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Yōkai
are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as such, are not literally demons in the Western sense of the word, but are instead spirits and entities. Their behavior can range from malevolent or mischievous to benevolent to humans. often have animal features (such as the , depicted as appearing similar to a turtle, and the , commonly depicted with wings), but may also appear humanoid in appearance, such as the . Some resemble inanimate objects (such as the ), while others have no discernible shape. are typically described as having spiritual or supernatural abilities, with shapeshifting being the most common trait associated with them. that shapeshift are known as or . Japanese folklorists and historians explain as personifications of "supernatural or unaccountable phenomena to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tsukumogami
In Japanese folklore, ''tsukumogami'' (付喪神 or つくも神, lit. "tool ''kami''") are tools that have acquired a kami or spirit. According to an annotated version of ''The Tales of Ise'' titled ''Ise Monogatari Shō'', there is a theory originally from the ''Onmyōki'' (陰陽記) that foxes and tanuki, among other beings, that have lived for at least a hundred years and changed forms are considered ''tsukumogami''. In modern times, the term can also be written 九十九神 (literally ninety-nine ''kami''), to emphasize the agedness. According to Komatsu Kazuhiko, the idea of a ''tsukumogami'' or a ''yōkai'' of tools spread mostly in the Japanese Middle Ages and declined in more recent generations. Komatsu infers that despite the depictions in Bakumatsu period ukiyo-e art leading to a resurfacing of the idea, these were all produced in an era cut off from any actual belief in the idea of ''tsukumogami''. Because the term has been applied to several different concepts in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nekomata
''Nekomata'' (original form: , later forms: , , ) are a kind of cat ''yōkai'' described in Japanese folklore, classical kaidan, essays, etc. There are two very different types: those that live in the mountains and domestic cats that have grown old and transformed into ''yōkai''. (2000)、170–171。 ''Nekomata'' are often confused with ''bakeneko''. Mountain ''nekomata'' ''Nekomata'' appear in stories even earlier than in Japan. In the Sui dynasty, the words and described mysterious cats. In Japanese literature, the ''nekomata'' first appeared in the Meigetsuki by Fujiwara no Teika in the early Kamakura period: in the beginning of Tenpuku (1233), August 2, in Nanto (now Nara Prefecture), a nekomata () was said to have killed and eaten several people in one night. The nekomata was described as a mountain beast: according to the Meigetsuki, "They have eyes like a cat, and have a large body like a dog." The essay Tsurezuregusa from the late Kamakura period (circa 1331) asse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kappa (folklore)
A — also known as , , with a boss called or – is a reptiloid ''kami'' with similarities to ''yōkai'' found in traditional Japanese folklore. '' Kappa'' can become harmful when they are not respected as gods. They are typically depicted as green, human-like beings with webbed hands and feet and a turtle-like carapace on their back. The ''kappa'' are known to favor cucumbers and love to engage in sumo wrestling. They are often accused of assaulting humans in water and removing a mythical organ called the ''shirikodama'' from their victim's anus. Terminology The name ''kappa'' is a contraction of the words ''kawa'' (river) and ''wappa'', a variant form of 童 ''warawa'' (also ''warabe'') "child". Another translation of kappa is "water sprites". The ''kappa'' are also known regionally by at least eighty other names such as ''kawappa'', ''kawako'', ''kawatarō'', ''gawappa'', ''kōgo'', ''suitengu''., citing Ōno (1994), p. 14 It is also called ''kawauso'' 'otter', ''d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chōchin-obake
' is a Japanese ''yōkai'' of ''chōchin'' (a type of lantern), ''"[the] lantern-spook (chochinobake) ... a stock character in the pantheon of ghouls and earned mention in the definitive demonology of 1784."'' They can also be called simply ''chōchin'', ''bake-chōchin'', ''obake-chōchin'', and ''chōchin-kozō''. They appear in the ''kusazōshi'', ''omocha-e'', and ''karuta'' card games like ''obake karuta'' starting from the Edo period to the early 20th century (and still in use today), as well as in Meiji and Taishō toys, children's books, and haunted house attractions. Description An old ''chōchin'' would split upwards and downwards, and the part that got split would become a mouth and stick out a long tongue, and the ''chōchin obake'' is commonly considered not to have one eye in its upper half, but two. Sometimes, the ''chōchin'' would also grow a face, hands, a torso, and wings. In pictures from the Edo Period, both bucket-shaped and cylindrical ''chōchin'' were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amikiri
Amikiri ( or 網剪) is a Japanese yōkai depicted in the ''Gazu Hyakki Yagyō'' by Toriyama Sekien. Concept It is depicted as a cross between a serpent, bird or a lobster. It has claws similar to that of a crab or a scorpion, but since there is no explanatory text within the book, it is not certain what kind of yōkai it is. Many yōkai depicted in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō were done in reference to predecessor works like the Hyakkai Zukan, so it can be seen that perhaps it is based on the one that is closest to it in those predecessor works, the kamikiri. It uses its claws to cut fisherman and mosquito nets, which it has a bad habit of, and this behaviour leads to people regarding it as a pest. In various writings from the Shōwa period, Heisei period, and beyond, the amikiri is explained to be a yōkai that cuts meshes and mosquito nets. According to the yōkai researcher Katsumi Tada, "ami" (meaning nets) can lead one to think about "ami" (meaning mysidacea) due to being homop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuchisake-onna
is a malevolent figure in Japanese urban legends and folklore. Described as the malicious spirit, or ''onryō'', of a woman, she partially covers her face with a mask or other item and carries a pair of scissors. She is most often described as having long, straight, black hair, pale skin, and otherwise being considered beautiful (except for her scar). She has been described as a contemporary ''yōkai''. According to popular legend, she asks potential victims if they think she is beautiful. If they respond with "no", she will either kill them with her long medical scissors on the spot or wait until nightfall and murder you in your sleep. If they say "yes", she will reveal that the corners of her mouth are slit from ear to ear, and she will then repeat her question. If the individual responds with "no", she will kill them with her weapon, and if they say "yes" hesitantly she will cut the corners of their mouth in such a way that resembles her own disfigurement. Methods that can b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toriyama Sekien
200px, A Mikoshi-nyūdō, specifically a Miage-nyūdō, as portrayed by Toriyama">Miage-nyūdō.html" ;"title="Mikoshi-nyūdō, specifically a Miage-nyūdō">Mikoshi-nyūdō, specifically a Miage-nyūdō, as portrayed by Toriyama , real name Sano Toyofusa, was an 18th-century scholar, ''kyōka'' poet, and ''ukiyo-e'' artist of Japanese folklore. Born to a family of high-ranking servants to the Tokugawa shogunate, he was trained by Kanō school artists Kanō Gyokuen and Kanō Chikanobu, although he was never officially recognized as a Kanō school painter. Art career After retiring from service to the shogunate, he became a teacher to numerous apprentices in poetry and painting. He was among the first to apply Kanō techniques to ''ukiyo-e'' printmaking, inventing key new techniques along the way, such as ''fuki-bokashi'', which allowed for replicating color gradations. Most famously, he was the teacher of Kitagawa Utamaro and Utagawa Toyoharu. Sekien is best known for his mass-pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ayakashi (yōkai)
is the collective name for ''yōkai'' that appear above the surface of a body of water. In Nagasaki Prefecture, the atmospheric ghost lights that appear above water are called ayakashi, and so are the funayūrei in Yamaguchi Prefecture and Saga Prefecture. In western Japan, ayakashi are said to be the vengeful spirits of those who died at sea and that they are attempting to capture more people to join them. On Tsushima Island, they are also called "atmospheric ghost lights of ayakashi (ayakashi no kaika)", and appear on beaches in the evening, and are said to look like a child walking in the middle of a fire. In coastal Japan, atmospheric ghost lights appear as mountains and obstruct one's path, and are said to disappear if one does not avoid the mountain and tries to bump into it intently. There is also the folk belief that if a live sharksucker were to get stuck to the bottom of a boat, it would not be able to move, so ayakashi is used as a synonym for this type of fish. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mononoke
''Mononoke'' (物の怪) are vengeful spirits (onryō), dead spirits (shiryō), live spirits (ikiryō), or spirits in Japanese classical literature and folk religion that were said to do things like possess individuals and make them suffer, cause disease, or even cause death. It is also a word sometimes used to refer to ''yōkai'' or ''henge'' ("changed beings"). Summary ''Mononoke'' can be often seen in literature of the Heian period. As a famous example, in the 9th volume of the '' Genji Monogatari'', "Aoi" is the ikiryō of Lady Rokujo, who possessed Aoi no Ue. Other than that, there are also statements about ''mononoke'' in publications like ''Ōkagami'' and ''Masukagami''. In those times, when medical knowledge has not been fully developed, people like monks and shugensha would perform incantations and prayers against diseases caused by ''mononoke'', and by temporarily moving the ''mononoke'' into a different person called the " yorimashi" (usually servants, apprentices, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Obake
and are a class of ''yōkai'', preternatural creatures in Japanese folklore. Literally, the terms mean ''a thing that changes'', referring to a state of transformation or shapeshifting. These words are often translated as "ghost", but primarily they refer to living things or supernatural beings who have taken on a temporary transformation, and these ''bakemono'' are distinct from the spirits of the dead. However, as a secondary usage, the term ''obake'' can be a synonym for ''yūrei'', the ghost of a deceased human being. A ''bakemono's'' true form may be an animal such as a fox (''kitsune''), a raccoon dog (''bake-danuki''), a badger (''mujina''), a transforming cat (''bakeneko''), the spirit of a plant—such as a '' kodama'', or an inanimate object which may possess a soul in Shinto and other animistic traditions. ''Obake'' derived from household objects are often called ''tsukumogami''. A ''bakemono'' usually either disguises itself as a human or appears in a strange o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tengu
are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion (Shinto). They are considered a type of ''yōkai'' (supernatural beings) or Shinto ''kami'' (gods). The ''Tengu'' were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey and a monkey deity, and they are traditionally depicted with human, monkey, and avian characteristics. Sarutahiko Ōkami is considered to be the original model of Konoha-Tengu (a supernatural creature with a red face and long nose), which today is widely considered the ''Tengu''s defining characteristic in the popular imagination. He is the Shinto monkey deity who is said to shed light on heaven and earth. Some experts theorize that Sarutahiko was a sun god worshiped in the Ise region prior to the popularization of Amaterasu. Buddhism long held that the ''Tengu'' were disruptive demons and harbingers of war. Their image gradually softened, however, into one of protective and even manifestations of Buddhist deities, if still dangerous, spirits ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shapeshifting
In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, Magic (paranormal), sorcery, Incantation, spells or having inherited the ability. The idea of shape-shifting is in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest existent literature and Epic poetry, epic poems such as the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' and the ''Iliad''. The concept remains a common literary device in modern fantasy, children's literature and popular culture. Folklore and mythology Popular shape-shifting creatures in folklore are werewolf, werewolves and vampires (mostly of European, Canadians, Canadian, and Native Americans in the United States, Native American/early American origin), Ichchadhari naag and naagin (shape-shifting cobra), ichchadhari naag and ichchadhari naagin (shape-shifting cobras) of India, the huli jing of East Asia (including the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
