and are a class of ''
yōkai'',
preternatural
The preternatural (or praeternatural) is that which appears outside or beside (Latin: '' præter'') the natural. It is "suspended between the mundane and the miraculous".
In theology, the term is often used to distinguish marvels or deceptive t ...
creatures in
Japanese folklore. Literally, the terms mean ''a thing that changes'', referring to a state of transformation or
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, ...
.
These words are often translated as "
ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
", 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
are figures in Japanese folklore analogous to the Western model of ghosts. The name consists of two kanji, (''yū''), meaning "faint" or "dim" and (''rei''), meaning "soul" or "spirit". Alternative names include , meaning ruined or depart ...
'', the ghost of a deceased human being.
A ''bakemono's'' true form may be an animal such as a
fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
(''
kitsune''), a
raccoon dog (''
bake-danuki''), a
badger (''
mujina
is an old Japanese term primarily referring to the Japanese badger, but traditionally to the Japanese raccoon dog (''tanuki''), causing confusion. Adding to the confusion, it may also refer to the introduced masked palm civet, and in some regio ...
''), 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 or terrifying form such as a ''
hitotsume-kozō,'' an ''
ōnyūdō'', or a ''
noppera-bō''. In common usage, any bizarre apparition can be referred to as a ''bakemono'' or an ''obake'' whether or not it is believed to have some other form, making the terms roughly synonymous with ''
yōkai''.
In Hawaii
Due to the influence of a large number of
Hawaiian population with Japanese ancestry, on the islands of
Hawaii the term ''obake'' has found its way into the dialect of the local people. Some Japanese stories concerning these creatures have found their way into local culture in Hawaii: numerous sightings of ''
kappa
Kappa (uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; el, κάππα, ''káppa'') is the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value o ...
'' have been reported on the islands, and the Japanese faceless ghosts called ''noppera-bō'' have also become well known in Hawaii under the name ''
mujina
is an old Japanese term primarily referring to the Japanese badger, but traditionally to the Japanese raccoon dog (''tanuki''), causing confusion. Adding to the confusion, it may also refer to the introduced masked palm civet, and in some regio ...
''. This name confusion seems to have stemmed from a story by
Lafcadio Hearn
, born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (; el, Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χέρν, Patríkios Lefkádios Chérn, Irish language, Irish: Pádraig Lafcadio O'hEarain), was an Irish people, Irish-Greeks, Greek-Japanese people, Japanese writer, t ...
titled "Mujina", a story about a badger (''mujina'') which takes the form of a ''noppera-bō'', rather than being one itself, which first introduced the faceless ghost to the Western world.
Hawaiian folklorist
Glen Grant was known for his ''Obake Files'', a series of reports he developed about supernatural incidents in Hawaii. The grand bulk of these incidents and reports were of Japanese origin or concerned ''obake''.
[Grant]
In popular culture
Bakemono is featured in ''
The Terror: Infamy'', the second season of
AMC's television series, ''
The Terror''.
See also
*
Notes
References
*
*
Definitions from two major Japanese dictionaries:
*
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*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Obake
Japanese folklore
Japanese ghosts
Shapeshifting
Yōkai