The horror tradition hiding behind Muzan’s hat on Demon Slayer
When Tanjiro Kamado first met Muzan Kibutsuji on Demon Slayer, the series’ Big Bad probably wasn’t exactly what most viewers were expecting. For the legendary Demon King who’s been alive for more than a millennium and set Tanjiro on the path to becoming a Demon Slayer by mercilessly slaughtering most of his family, Muzan looked … well, a bit like Michael Jackson from the “Smooth Criminal” video: White pants, white tie, and slightly curled hair falling out from underneath his white hat and all. But that attire represents more than just a bold fashion choice. It’s yet another example of Japanese horror’s tradition of fearing modern things and their corrupting influence.
Demon Slayertakes place during the Taisho Era (1912-1926), a period of steady modernization after the turbulent years of the Meiji Restoration when the shogunate was abolished, the emperor returned to power, and Japan opened its borders to the world. During this time, foreign fashion became very popular in Tokyo and beyond, which Muzan is fully embracing. Demon Slayer isn’t the first work of fiction to link Western-style clothing to something terrifying and sinister. You can find similar themes in one of the first works of modern Japanese fantasy/horror, the same genre that Demon Slayer happens tofind itself in.
Published in 1908, just a few years before the start of the Taisho Era, Ten Nights of Dreams is the work of Natsume Sōseki, one of the most popular writers in Japanese history. Every school in the country covers at least one work by Sōseki, and while the 1908 anthology rarely makes that list, there isn’t a Japanese adult alive who doesn’t know the name of its author.
The stories featured in Ten Nights of Dreams are all mostly unconnected besides
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