Dedicated to the study of fairies.                           .                                           

 
Fairy Tales Home
Fairies

Norse-Franco-German Fairy Tales
Norse Franco German Fairies
Gernan Fairy Tales
Swedish Fairy Tales
Norwegian Fairy Tales

French Fairy Tales
& More tales

Celtic Fairy Tales
Celtic Fairies
Welsh Fairy Tales
Irish Fairy Tales
& More Tales


Fairy Blog
Fairy Songs
Origins of Europes Fairies
& More Fairy Articles

Finno-Baltic-Siberian Fairy Tales
Finno-Baltic-Siberian Fairies
Finnish Mythology
Estonian Mythology
Mari-el Fairy Tales
& More Tales

Greco-Roman Mythology
Greco-Roman Fairies
Greek Fairy Tales
Roman Mythology


Slavic Mythology
Slavic Fairies
Russian Fairy Tales
Polish Fairy Tales
& More Tales


Tales of Other Lands
Fairies of Other Lands
Japanese Fairy Tales
Chinese Folktales
& More Tales

Fairy Tales for Kids
Children's Dutch Fairy Tales
Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know




Fairy Tale Stories      Children's Fairy Tales      Fairies       Faery Woodlands Magazine      Blog     About

Fairies of Other Lands

Japanese Kami and Yokai
Kami - Some Kami are in many ways similar to the original fairy beliefs of Europe, and it is these Kami which this website is primarily concerned with.
Kami is a complex term, one which is often translated into English as spirit, god or occasionally fairy. In truth all of these terms may fit sometimes but not all the time. Fairies might seem to fit the best if given the original place of fairies in European mythology but in modern lore the term has changed so much that most people who have not studied fairies extensively would not see this.
Yokai  -
Yokai are magical beings in the Japanese belief systems which exist outside the sacred space of Kami. There isn't a hard or fast definition to Yokai because of all the folklore and religions I've studied none has so many different types of beings as the Japanese do. In essence, however, Yokai can be said to supernatural beings which for whatever reason are not considered to be Kami or some other supernatural being.

Kalasha and Nurastani of the Hindu Kush

Wedged high in the Hindukush of North Afghanistan and Pakistan, in some of the most isolated valley’s in the world rests a series of small villages whose people have retained the roots of their Indo-European pagan faith and their belief in fairy like peoples even as the people around them converted to Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and then Islam. It was only a century ago that the Nuristani peoples of Afghanistan converted to Islam and even now some Kalasha people never have. They still live in a world of fairies with sacred lakes from which the rivers spring and mountain gods which guard each of their valleys. They create effigies to those who have passed on from whom they seek guidance and help. Their culture is filled with respect for the natural world which still holds their deities and the fairies on which their crops and lives depend as well as the fear of evil beings which live in the valleys and lakes around them, beings which resemble the fairies, giants and hags of European fairy tales.