text: Bits and pieces of foreign cultures have gradually trickled into Japan and been absorbed into Japanese culture. This has been happening for thousands of years, through both direct and indirect exchange. Trade and diplomatic missions to China exposed Japan to the gods, traditions, and superstitions of the Asian continent. The ancient Japanese borrowed much from China, including folk religions and mysticism. Practices like onmyōdō (yin-yang magic), astrology, medicine, and methods for appeasing evil spirits were strongly influenced by Chinese philosophy.
  
  The introduction of Buddhism to Japan brought Indian cosmology and philosophy with it, filtered through a Chinese lens. Indian mythology had little trouble being accepted and disseminated throughout Japan. Local Shinto gods and spirits were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddhas and Hindu gods.
  
  Even without direct exchange of stories, it is possible for folklore to travel across the world.
  
  Trade between China and the Near East along the Silk Road have also had an indirect effect on Japanese folklore. As Indian ideas traveled through Central Asia on their way to China, they were influenced by the countries that they passed through, picking up influences from Western and Islamic cultures. For example, the wind bag carried by the Japanese god Fūjin is believed to have originated as the cloak of Boreas, the ancient Greek god of the north wind. Alexander the Great's conquests brought Greek culture and art styles to Central Asia. They fused with Buddhism, and eventually made their way to China, Korea, and then Japan. The effects of this exchange are quite visible in the art history of these countries, but they can also be found in the folklore.
  
  Many of the yōkai in this book have roots in foreign cultures. Centuries of exchange of stories and gods has had a profound effect on the development of Japanese folklore. Over time they evolved and were reinterpreted over and over again, taking on unique identities. They are both foreign-born and authentically Japanese.