The ''nurikabe'' (塗り壁 or 塗壁) is a '' yōkai'', or spirit, from Japanese folklore. Its name translates to "plaster wall", and it is said to manifest as an invisible wall that impedes or misdirects travelers walking at night. Sometimes referred to in English as "The Wall" or "Mr. Wall", this ''yōkai'' is described as quite tall, to prevent people from climbing over it, and wide enough to dampen any attempts to go around it. Japanese scholar and folklorist Kunio Yanagita recorded perhaps the most prominent early example of ''nurikabe'' and other ''yōkai'' in his books. Manga artist

Mizuki Shigeru was a Japanese manga artist and historian, best known for his manga series ''GeGeGe no Kitarō''. Born in a hospital in Osaka and raised in the city of Sakaiminato, Tottori, he later moved to Chōfu, Tokyo where he remained until his death ...

claims to have encountered a ''nurikabe'' in New Guinea, inspiring a ''nurikabe'' character in his

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

'' Gegege no Kitarō.''

Mythology

The ''nurikabe'' takes form as a wall—usually invisible—that blocks the path of travelers as they're walking. With the exception of Mizuki Shigeru's experience in New Guinea, most legends and accounts of ''nurikabe'' come from

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

, in the Ōita and Fukuoka prefectures. Some iterations of the legend say that trying to go around the wall is futile as it extends forever. Others say that knocking on the bottom left part of the wall with a stick will make it disappear, but that knocking on the upper part of it will yield no result. It has been suggested that the legend of the ''nurikabe'' was created to explain travelers losing their bearings on long journeys. Some ''nurikabe-''like experiences that have been recorded have been attributed as the doing of ''

tanuki Tanuki may refer to: *Japanese raccoon dog (''Nyctereutes viverrinus'' or ''Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus''), a mammal native to Japan *Bake-danuki, a type of spirit (yōkai) in Japanese mythology that appears in the form of the mammal *A de ...

,'' known as ''tanuki no nurikabe''. These happenings, instead of involving a wall, are instances where the traveler suddenly cannot see in front of themselves.

In popular culture

The ''nurikabe'' has been explicitly referenced in several forms of pop culture. There is a ''nurikabe'' character named Nurikabe in Mizuki Shigeru's manga series ''Gegege no Kitarō''. The character's main function is to be a shield in order to protect other members of the Kitarō family. Mizuki attributes much of his inspiration for the series to an experience he had with a ''nurikabe'' in New Guinea during World War II, as well as to the writings of Kunio Yanagita. Mizuki's illustration for the ''nurikabe'' gave it a more physical and anthropomorphic form with arms and legs, rather than the more traditional invisible wall concept.

References

妖怪ドットコム『図説妖怪辞典』幻冬舎コミックス、2008年。。{{Japanese folklore long Yōkai