The Night Parade - Experiencing the Folklore-Based Japanese Imaginary Between Wabi-Sabi and the Uncanny

Aug 26, 2026

Japanese aesthetics are presented as a complex cultural system shaped by historical exchanges distinct from Western ethical categories of “good” and “pure.” The study examines wabi-sabi as a central, elusive aesthetic concept and argues it aligns with aspects of the uncanny found in folklore-derived modern works. After comparing Western and Eastern art-philosophical lines, the paper analyzes uncanny liminal figures such as youkai and identifies elements that render them wabi-sabi. It further traces how these characters sustain and transform in manga and anime, renewing folklore for new media and generations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time17 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Wabi-sabi and the Uncanny

Youkai in Japanese Mythology

Contemporary Media: Manga and Anime

“THE NIGHT PARADE”. EXPERIENCING THE FOLKLORE-BASED JAPANESE IMAGINARY BETWEEN WABISABI AND THE UNCANNY CĂLIN LUPIȚU􀀪 ABSTRACT. Unlike the relatively uncomplicated aesthetics permeating the cultural history of the western world, tied up since Greek Antiquity and the advent of Christianity with such ethical categories as the good and the pure, Japanese aesthetics are intricately distinct, as both the lifeblood and the reflection of the various cultural ripples to have swept across the Land of the Rising Sun. The author sets out on a foray into a most central category of Japanese aesthetics, the elusive wabisabi, which he argues is not too removed, particularly in some of its aspects captured in folkloric and folkloric-derived modern works, from the more western category of the uncanny. After certain theoretical considerations connecting the main lines of western and eastern art philosophy to compare and contrast wabisabi and the uncanny, the paper focuses on specific iconic examples of uncanny characters in Japanese mythology, e.g. such liminal creatures as the mischievous and bizarre youkai. This is to point out the elements rendering them wabisabi and just what cognitive and artistic effects their twinned aesthetics instills into the collective consciousness. Last but not least, the author investigates the productivity of such characters into modern media, particularly in the pop culture phenomena of manga and anime, where indeed Japanese folklore continues to not only survive but thrive by reinventing itself for each coming age and medium, so as to thrill and inspire new generations with flights of fancy concealing truths fundamental to the human experience. KEY WORDS: aesthetics, alterity, anime/manga, Japanese folklore, liminality, uncanny, wabisabi, youkai In his 2001 book on traditional Japanese aesthetics and art, Antanas Andrijauskas makes the apt claim that: The evolution of aesthetic thought in the Land of the Rising Sun gave birth to a world of unique categories, to distinctive principles of aesthetic understanding and art appreciation. In no other country on earth have aesthetic feeling and artistic values been able to take such firm root in everyday life. […] One of the most distinctive features of Japanese culture and aesthetic consciousness is that those areas of human creative expression which remain marginal in other cul- 􀀪 CĂLIN LUPIȚU (PhD) holds his degree in Intercultural Humanities from Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany. His research interests include: world mythology and its reinvention in postmodern media; spirituality, liminality and alterity; the monstrous and theuncanny; labyrinthine spaces, proper and of the mind; layers of (intertextual) symbolism. E-mail: [calin.d.lupitu@gmail.com](calin.d.lupitu@gmail.com). CAESURA 1.2 (2014) 38 CĂLIN LUPIŢU tures acquire extreme importance in Japan and become the focus of intense aesthetic reflection and artistic creation (Andrijauskas, 2001: 9.1) . Indeed, isolated for much of its history via its geopolitical circumstances, Japan has developed its unique culture, often paradoxical in many of its aesthetic and cognitive aspects to the untrained eye of an outsider—even after, or perhaps also due to, the eventual absorption of foreign influences beginning with the Meiji Reformation in the nineteenth century. A historical melting pot of primarily such religions as Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism, and local tribal animism (e.g. of the Ainu people), Japanese culture blends order and chaos in its spirituality and aesthetics, none too surprising in a human society having flourished on a precarious volcanic archipelago continually swept by earthquakes, typhoons and tsunamis. As such, the major concepts of Japanese aesthetics revolve around harmony and natural simplicity, of which perhaps the best-known is the wabisabi. Broadly speaking, wabisabi may be related to finding beauty in what is apparently flawed or incomplete and certainly perishable

FAQs

What does the paper argue about the relationship between wabi-sabi and the uncanny?

It argues that wabi-sabi is not far from the uncanny in some of its aspects, especially as captured in folkloric and folklore-derived modern works.

Which examples of uncanny figures does the paper focus on?

The paper focuses on iconic uncanny characters in Japanese mythology, particularly liminal youkai such as mischievous and bizarre creatures.

How are these folklore-based characters said to function in modern media?

The paper investigates their productivity in modern media, especially in manga and anime, where Japanese folklore is reinvented to survive and thrive across ages and mediums.

Aug 26, 2026

Upload by Clementine