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Articles on Monsters

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Monsters and spirits –including ‘tsukumogami,’ which are made of everyday objects – in the ‘Hyakki-Yagyō-Emaki’ scroll, painted between the 14th and 16th centuries. Wikimedia Commons

Japan’s ‘waste not, want not’ philosophy has deep religious and cultural roots, from monsters and meditation to Marie Kondo’s tidying up

Shinto and Buddhist ideas about interconnectedness have deeply influenced Japan, shaping centuries-old rituals and stories whose impact continues today.
A still from the new film Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which opens this week. In a time of environmental destruction, Godzilla is the perfect monster to represent the consequences of humanity’s actions. Warner Bros/IMDB

Why Godzilla is the perfect monster for our age of environmental destruction

Popular monsters often reflect humanity’s greatest fears. Godzilla, with its destructive rampages, is the foremost monster for our age of environmental threat.
In Ancient Greek texts, the king Lycaon is punished for misdeeds by being turned into a wolf. Wikimedia

The ancient origins of werewolves

The earliest surviving example of man-to-wolf transformation is found in The Epic of Gilgamesh, from around 2,100 BC. But the werewolf as we now know it first appeared in ancient Greece and Rome.
Have you seen a mermaid? Shutterstock

Curious Kids: Are mermaids real?

Even if mermaids aren’t real, they’ll likely feature in human stories for many years to come. Very few mythical creatures are found in so many diverse cultures, across so many years without changing.

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