I went to Japan three years ago on a study abroad program (also visited again 2 months ago), and I stayed with the same host family both times. My family had two relatively young brothers in it, and I remember my host mom always told them not to wander at night or yokais will snatch them away. This is very similar to American, or really any other culture, in which parents will use scary beings to keep their children safe. Kind of ironic in my opinion.
This week I watched a film called Uzumaki, which means "spiral" or "vortex in Japanese. Based on a Japanese manga series (which I also read), the spirals control the lives of people of a small town, and terrorize the citizens. For example, in the beginning of the movie, a man is obsessed with drawing spirals, and calls it the most amazing form of art. As his obsession grows out of control, he forces himself in a washing machine and "becomes", a spiral. These type of things become more and more serious and grotesque. For example, a woman burns her fingertips to get rid of the spirals on them. But, she forgot about her cochlea, which a millipede decided to live in. Obviously, she goes insane. Contrary to American horror, this film doesn't have closure. In the end, theres only one person left in the town, and it doesn't say whether he lives or dies. American horror usually has a clean ending, whether everyone dies or no one dies, or just some people die. But usually a problem is resolved. In this film, and in a lot of Japanese horror theres a very open ending, with a lot of things going on around the main character, but the main character being relatively unaffected by it.
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