Native American folklore and in modern sightings. I know many people who have seen Bigfoot or something like it. Not far from my hometown, History Channel filmed a documentary about the Grassman version of Bigfoot. I’ve been all over those forests and had seen…
Category: Folklore Explained
Ancient Appreciation for Objects: A Lesson for Modern Life
Recently, I cleaned out my wardrobe. I pulled two large garbage bags of clothes to donate. I don’t need a month’s worth of clothes that I don’t wear. However, I felt a strange reluctance to donate them. I’m attached to some because they were gifts. While I sorted, some Japanese and Ainu folklore came…
Understanding Japanese Talismans, Amulets, and Good-luck Charms
Talismans, amulets, and good-luck charms appear throughout anime. Japan isn’t unique for having these–every culture has their own version–but Japanese charms have become a bit more international with their appearance in manga and anime. Some work similar to the American lucky-rabbit’s foot. Others are rather different. Talismans and other charms overlap with toys in Japanese…
Myths, Folk Tales, Fairy Tales, and Urban Legends Defined and Explained
The differences among myths, folk tales, fairy tales, and urban legends can be a bit confusing, but understanding the differences matters. Anime pulls from a large pool of Japanese stories, and sometimes anime can be tough to fully understand without a background in these stories. In fact, modern story telling owes their plots, character types,…
Chasing Nightmares – Kanashibari
The Dark Presser. The Old Hag. The Ghost Presser. Alien Abduction. No matter what cultural form it takes, kanashibari excites and terrifies. Between 40-50% of people will have at least one experience of kanashibari in their lifetimes (Schegoleva, 2002). In the West, we know it as sleep paralysis. Nightmares and sleep paralysis happen together during…
What is a Myth?
Myth is a word that gets thrown around a lot in media, and it is almost always used wrong. For many, myth is a synonym for lie. We say something is a myth in order to avoid the harsher word lie. Some of this comes from our Western Judaeo-Christian perspective. Creation stories from other religions,…