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00:11 Since ancient times, the Japanese have believed in yokai,
00:15 mysterious beings with supernatural powers.
00:20 These include Tengu, who live deep in the mountains and can fly from peak to peak.
00:28 This yokai, who loves to suddenly appear and give people a fright.
00:36 There's a yokai child who lives in family homes.
00:39 No one can see it, but it's said that if it leaves, the family is sure to break up.
00:48 After yokai were first depicted in this 16th century scroll,
00:52 artists began to visualize these creatures in all their many varieties.
00:58 Many originally terrifying yokai gradually became a familiar part of life.
01:05 Modern manga and anime artists love to depict yokai,
01:10 and works featuring yokai characters are always immensely popular.
01:20 Fukusaki-cho is a town of about 20,000 in the mountains of Hyogo
01:27 that used yokai to revive its community.
01:32 Kappa now dwell in its river.
01:37 That was very real and scary.
01:41 Old folk sayings that tell us to avoid kappa during rainstorms
01:45 were perhaps warning of the danger of rivers flooding.
01:51 The stories about yokai taught people that it was dangerous to do certain things
01:56 and warn them away from hazardous places.
01:59 This is probably why we gradually grew to feel affectionate towards these beings
02:04 and accept them as part of our lives.
02:09 Walking through this town, you'll meet every kind of yokai.
02:13 From an oni taking a selfie
02:17 to a tengu in a business suit working on his laptop.
02:22 Tourists soon began flocking here to see these yokai.
02:31 As COVID-19 continues to spread, a previously little-known yokai has hit the news.
02:39 It's called Amabie. It appeared out of the sea about 180 years ago.
02:46 Amabie left a simple message before vanishing again.
02:50 "If an epidemic strikes, show my image to everyone."
02:57 Shrines and temples around the country took these words to heart,
03:00 producing charms with Amabie's picture.
03:06 "I believe it will keep me safe."
03:10 There are even Amabie figurines and snacks.
03:15 Stuck at home to avoid the virus, people began sharing Amabie images on social media.
03:21 One of the first was Satake Shunsuke.
03:26 "I thought it might cheer people up a little during this time when we can't go out.
03:30 It's a prayer for the epidemic to pass,
03:33 and that what I'm doing will help people in these difficult times."
03:39 Each post on social media brings him a flood of responses.
03:46 All over Japan, people began drawing their own versions of Amabie,
03:50 united in praying that the virus will go away.
03:57 Komatsu Kazuhiko has spent a lifetime researching yokai.
04:02 He tells us that when faced with disaster or disease,
04:06 people in every era turned to yokai for help.
04:11 "After yokai became seen as coming to our aid in times of catastrophe,
04:15 people began to project and externalize their emotional pain and distress
04:19 onto these sympathetic spirit beings."
04:24 The yokai legends mellowed and evolved over the passing centuries,
04:28 and the Japanese today have a great affection for these mysterious creatures.
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