SAKAIMINATO, Tottori--Its body emblazoned with colorful characters from the yokai monster manga Gegege no Kitaro, the train slid into the JR Sakai line terminal station.

And this was only the beginning--I began to feel overwhelmed as I looked around Sakaiminato, the birthplace of Shigeru Mizuki who created the popular manga.

The city is crowded with statues and pictures of yokai characters familiar to readers of Mizuki's manga; even the rooftop signs on taxis are shaped like Medama-oyaji (eyeball father). I felt as if I had wandered into a yokai paradise.

Leading from the station is Mizuki Shigeru Road, built to honor the 89-year-old mangaka.

Flanked by bronze statues of yokai characters created by Mizuki, the 800-meter-long road opened in 1993. It was created when large-scale retailers opened in nearby suburbs, dragging people away from the thoroughfare that used to be the city's main street.

The number of bronze statues has increased from the original 23 to the current 139.

"The new road was envisioned as a recreational spot for local residents. But tourist numbers to the area have increased, reinvigorating businesses in the street's shopping district," said Tsuyoshi Furuhashi, 46, of the city's tourist association.

The road leads to touristy spots: Yokai Shrine, featuring a huge eyeball-shaped stone immersed in a stone chozubachi (a vessel to hold water)--just like Medama-oyaji bathes in a bowl in Mizuki's manga--and a Kappa fountain.

Passersby are welcome to browse about 100 stores selling sake, snacks and dolls while looking for statues of Nurikabe (plastered wall), Nekomusume (cat girl) and other favorite yokai.

One such store is the Kyokuno Shoe Store, which has been running for about 100 years. Its proprietor makes Kitaro-style geta (wooden clogs) by hand.

"I produce geta with black-and-yellow cords; these are the iconic colors of [manga's protagonist] Kitaro's vest. They're popular among Hanshin Tigers fans. They clickety-clack as you walk," said storekeeper Katsuyuki Kyokuno.

At another store with a sign reading "Yokai food research center," I sampled a Japanese sweet shaped like a real eyeball. When I asked the center's female director for an interview, she handed me a business card with the name "Majo (witch) Kaoru" and said, "I'm 460 years old."

A 65-year-old manager of an electric construction company sells yokai goods and also teaches visitors how to make yokai goods for free in his spare time.

"I ask them to pay with their souls," he chuckled.

Mizuki Shigeru Museum, toward one end of the road, examines the life of the author who explored the world of yokai manga.

"A woman called 'Non-non Ba' who served as a maid for the Mura (Mizuki's real surname) family used to tell young Mizuki stories about the local yokai. That's how he became interested in the subject," curator Yukio Shoji said.

Pictures of heaven and hell that are also said to have inspired Mizuki are on display in Shofukuji temple in the city.

Mizuki was born along the coast near the Sakaisuido channel. The facing coastline of Shimane Peninsula, Shimane Prefecture, is dominated by steep mountains and sits in sharp contrast to Sakaiminato's flat terrain.

Literally overshadowed by this "foreign world," the young Mizuki may have dreamed of what different and fantastical lives lay within.

I crossed the channel to investigate the peninsula. At its tip sits Miho Shrine, dedicated to a series of gods featured in Kunibiki Shinwa--local mythology that has been passed down in the historical province of Izumo, now in Shimane Prefecture.

Young Mizuki accompanied Non-non Ba on a trip to the peninsula, her birthplace. He reportedly said at the time he felt close to yokai such as Noderabo (rustic temple monk) and Kawa-akago (infant monster living near rivers).

Driving along an unforgiving mountain road with many switchbacks and passing through mysterious forests, I arrived at a quiet fishing village called Morokui, overlooking the Sea of Japan off the peninsula. It felt like time had stopped.

Perhaps, as Mizuki describes in his essay Non-non Ba to Ore (Non-non Ba and I), heaven may exist off the tip of the Shimane Peninsula.

Travel Tips

-- Flights from Haneda to Yonago Kitaro Airport take about 1-1/2 hours. Rail trips from Osaka take about 3 hours and 40 minutes by JR via Okayama and Yonago in Tottori Prefecture.

-- For more information, call Sakaiminato tourist association at (0859) 47-0121.

(Oct. 23, 2011)