Happy Halloween! How I became a "yokai sponsor."

 A dear friend, let's call her "Bridget," sent me a hilarious Halloween card. We are both big fans of the anime series "Natsume's Book of Friends" based on the manga by Yuki Midorikawa. It's a marvelous story about a boy who can see and interact with the spirit or "yokai" world. One of the bittersweet themes of this series is that the yokai world is being diminished by humanity's loss of homage and belief in the spiritual or supernatural.

However, upon finding a gecko charm that looks eerily similar to the lizard yokai that lives on the character Shuuichi Natori, Bridget came up with an ingenious solution: become a yokai sponsor!

In addition to sending me the pictured gecko charm, Bridget included a personal address:

Dear Reader,

Every day thousands of yokai around the world go hungry. Faithless masses no longer believe in the mystical while delinquent youths deface shrines. This behavior has become so rampant that the Soul Umami Philanthropic Phantoms of Entity Relations (S.U.P.P.E.R.) pronounced that this century is looking to be the "worst yet." But you can help right now. As a yokai sponsor you can make the world a more magical place. Please show your support for your friendly yokai neighbors by wearing this snuggle yokai charm which will channel a small portion of your positive energy to a friendly yokai near you whenever you dream.

Sincerely,

Ifrit Drekavac,
President of the Yokai Menu of Friends Foundation


*Personally, I think there is enough fun stuff packed in this paragraph to start another story. Happy Halloween, mina (that's Japanese for "everyone")!

Pumpkin lantern on Nokonoshima Island