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What Are Youkai? Youkai, or yokai as it is sometimes spelled, are quite simply Japanese folk monsters and ghosts. This isn't an entirely comprehensive definition of them, but it essentially defines what youkai are. Youkai may sometimes also include creatures whose origins lie outside of Japan, of course, and I might add here that youkai and their existence is not confined simply to Japan either. Mizuki Shigeru sensei, arguably the world's greatest authority on youkai, believes them to be a kind of Faery and is himself part of a society in Japan who studies the Fae Folk. Whatever you believe, youkai are everywhere and are part of the world around you. They are within you and outside you, and they make up the world with which you interact. Youkai are in Japan and elsewhere, and they are always there, on the edge of your sight, when you're not trying to look at them. When you are, maybe they will hide, or maybe they will show themselves...only youkai know!
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