Takeshita Demons
When Miku moved to England from Japan, she never imagined that evil spirits would follow her. But one day an unusual looking supply teacher appears at school and Miku suspects she may be a demon in disguise.
Trapped in a snow storm, Miku is left to look after her baby brother with her best friend Cait. When her brother is kidnapped they must do all they can to get him back, including taking on a flying screaming head with razor-sharp teeth!
Takeshita Demons is a unique adventure story and a must-read for all fans of Manga.
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Extract
'Are you afraid of ghosts and evil spirits, or the black space under your bed? If you are, then put this book down right away and choose another. If I were you, I would choose a book about teddy bears and bunny rabbits, because then there’s a good chance that you won’t be reading about floating heads or evil spirits or any of the other things you’ll find inside this book. If I were you, I’d do that. But for me, it’s already too late.
I was born in a small town outside Osaka, in Japan. My family moved to England just over a year ago, after my grandmother died. But our troubles started long before that. Looking back, I should’ve realised earlier.
My father worked long hours for his office job, so he didn’t realise either. He was never home to see what was happening. My brother Kazu was too little even to notice; he was still a baby back then. And my mother was always busy with Kazu or her English class, plus she didn’t really believe. That just left my grandmother, Baba. She understood better than of all of them.
Baba knew all there was to know about spirits and demons, good and evil, and she took care to protect our family from them. She kept a cedar leaf over our front door to ward off evil, she always left toys and games out for our house ghost, she even kept a pair of shiisa lion-dogs on the mantelpiece, bought during a beach holiday to Okinawa when my Dad was just a boy. She never got sick or forgetful or even caught a cold, not in the whole time I’d known her, which was all my life. But towards the end, when she got really old, she walked with a stick and her hands shook like leaves whenever she used her chopsticks. She died when I was only eleven.
I cried and cried at her funeral, I didn’t care who saw me. People from all over Kawanishi sent in envelopes of money and wreaths of flowers. The entire room was filled with light, and the priest was ringing his bell to keep out the bad spirits and farewell my grandmother on her journey to her new place. Afterwards my family served a feast of noodles and tempura upstairs, but nobody ate. Instead the rows of guests, all dressed in black, just knelt on the tatami mats and made small talk about the seasons. The tempura went cold and the noodles went dry. Baba would’ve thought it an awful waste.
But what does all this have to do with floating heads and evil spirits? I didn’t know myself, not back then. But Baba knew. So just remember: it’s not too late to close this book and read about something safe instead, like teddy bears and bunny rabbits. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Until we moved to London I’d lived in the same house all my life, the same house my Baba had lived in when she was just a girl. It was the oldest house in our street, wooden and two-stories high. Its floors were polished smooth from generations of feet and you could skid the entire length of the hallway if you got up enough speed in your socks. It creaked in the wind and was cold in the night, but it hid a thousand secrets, most of which my Baba knew. The biggest secret was our sakabashira pillar. That was the reason we had a house ghost watching over us, the reason that nothing horrible had ever happened to our family. Not yet.
A sakabashira pillar is basically a mix-up. Ours happened more than a hundred years ago, when the men who were building our living room accidentally stuck the top-end of a huge wooden column into the ground, so that its bottom-end was pointing at the roof. It didn’t change the shape of our house, and we couldn’t tell that the pillar was upside-down, but none of that mattered. The damage was done. Our house was doomed to be haunted.
You can never tell what sort of ghost a sakabashira pillar will attract. Luckily, my Baba’s Baba was as wise as my Baba; she managed to attract the attention of a zashiki-warashi, a child-ghost. Ours was a little girl, about five-years-old, and Baba called her Zashiko. I never saw her, but sometimes I’d wake in the night to find my pillow down by my feet instead of under my head. One morning I found my school uniform hanging upside-down in the cupboard, all nicely, but arranged completely the wrong way up. Other times I’d wake to see the light above me swaying in the ceiling, silent and watching, gently rocking, like a swing. But I was never scared. Being haunted by Zashiko was the best thing that could’ve happened to our family. She played tricks, but she also brought good luck and kept us safe from the other spirits, the ones Baba always warned me about.
When we left our house, we left Zashiko behind. With Baba gone and Zashiko back in Japan, we were truly alone when we arrived in England. I’d thought we’d be safe, that the spirits wouldn’t find us. I was wrong.'
About the author
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Cristy Burne Photo: Frances LincolnCristy Burne
Cristy Burne has joint New Zealand and Australian citizenship, has travelled widely and lived for several years in Japan as a teacher and editor. It was during this time that she became fascinated with Japanese folklore and the supernatural yokai - demons - which are very much a part of... Read more about Cristy Burne
Video & audio
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Takeshita Demons Booked Up video
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Takeshita Demons Booked Up video (signed version)
Featured reviews
Reviews
I couldn't put this book down. It tied me to my bed it was so good. Cristy Burne is a marvellous author, and captured my love for Manga. Siku is the best artist I have seen. I want to draw like him when I'm older.
this book is great i cant stop checking peoples heads now to make sure there firmly stuck on
the book has soo many fascinating facts about all sorts of topics, it was well good, it keeps you hooked on to the book
This book was quite scary. Never read this book at night. It was scary because there was demons in it. It is set in Japan. They killed demons with magic swords. I would recomend this book because it's adventurous.
I think that this book is great because the author gets you hooked up and she makes you feel like you are in that person's position.
it was interesting. i really liked it because at the start it said about his life, for example if you hate spirits or evil then put this book down stright away however it was too late for him.
i thought this book was ok and kind of scary! Miku Takeshita is the main character and she is Japanese, she and her family lived in Japan with her grandmother, who she calls Baba. After Baba died, the family moved to England. Baba taught Miku about ghosts and demons and how to protect herself and her family from them. Miku’s mum doesn't think that ghosts and demons exist. But Miku listened to Baba and that was good because there are demons in England! Miku and her friend Cait who is Irish have to get rid of the demons they didn’t know existed. They also have to decide who they could trust if they want to get Miku's brother back who's name is Kazu. The only useful thing they have is the Miku’s things that Miku's grandmother taught her...
Brilliant for manga fans. It is about a Japanese family who move to England to escape from their Grandmother's Death. When she starts at an English school, her normal teacher is off sick, and is replaced by a supply teacher. When she does the register, the supply teacher suddenly starts using the Japanese traditions, and talking to her in Japanese. The girl notices red marks on the supply teacher's neck. It turn out the supply teacher, is a demon or, in Japanese, called a yokai. It is called Takeshita Demons, because the family name is called Takeshita, and Demons have followed her to England.
I thought that this book was interesting and confusing because of the demons' names but at the end I got muddled up (with the demons).
Miku Takshita meets a supply teacher in the class and she knows her supply teacher turns out to be a nukekubi. And when Japanese demons kidnnap her baby brother Kazu her and her best mate Cait have to break into school when it is snowing, icy, slippery and cold and must try to get him back!
Mysterious, exciting and overall one of my favourite books
I chose this book because it looked interesting and it was. I thought Miku would get eaten and the Nukekubi would haunt their family forever. I think it was meant for 9-20 year olds and I would recommend it to people who like horror and people who believe in demons, to scare them. It was also interesting because Takeshita Demons is based on Manga (japenese graphic novels).
It was very interesting and at the end I thought she was going to die and the Nukekubi would haunt their family forever and ever.
this book was brilliant. I never wanted to put this book down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Takeshita Demons is about a girl whose little brother is stolen by her demon teacher. Her and her best friend are on a quest to get him back. I like this book because it is funny and exciting. It was interesting and I will now read number 2. I didn't like it because it was a bit short.
The is brill but the bad thing is that the next book is out in July 2011!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!
Very thrilling. I loved everything about the book, I can't wait for the next one!!!!!!!!!!
I think this book is filled with lots of excitement and has a thrill around every corner. I can't stop looking at people's faces to see if they are a Noppera-bo (Demon). The book would be recommended for people who like a good fright and a thrill. Through the middle the book got a little boring because it kept repeating every thing.
The book was about a family called the Takeshitas and they have come to live in England from Japan. A little girl Miku is paranoid about Demons and is always making sure that none interfere with the family until one day a Nukekubi Demon pretends to be a supply teacher and wants to know every little detail about Miku. Half way through school the head teacher closes the school because of a heavy snow downpour. When Miku gets back her friend comes with her and stays the night at Miku's house because her Dad is not back from work but Miku's brother Kazu goes missing and Miku and Cait (Miku's friend) think that the Nukekubi Demon has got him and they decide to get him back. When a Nukekubi Demon becomes a Demon its head flies off and it hides its body in a place noone will find it. Then the two girls go into the school where the body is hidden and almost get eaten by the Demon and eventually get Moku's brother back and carry on fighting Demons.
Takeshita Demons is a book which you don't know what's coming next (Technically it's a mystery moming ahead) After you read this book you need to check people's heads ALWAYZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would recommend this book to people who are never ever scared. :-) :-) :-)
This book is very easy, it is quite a good book as it has scary features. I cant stop checking if people's heads are still on. it is a japanese based book it has a lot of good vocabulary. [IT IS GOOD READ IT NOW]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the start was good but the ending was not as good as the start and the only reason is because i don't like reading thank you
This book is very good and easy to read. However It did go through some boring parts to get to the good parts. I would recommend this book to a lot of people!
one of the best action books i have ever read, it's fast and furious
Takeshita Demons is a brilliant book to read. The auther, Cristy Burne, has done a really good job on writing an awesome children's book.I rate this a 5 star book because of the amount of action and adventure. All I can say now is well done Cristy well done.
It is a really good book because it is fantastic.
I really didn't enjoy this book. I thought it was a bit cheesy and it had bits from it that were obviously from other books. For example it starts telling you tou read another book because this one is so scary, just like in A Series of Unfortunate Events.
It was a very good thrill, as a book I think that it is scary and fun to read .
I thought so far about the book, that it is a very good book about a girl who's grandma passes away in Japan. After that they move to England 'London'. When a strange lady knocks on the door and she is anxious whether to answer it or not, when finally her mum opens it and an evil spirit comes into the house. read on to find out more.
This book was amazing and was a bit scary. It had a woman with a flying head and also the book was adventures.
I love this book, i think it's exciting and i can't wait to find out what's on the next page.
This book is very interesting and exciting. Before I read this book I hadn't heard about Japanese demons.
good book
I'm getting this book for free from my school. I chose this book because when i read the back of the book it sounded really good and I like scary books and when i read hopefully i'll be inpressed :)
This book is amazing, I can't stop reading this. It is very scary and spooky but exciting with lots of adventure.
wow! it looks amazing can't wait to get it, i love demons!!?
i cant wait to get this i read the extract i would rate it 15/10!!
GOOD BOOK
It has a mystery to it on every page and it makes you want to find out more.
This is a brilliantly scary book and around every page is a new thrill.
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