Colonial extraction and digital commodification of Japan’s Yokai: How immersive tech monetises folklore while obscuring indigenous cosmologies
Original framing: “Immersive exhibition brings Japanese folk monsters to life” — The Japan Times
The article critiques the reduction of Yokai from spiritual and artistic beings to aestheticized digital artifacts. It underscores the spiritual dimension of Yokai as mediators between worlds, which is lost in the pursuit of immersive entertainment.
The commodification of Yokai through immersive technology reflects a systemic pattern of cultural extraction that erases indigenous epistemologies and spiritual frameworks.
By drawing on historical and cross-cultural parallels, the article reveals how digital platforms, under the guise of innovation, flatten sacred knowledge into marketable content. To counter this, systemic solutions must center indigenous voices, enforce ethical protocols, and integrate traditional knowledge into modern representations. Only through such holistic approaches can cultural heritage be preserved as living, evolving systems rather than static commodities.