Noriko T. Reider. Seven Demon Stories from Medieval Japan. (Boulder: 2016, University Press of Colorado. Pp. 292. ISBN: 978-1-60732-489-8.)

Abstract

Demons, ogres, and oni, or Japanese supernatural creatures, have been central to Japanese culture for hundreds of years. In Seven Demon Stories from Medieval Japan, Noriko T. Reider writes, "to study the oni in Japanese folklore is to study humanity" (250), and after reading this volume, it is easy to see why this might be the case. Universal themes of human society, such as good and evil, mortality, religion, ethics, sexuality, and political conflict, are explored in oni stories, and in Seven Demon Stories, Reider provides a clear, accessible overview of a selection of this oni literature.