J-Horror
J-Horror is a term used to refer to Japanese contributions to horror fiction in popular culture. J-Horror is noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre in light of western treatments. J-horror tends to focus on psychological horror and tension building (anticipation), particularly involving ghosts and poltergeists, while many contain themes of folk religion such as: possession, exorcism, shamanism, precognition, and yÅkai.
The origin of the J-Horror can be traced to horror and ghost story classics of the Edo period and the Meiji period, which were known as kwaidan. Elements of several of these popular folktales have been worked into the stories of modern films, especially in the traditional nature of the Japanese ghost.
The tradtoional Japanese image of the yÅ«rei, which features prominently in J-Horror, was first introduced to Western popular culture by the Ring (1998). YÅ«rei are Japanese ghosts, ones who have been bound to the physical world through strong emotions which do not allow them to pass on. Depending on the emotion that binds them, they manifest as a particular type of ghost. Most common to J-Horror is the onryÅ, a yÅ«rei bound by a desire for vengeance.
Like many creatures of folklore, like vampires or werewolves, yūrei have a traditional appearance and follow a certain set of rules. They are generally female, although male yūrei do exist. They wear white clothing, which is the color of funeral garb in Japan. They have long, often unkempt black hair, which comes from Kabuki theater where each character has a particular type of wig that identifies them to the audience.
In the past few years several of the more popular Japanese Horror films have been entirely remade. Ring was one of the first to be remade in America as The Ring, and later The Ring Two (although this remake bears almost no similarity to the original Japanese sequel).
Many of the original directors who created these Asian horror films have gone on to direct the American remakes. For example, Hideo Nakata, director of Ring, directed the remake The Ring Two and Takashi Shimizu, director of the original Ju-on, directed the remake The Grudge and its sequel, The Grudge 2.
Several other Asian countries have been remaking these Japanese horror films as well. For example, South Korea created their own version of the J-horror classic Ring, titled The Ring Virus.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “J-Horror“.