Transformation of Image of Yōkai in Japanese Culture: From Arts to Theories

In different periods, the very approaches to determine types of yōkai differ significantly, and it seems the researchers have not yet developed a unified view on principles of yōkai categorization. The objective of this article is to conceptualize the phenomenon of yōkai and frame some theoretical and methodological approaches to its considering in the traditional Japanese culture. The research methodology covers a set of general methods, such as objectivity and historicism, analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction. In addition, a critical method was applied, through which both Japanese folk beliefs and trends in the Japanese fine art were compared in different periods. The scientific originality comes to complex research of theoretical and methodological approaches of the phenomenon of yōkai as an important factor of development of the Japanese culture. On Japan’s example, the authors show the phenomenon of yōkai in the light of developing a cultural tradition and highlight some milestones of evolution of this phenomenon, which is still important in the contemporary Japanese culture. It is discovered that yōkai had turned into a subject for academic research in Meiji period (mid-19th century), after a categorization and classification of this phenomenon by Inoue Enryō, Lafcadio Hearn, Ema Tsutomu, Yanagita Kunio, etc. References to yōkai can be found from ancient monuments and sources of Japanese history to popular culture and entertainment industry. When tracing the evolution of the phenomenon of yōkai throughout various periods of Japanese history, we can find evidence of shaping the approaches to its interpretations by both researchers and creative artists. From ancient time till present day, yōkai implications are essential for the Japanese culture, come through numerous traditional and modern arts, that indicates their importance over many generations of people.