Japanese Folk and Myth in Anime (Intro)

Question: How have animators visually incorporated Japanese myth and folklore into anime, such as Naruto and Pokémon? In order to answer the above question, we’ll need to set a line between myth and folklore. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Myth is defined as “a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone; especially: one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of a society”. According to the same dictionary, folklore is defined as “traditional customs, tales, sayings, dances, or art forms preserved among a people” and “an often unsupported notion, story, or saying that is widely circulated”. What does this say exactly? It basically explains that a myth is the idea of a society and that folklore is the medium for expressing the idea. Another notion that I’d like to present is that myths, in general, are used to explain indescribable occurrences and supernatural events, like creation, animals, gods, rain, death, bugs, creatures, and everything else that goes bump in the night.
Within most Japanese myths, there is a creature or being that unintentionally causes a major event or does some significant action, and the vast majority of Japanese mythology deals with a great deal of gods, goddesses, spirits, and creatures (so many that the list literally goes from A to Z).Branching off of myth, folklore tells the tales of people and creatures, and how they overcome or succumb to a crisis or conflict. Most of these tales are about how the world came into being, and why things are the way they are. Some are as complex as to why the sun rises and sets and why death happens, to demons that haunt bathrooms (Aka Manto and Akaname). A lot of the legends told in mythology are deeply rooted in nature and intricately describe the coming of the varying lands and elements; earth, wind, water, fire, and lightning. Some deal with customs and traditions, while others are about legendary animals and even specific