Category Archives: Japanese

We Eat Your Dreams

Posted on February 2, 2013 by

The baku is basically a creature from Chinese and Japanese mythology that feeds on dreams. Despite this odd habit, and sometimes because of it, they’re generally considered to be helpful. A baku, when summoned through such means as a drawing … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Chinese, Japanese, Monsters, Mythology, Pokémon, Video Games | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Plumbers in Flight

Posted on October 6, 2011 by

Yes, apparently Super Mario 3D Land will include the Tanooki Suit, but you won’t be able to fly with it. There’s a bit about it here. I remember when I first read about Super Mario Bros. 3 (this was before … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Japanese, Mario, Mythology, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Oh Susano, Don’t You Cry for Me

Posted on August 7, 2011 by

Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series includes several deities from classical mythology. Some of them, like Odin, Thor, Loki, and Bast, are pretty well-known, and I’ve already covered them in other posts. Another former god, Pharamond, is presented as if a traditional … Continue reading →

Posted in Comics, Dragon Quest, Japanese, Mythology, Religion, Shinto, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mononoke-osis

Posted on May 11, 2011 by

On Sunday night, I stayed up late watching Princess Mononoke. Since Beth didn’t like Spirited Away, which I thought was quite good, I decided it would make sense to see this one alone. The fact that I had trouble staying … Continue reading →

Posted in Cartoons, Japanese, Mythology, VoVat Goes to the Movies | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Swords So Leisured

Posted on April 7, 2011 by

While the Final Fantasy games each have their own worlds and storylines, there are some common elements throughout the series, including the names of certain items. I believe every game in the series so far has a sword called the … Continue reading →

Posted in Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Historical Personages, History, Japan, Japanese, Mythology, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Earthquake Brings All the Fish to the Pond

Posted on March 27, 2011 by

You may have noticed I haven’t written anything in my blogs about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, aside from my post on Ann Coulter’s bizarre take on radiation. Generally, I’ll only post about current events if I can find … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Current Events, Japanese, Mythology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A Brief Visit to Tir na n’Og

Posted on March 19, 2011 by

Before the exploration of the world made it necessary for fairylands to be located in alternate universes, dimensional pockets, or far-off planets, it was pretty common for the writers of legends to set them in unexplored or barely explored regions … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Lewis, Celtic, Chronicles of Narnia, Japanese, Mythology, Oz | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Who Put the Thwomp in the Thwomp-Ba-Domp-Ba-Domp?

Posted on October 20, 2010 by

Moving on down the list of Mario enemies (well, figuratively speaking, anyway; I’m not actually working from a list, and I’m not sure how many more I’ll write posts about), we come to the Thwomps, giant stone blocks with faces … Continue reading →

Posted in Japanese, Mario, Mythology, Video Games, Zelda | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Things to Do in Japan When You’re Dead

Posted on October 16, 2010 by

For my next post on the afterlife, we turn eastward. Well, eastward from where I am, anyway; I guess I don’t know where you are when you’re reading this. The idea of ancestor worship is one that has shown up … Continue reading →

Posted in Buddhism, Dragon Quest, Japanese, Mario, Mythology, Religion, Shinto, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Nintendo’s Mythtakes

Posted on July 29, 2010 by

Anyone who’s familiar with the game Kid Icarus probably realizes that a lot of the character names are based on Greek mythology. How well do these characters actually conform to their portrayals in mythology, though? In most cases, not so … Continue reading →

Posted in Greek Mythology, Japanese, Kid Icarus, Mythology, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments