User:Roxanne Fitzwilliam/sandbox

Article Evaluation - Hirabayashi Taiko

 * This article only cites one source, so it definitely needs more sources to be balanced.
 * The author lists Hirabayashi-san's name in Japanese as 平林 たい子 which seems odd to me. There should probably be another kanji in there replacing the hiragana.
 * Several of the linked pages associated with her do not have existing pages. This seems especially odd with the "Women's Literature Prize" because that seems like it would be a pretty large and important thing. There is also no page for "Tenko literature" which seems like it's a school of literature, so that seems deserving of a page?
 * There doesn't seem to be that much information about her.
 * The article does seem to be pretty neutral.
 * No one has said anything on the Talk page for the article.
 * This article is part of three WikiProjects -- Biography, Women writers, and Japan / Biography.
 * It does have a warning banner at the top, saying there are no sources. There is one source, but it is just one.

Possible Articles

 * Tanuki - I'm interested in adding more about the folklore to this page. I'm not sure how much I could add, but there's a possibility.
 * Nurikabe - This article is very short and maybe I can find more information to add to it.
 * Tenome - This article is short and has multiple issues in the banner at the top. I bet I could help with at least one of those issues.
 * Umibozu - Another very short article lacking sources. Maybe I could find some to add to it.

Copyediting practice

 * Umibozu - Copyedited the "Mythology" section. Changed pronouns referring to the umibozu to "it" for consistency.

Citation practice

 * Ophiopogon planiscapus (a Japanese plant) - Added and cited information under "Garden Use" about the variegated forms of the plant. I know the article's hardly related to the course aside from it being Japanese, so if you want me to do another one, let me know and I can.

Finalizing topic/Choosing sources
I think I'm going to work on expanding the article on Nurikabe in Japanese mythology and folklore. It's very short and has very little information about the historical background and differing interpretations of this yokai, which I read about while looking for sources. A big part that's missing from this article is the connection between popular representation of this yokai and manga artist Mizuki Shigeru. I think it could use some clarification as far as what the limits of the wall are, as well as minor additions such as the kanji for the Japanese name of the yokai, and a translation of it.

Here are some sources I found for adding information to this article:
 * The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore by Michael Dylan Foster
 * The yokai in the database: supernatural creatures and folklore in manga and anime by Deborah Shamoon
 * Digital Daijisen Plus entry on Nurikabe -- http://japanknowledge.com/lib/en/display/?lid=5091000977070 (I'm not really sure how to cite this)
 * Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide by Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt
 * and possibly Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien by Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt (I'm not entirely certain this contains information on nurikabe specifically, but I will check)

What is missing from the article on Nurikabe - things to add/improve

 * more images/representations of the Nurikabe
 * more for the "Popular culture" section - possibly Yokai Watch, Whomps and Thwomps, Snorlax, etc. (could also use pictures?)
 * connection to the manga artist Mizuki Shigeru - historical context
 * more description/clarification of the way the yokai works in mythology

Intro/description of Nurikabe
The nurikabe (塗り壁 or 塗壁 ) is a yōkai, or spirit, from Japanese folklore. Its name translates to "plaster wall," and it is said to manifest as an invisible wall that impedes or misdirects travelers walking at night. Sometimes referred to in English as "The Wall" or "Mr. Wall," this yōkai is described as quite tall, to prevent people from climbing over it, and wide enough to dampen any attempts to go around it. Japanese scholar and folklorist Kunio Yanagita recorded perhaps the most prominent early example of nurikabe and other yōkai in his books. Manga artist Mizuki Shigeru claims to have encountered a nurikabe in New Guinea, inspiring a nurikabe character in his manga Gegege no Kitarō.

Mythology
The nurikabe takes form as a wall -- usually invisible -- that blocks the path of travelers as they're walking. With the exception of Mizuki Shigeru' s experience in New Guinea, most legends and accounts of nurikabe come from Kyūshū, in the Ōita and Fukuoka prefectures. Some iterations of the legend say that trying to go around the wall is futile as it extends forever. Others say that knocking on the bottom left part of the wall with a stick will make it disappear, but that knocking on the upper part of it will yield no result. It has been suggested that the legend of the nurikabe was created to explain travelers losing their bearings on long journeys. Some nurikabe-like experiences that have been recorded have been attributed as the doing of tanuki, known as tanuki no nurikabe. These happenings, instead of involving a wall, are instances where the traveler suddenly cannot see in front of themselves.

In popular culture
The nurikabe has been explicitly referenced in several forms of pop culture. There is a nurikabe character named Nurikabe in Mizuki Shigeru's manga series Gegege no Kitarō. The character's main function is to be a shield in order to protect other members of the Kitarō family. Mizuki attributes much of his inspiration for the series to an experience he had with a nurikabe in New Guinea during World War II, as well as to the writings of Kunio Yanagita. Mizuki's illustration for the nurikabe gave it a more physical and anthropomorphic form with arms and legs, rather than the more traditional invisible wall concept.

In the video game series Yo-kai Watch, there is a nurikabe character called Noway who looks like much like Shigeru a wall with arms and legs. Noway's Japanese name in the series is murikabe (ムリカベ), a portmanteau of nurikabe and the word muri (無理), meaning "No way!" or "Impossible!" in colloquial Japanese. The character has appeared in other adaptations of the series, including an anime and manga.

There is a logic puzzle called Nurikabe, wherein boxes are filled in around numbers to create walls, thus forming "islands" corresponding to the numbers.

Additionally, some similarities have been drawn between the Whomp and Thwomp enemies in the Super Mario video game series, and the nurikabe. Others have pointed out connections between the nurikabe and Snorlax from the Pokémon video game series, in that Snorlax blocks the player's path much like a nurikabe would.

Some notes

 * I couldn't find anything about Snorlax resembling nurikabe except on Reddit, which I don't think is a reliable source, so I may end up just removing that
 * I do want to add images to the nurikabe page but I'm not really sure how to do it or what kind of photos to use...just public domain ones?

Images to add

 * Mizuki Shigeru bronze statue from Japanese Nurikabe page