It's sort of surprising that Japan's
Kappa... cute creeps that appear as half-turtle, half-hominid river spirits... aren't better known outside of their native haunt considering how hugely popular they are there. I mean, the Kappa is probably Japan's most famous monster. From the great
Shigeru Mizuki's adorably weird
Sanpei the Kappa
to the classic brushy comic strip work of Kon Shimizu (Kappa Tengoku, Kowataro the Kappa, etc.) which became the
spokesmonsters of
Kizakura Sake for
many decades, Kappa are a big part of Japanese pop culture.
Not that these river-dwelling pranksters are a modern phenomenon, though... no, sir! Kappa are venerable
Yokai, and have been a part of Japanese folklore for
centuries. I was just re-watching Miike's
The Great Yokai War again, and loving the depiction of Kawataro the Kappa (named for the Shimizu character? See responses...). Frankly, you can't have a Yokai movie (from the
Yokai Monsters trilogy from the 1960's, to the recent monsterpiece
Kibakichi)
without a Kappa! This guy Kyoichi Shimazaki, AKA
Ghostman, has some really wonderful effects makeup and behind the scenes images on his site, including the stunning Kappa creation pictured below. Wish I knew what it was created for, but I can't read Japanese.Follow the links and discover the Kappa, my friends. But don't get too close to the water!
