Abstract
In this chapter, I discuss the Japanese vampire within the wider framework of the vengeful [female] ghost arguing that Western-type vampires which can be found in contemporary Japanese cinema are an import rather than being indigenous. While the figure of the ghost as vampire represents female fury at male infidelity and intimacy, the figure of the vampire as foreign other mediates on concerns over national identity and fears around Westernization. At the same time, I demonstrate that the “vampire” in Japanese cinema is often a composite figure, merging monsters that are separate in Western mythology, not just the vampire and ghost but also the werewolf and the vampire, and zombie and vampire. In order to do this, I trace the etymology of the yang-sucking ghost in Chinese and Japanese folklore alongside the transmission of the Western vampire in Japan in the 1930s. Following this, I offer a close analysis of The Bloodthirsty Trilogy alongside Shimizu’s Marebito (2004) and Howling Village (2021), and Best Wishes to All (2023) in order to trace the diverse mechanisms through which the vampire is represented in Japanese cinema.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Balmain, C. 2023. Review of Best wishes to all. easternKicks. https://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/best-wishes-to-all/. Accessed 9 Aug 2023.
Bargen, D.G. 1988. Spirit possession in the context of dramatic expressions of gender conflict: The Aoi Episode of the Genji monogatari. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 48 (1): 95–130.
Bargen, D.G., and M. Shikibu. 1997. A woman’s weapon: Spirit possession in the tale of Genji. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Crandol. 2021. Ghost in the well the hidden history of horror films in Japan. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Davis, F.H. 2003. Myths and legends of Japan. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications.
Doyle, A.C. 1902. The hound of the Baskervilles. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2852/2852-h/2852-h.htm. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.
Gelder, K. 2012. Citational vampires: Transnational techniques of circulation in Irma Vep, Blood: The last vampire and thirst. In Transnational and postcolonial vampires: Dark blood, ed. T. Khair and J. Höglund, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 81–104.
Gordon, J., and V. Hollinger, eds. 1997. Blood read: The vampire as metaphor in contemporary culture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
HakuLovesPopCorn. 2020. The Inuaki village. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/UrbanlegendsofJapan/comments/gu0swg/the_inunaki_village/. Accessed 9 Aug 2023.
Hampl, J.S., and W.S. Hampl. 1997. Pellagra and the origin of a myth: Evidence from European literature and folklore. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 90 (11): 636–639.
Hearn, L. 2017. Kotto [edition unavailable]. Perlego. https://www.perlego.com/book/1717544/kotto-being-japanese-curios-with-sundry-cobwebs-pdf. Accessed 9 Aug 2023.
Hutchings, P. 2011. Dracula’s Eastern legacy: Japanese vampire films of the 1970s. Asian Cinema 22 (1): 10–19.
Khair, T., and J. Höglund. 2012a. Transnational and postcolonial vampires: Dark blood. London: Springer.
———. 2012b. Transnational and postcolonial vampires [edition unavailable]. Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://www.perlego.com/book/3485048/transnational-and-postcolonial-vampires-dark-blood-pdf. Accessed 4 Aug 2023.
Kotani, M. 1997. Techno-Gothic Japan: From Seishi Yokomizo’s The death’s-head stranger to Mariko Ohara’s Ephemera the vampire. In Blood read: The vampire as metaphor in contemporary culture, ed. J. Gordon and V. Hollinger, 189–198. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Kuchta, A., and J. Malita. 2015. Spirit possession and emotional suffering in “The Tale of Genji” and its selected adaptations. A study of love triangle between Prince Genji, Lady Aoi and Lady Rokujo. In Monografia naukowa “Istoty hybrydalne i zmieniające postać w kulturach europejskich i azjatyckich”, ed. K. Kleczkowska and K. Mikoś, 177–188. Krakow: AT Wydawnictwopp.
Lang, A. 1885. Some Japanese bogies. The Magazine of Art 8: 15–20.
Metzer, S. 2016. “She loves the blood of the young”: The bloodthirsty female as cultural mediator in Lafcadio Hearn’s “The Story of Chūgōrō”. In Vampires and zombies: Transcultural migrations and transnational interpretations, ed. D. Fischer-Hornung and M. Mueller. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
Miller, Adam L. 2020. Vampires in Japan: From Yokai to Anime. Journal of Dracula Studies Transylvanian Society of Dracula 94–117. ISSN: 1492-708X.
Monaghan, F. 2011. Vampire of the rising sun. The Escapist Magazine. https://www.escapistmagazine.com/vampire-of-the-rising-sun/. Accessed 8 Aug 2023.
Moskowitz, M. 2004. Yang-Sucking She-Demons. In The minor arts of daily life: Popular culture in Taiwan, ed. D.K. Jordan, A.D. Morris, and M.L. Moskowitz, 204–218. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Ranpo, E. 2023. The lipless man: From the casebook of Akechi Kogoro, Kindle Edition. London: Zakuro Books.
Scanlon, H. 2020. Review of: The vampire lady. Windows on worlds. https://windowsonworlds.com/2020/05/13/the-lady-vampire-女吸血鬼-nobuo-nakagawa-1959/. Accessed 9 Aug 2023.
———. 2022. Review of: The vampire moth. Windows on worlds. https://windowsonworlds.com/2022/10/31/the-vampire-moth-吸血蛾-nobuo-nakagawa-1956/. Accessed 9 Aug 2023.
Shimokusu, M. 2015. Hirai Teiichi, the Japanese translator of Dracula and literary shape-shifter. In Multiple translation communities in contemporary Japan, ed. B. Curran, N. Sato-Rossberg, and K. Tanabe, 169–185. New York: Routledge.
Teodorescu, A. 2020. When monsters collide: The transcultural vampire and its representations in Japanese animation. In Japan beyond its borders: Transnational approaches to film and media, ed. C. Martin, M. Pablo, and N. Morita. Chiba: Seibunsha.
Warner, K. 2018. Review of The vampire doll. City on fire. https://cityonfire.com/evil-of-dracula-1974-review-the-bloodthirsty-roses-arrow-video-dvd-blu-ray/. Accessed 9 Aug 2023.
Zeitlin, J.T. 2017. The phantom heroine: Ghosts and gender in seventeenth-century Chinese literature. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Film Articles
Blood: The Last Vampire (2000) Directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo [DVD, 1217E4D07GW]. Japan: Manga.
Blood: The Last Vampire (2009) Directed by Chris Nahon. Available at: Apple TV. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.
Higanjima: Deluxe aka Nirvana Island: The Last 47 Days (2016) Directed by Takeshi Watanabe. Available at: Netflix. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.
Higanjima: Escape From Vampire Island (2009) Directed by KimTae-gyun. Available at: Apple TV. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.
Vampire Clay (2017) Directed by Sôichi Umezawa. Available at: Prime Video. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.
Vampire Clay 2 (2019) Directed by Sôichi Umezawa. Available at: Prime Video Japan. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.
Vampire Girl versus Frankenstein Girl (2010) Directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura and Naoyuki Tomomatsu [DVD, 5034741380416]. London: 4Digital Asia.
Vampire in Love (2015) Directed by Mai Suzuk. Available at: YouTube. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.
Yakuza Apocalypse (2015) Directed by Takashi Miike. Available at: Prime Video. Accessed 8 Oct 2023.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Balmain, C. (2024). Japanese Vampires. In: Bacon, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the Vampire. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36253-8_39
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36253-8_39
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-36252-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-36253-8
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities