I’ve been behind with my book projects; I didn’t release anything last year. But publishing can take more time than you’d expect. I have several books awaiting release this year and next year. The first will be Kappa The Deadly Finger Puller and Bonesetter. In this brief book, I trace the traits and origins of the kappa. I also include a selection of common, archetypal stories. Here’s the blurb:
Kappa are best known as cute turtle-like mascots, advertising Japan’s rural tourism and other projects. But their folklore nature is far from cute and cuddly. Kappa kill people and eat people’s souls. They enjoy drowning horses and love to sumo wrestle. They also have an affinity for women…
Kappa have a complex origin that reaches far outside of Japan, with related folktales stretching all the way to Scotland. The kappa shares some surprising links with divine horses, boy heroes, and even dragons! This book explores the kappa and includes some of the most common, archetypal kappa stories.
I was surprised to find that despite how popular the kappa is, it doesn’t have many folktales. Most are variations of a handful of stories with some scenes added or removed. Some are regional with the more common tellings involving some other animal. Kunio Yanagita had more to write concerning the horses the kappa troubles than about the kappa itself. This made the research difficult for this project. Historically, kappa stories weren’t as widespread as tanuki and fox stories were. Kappa tales didn’t become common until the Edo period and, more widely, around the mid 1900s.
As usual, I appreciate your reviews and comments, on and off Amazon. They help my books, especially new books, reach a wider audience, and my books are pretty niche! You can download the ebook for free over at Amazon from March 19-23.
