Welcome to The Avocado’s weekly discussion of Japanese pop culture! I originally intended to post this during October, but I completely forgot (I can’t imagine what I was distracted by…😅). But hey, better late than never! If you’re planning a trip to Japan in the future, I highly recommend making your way north of Tokyo to check out the Kitakami Oni Museum (北上市立鬼の館) in Iwate (岩手県). It’s a small but incredible collection of monsters/yokai/oni/demons from all over Japan. I don’t know if this is always there, but when we were there last August they had a dark room decorated like a forest where you watched a short film that was one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced. After you leave that room, you enter the full museum area which is just full of masks, costumes, videos and flyers from various festivals, photographs, and interactive displays. A central piece had these large pillars with text that you could read as you stood on a platform. I can’t be confident about this translation, but this is what I recorded a the time:

The image of demons that we have today has been cultivated throughout history and is the product of past experiences. Unknown demons may be waiting in the darkness to be given form.

Well, we will be deciding little by little what kind of demons will appear in the future, so we will continue to listen to the demons’ cries, sense their presence, and hope for a chance to encounter as we search for a way to coexist.

Kind of beautiful, honestly. It was seriously one of the best places I’ve ever been, and I would definitely go back if given the chance. You can see some of the photos I took here, or you can visit their website.

And, as always…

What have you been watching/reading/playing/eating/listening to lately?

Happy Wednesday! 🍙