Folklorist YUMOTO Kōichi, Japan’s foremost yōkai collector. April 2019 saw the opening of the Yumoto Koichi Memorial Japan Yokai Museum (Miyoshi Mononoke Museum) in Miyoshi City, which houses Yumoto san’s extensive collection of over 5,000 yōkai objects and pieces of art. Located in Hiroshima Prefecture, the city of Miyoshi was the setting of a series of hauntings that formed the basis of a well-known ghost story from the Edo Period. The museum provides the means for Yumoto san to preserve and pass on the yōkai collection that he spent decades putting together. As Yumoto san was preparing for the opening of the new yōkai museum, we talked to him about his life’s work and why yōkai continue to hold such a strong appeal.