Reddit reviews Anthony Bourdain's Hungry Ghosts

My campaign is a sandbox so I'm just building a world, creating conflicts, and dropping the players in to let them pursue what they want. The major inspirations from Ghibli are the conflicts and world building flavor:

• Nature vs Science: Half my world is civilized, half is wilderness. The civilized world looks like Howl's Moving Castle - Victorian, steampunk flavor. Instead of steam, machines and tech are powered by magic and wands are used as arcane focuses. High magic setting, & I added the Lightning Rail from Eberron. I included the homebrew classes Gunslinger, Artificer, and Pugilist to lend to the Victorian vibe. The Wastes in Howl's would be The Wilds in my world, filled with mystical magic and nature spirits feared by city folk. Princess Mononoke's whole plot could be dropped in at the border between the city and the wilds if my players choose to go there.
  
• Spirits vs Technology: My classic dnd monsters & pantheon are all replaced by the blanket term "Spirits". Good and evil spirits draw from Japanese mythology and Shintoism. Totoro is great source for friendly spirits, Bourdain's "Hungry Ghosts" inspired me for evil ones. Or simply use the monster manual. Anything needed beyond that, Monsters of the Orient is perfect. It's easy to repurpose just about every dnd monster & god to this end. Some folks seek power from the Spirits (paladins, clerics, warlocks), some are touched by the Spirits (sorcerers, druids, etc), some can only access magic through study and technological advancement (wizards, artificers, etc).
  
• Good vs Evil: In Miyazaki's films, good and evil are often not so black and white. I'm designing villains like Lady Eboshi - sure she's destroying the forest, but she's doing it because she believes it is for the greater good. It's up to the players to choose their moral standing and "pick a side" - however that decision may not be as clean cut as they imagine.
  
  I love world building and map making, so I'm having a blast populating the world in painful detail. There is QUITE a lot more to it than this, but if you take those core conflicts and sprinkle in some of the plot hooks from OP, you should be good to go have a grand adventure in Ghibli land.

It's an interesting looking book. A neat combination of ghost stories/lore mixed with food.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/150670669X/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It exists, I literally just purchased it. Anthony Bourdain's Hungry Ghosts https://www.amazon.com/dp/150670669X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_DnGTBb180GYTM