Shigeru Mizuki museum marks 1st anniversary YONAGO, Japan - Japanese cartoonist Shigeru Mizuki draws his ghost and monster characters ''Kitaro'' and ''Nezumi Otoko'' on the wall of the Mizuki Shigeru Memorial Museum in Tottori Prefecture. The photo was taken on March 7, 2004. (Kyodo)

Statues of "yokai" monsters cleaned ahead of New Year

Local people wipe the dirt off the statues of Shigeru Mizuki (C) drawing cartoons at his desk, being watched by Kitaro (R), a boy "yokai" monster character, and a rat man named Nezumi Otoko (L), alongside the "Mizuki Shigeru Road" shopping street in Sakaiminato, western Japan, on Dec. 29, 2015. Local people annually wipe the dirt off more than 150 bronze statues of characters from the late cartoonist's horror comic series "Gegege no Kitaro" at the yearend to express their gratitude for the statues that draw an annual 2 million tourists to the town. Mizuki, who hailed from Sakaiminato, died in November. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo