Can anyone recommend a good book on Japanese and Chinese mythology and forklore? Things such as the Japanese yokai (monsters) and the Chinese "Month of the Hungry Ghosts" when ancestors were meant to return and feast with their still-living relatives. I'm wanting to write a story based on this premise and want a good book to base it all on, rather than jump around on the internet and wiki.
I've heard of (but never actually read) Handbook of Chinese Mythology by Lihui Yang. I'm not sure if this book will help you find exactly what you're looking for, but I thought I'd mention it anyways. It might be a good starting point.
I don't know if this is going to help at all but an anime called Natsume's Book of Friends deals with things about Yokai. Again, I don't know if this is will help but I think it's worth taking a look at.
I downloaded a book for my Kindle that contained Japanese mythologies and folklore (also, you misspelled folklore as forklore, tee hee). I think it was free. Joseph Campbell has a book called Oriental Mythologies from his Masks of God series.
Thank you everyone, I'll check them all out As for the anime, well it can't hurt to have a look lol, I enjoy anime a lot! I've come across anime with yokai before (they're pretty common), but who knows. Nastyjman - re my spelling mistake, all I can say is, noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
