Categorization of Yōkai - Ever Miller
Yokai Jiten Encyclopedia, Murakami Kenshi, link
Yōkai have been classified in a variety of ways throughout history, as have the developing cultural views toward them. The classification of yōkai serves as a way to cope with the unknown, preserve culture, and create art. Nonetheless, the taxonomy of yōkai is forever changing.
Historically, Yōkai served as a way to relieve Japanese people of dissonance in their rationality and reality. It is thought that fears and anxieties were the first manifestations of yōkai (Exploring the Thrill of Japanese Folklore 6:38). During the Edo period (1603-1867), there was a significant shift in how yōkai were portrayed. Where they once were persevered by folk tales and word of mouth, yōkai began to be classified and documented.
Toriyama Sekien (1712-1788) was a key figure in the categorization of yōkai, and his catalogs combined a wide range of yōkai and stories into easily accessible reference points (Shamoon 277). Sekien's work helped to standardize and cement the knowledge of yōkai, the encyclopedic method of organizing material being critical to this process (De-Mystifying of Yōkai). Yōkai were increasingly documented in encyclopedias and literature, making their stories and traits more widely known.
The fact that yōkai continues to be popular in contemporary culture emphasizes how important it is to classify them. Because of their deep cultural roots and symbolic meaning, yōkai have become part of everyday lives. Advertisements and folk stories using yōkai are still part of Japanese culture today. They serve especially well with companies that want royalty-free characters with a strong emotional appeal (Shamoon 279). A Modern-day example of the strong cultural prevalence of yōkai is the Covid-19 pandemic. The yōkai called Amabie (categorized in 1846) saw a resurgence in use during the pandemic. Amabie was thought to bring protection against fevers and pandemics (Exploring the Thrill of Japanese Folklore 19:21). Without the categorization and database of yōkai, this culture would go extinct.
The classification of yōkai served as a critical step in the preservation of yōkai and folklore. Yōkai was initially created to classify the unknown. However, that changed with history. Along with encyclopedias and the strive towards taxonomy and organization being extremely relevant in the Edo period, the rapid development of ideas and technology brought forth a new reason to identify and classify yōkai for cultural preservation, art, and expression.