The country’s aesthetics and inventions have spread far. It still remains a singular place.

In Japanese folklore, the child-sized Kappa, or ‘river child’ occasionally jumps out of its watery lair to pull pranks, as well as attacking women. Some tales even claim the Kappa pulls people ...

For the Japanese, summer is when the border between the real world and the spirit world becomes weak, and the legendary yōkai can walk among the living. The yōkai are a complex amalgamation of ...