The History Of Vampires In Japanese Media

Anyone who’s familiar with anime, manga, video games or many other forms of Japanese media will know that vampires are a popular subject with numerous vampire fictions being created throughout the history of these mediums. However, it may surprise you to learn that vampires have only recently grown popular in Japan and, so, I thought I’d take a look at the history of vampires in Japanese media.

To begin, it’s interesting to note that vampires are foreign to Japan with vampires typically associated with European mythology. However, blood-drinking creatures can be found in a wide variety of cultures worldwide and Japan is no exception. Amongst the yokai of Japan, two particularly notable examples that drink blood are the Rokurokubi, creatures who look like women but are capable of extending their neck in a snake-like manner or even detaching their head and flying around, and the Nure-onna, creatures that look like snakes with the head of women, sometimes with arms as well, that uses their tongue to suck the blood out of a body.

There are some rare examples of vampire media in Japan prior to World War II but it was afterwards in the 1950s when the novel Dracula was translated into Japanese and films such as the 1933 adaptation of Dracula and the 1922 unauthorised adaptation Nosferatu were released that vampires began to enter Japanese popular culture in a significant manner. Films such as Vampire Moth (1956) and Onna Kyuketsuki (1959) were soon made and these cemented the vampire as a basis for many works of Japanese fiction.

Beyond further films such as The Bloodthirsty Trilogy, vampires began to make their way to other mediums. With regards to manga, it’s interesting to note that the God of Manga himself, Osamu Tezuka, wrote a few manga dedicated to vampires. His manga The Vampires, which ran from 1966-67, is one of the earliest vampire manga that I’m aware of while Don Dracula, which was released in 1979, was another notable release from him. Since then, we’ve seen numerous vampire manga such as Hellsing, Rosario + Vampire, Vampire Knight and many others and even light novels such as the very notable Vampire Hunter D. Many of these popular vampire manga and light novels have been adapted into anime but it’s also worth noting a few original vampire anime such as Blood: The Last Vampire and Nightwalker.

When it comes to video games, by far and away the most famous Japanese game series revolving around vampires is Castlevania, a series spanning numerous games, some of which are considered to be amongst the best video games ever made! A more recent example of a vampire focused Japanese video game would be Code Vein which is a souls-like with a strong anime aesthetic and where blood is in short supply, leading to conflict amongst the vampire factions. Additionally, vampiric creatures are a common sight as regular monsters or bosses in many Japanese video games.

Vampires are very popular in modern Japanese popular culture but it’s interesting to learn about the steady growth of Japanese vampire media in recent history. Let me know your thoughts on the history of vampires in Japanese media, what the earliest Japanese vampire media you’re aware of are, which have been your favourites and least favourites, any other creatures of Japanese mythology that resemble vampires and any additional information you might have on the topic.

Thanks for reading and if you wish to seek any of the titles I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs! Also feel free to follow my curator page on Steam “JRPG Reviews” for thoughts and opinions on any JRPGs that I play and my YouTube channel “Victory Achieved Gaming” where I guide my friend through challenging games.