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Yōkai
are a class of supernatural entities and Spirit (supernatural entity) , spirits in Japanese folklore. The kanji representation of the word comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply the Japanese transliteration or pronunciation of the Chinese term ''yaoguai, yāoguài'' (which designates similarly strange creatures), some Japanese commentators argue that the word ''yōkai'' has taken on many different meanings in Japanese culture, including referring to a large number of uniquely Japanese creatures. are also referred to as , or . However, most Japanese generally think of the two loose classes of spirits as highly different, although some academics and Shinto practitioners acknowledge similarities within the seeming dichotomy between the natures of them and most ''kami'', which are generally regarded as relatively beneficent in comparison, and class the two as ultimately the same type of spirits of nature or of a m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kappa (folklore)
In traditional Japanese folklore a —also known as , , with a boss called or —is a reptiloid with similarities to . can become harmful when not respected as gods. Accounts typically depict them as green, human-like beings with webbed hands and feet and Turtle shell, turtle-like carapaces on their backs. A depression on the head, called a "dish" (), retains water, and if this is damaged or its liquid is lost (either through spilling or drying up), a becomes severely weakened. The favor cucumbers and love to engage in sumo wrestling, sumo-wrestling. They are often accused of assaulting humans in water and removing a mythical organ called the from their victim's anus. Terminology The name ''kappa'' is a contraction of the words ''kawa'' (river) and , a doublet (linguistics), variant form of (also ) "child". Another translation of kappa is "water-sprite". The ''kappa'' are also known regionally by at least eighty other names such as , , , , , ., citing Ōno (1994), p. 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tengu
''Tengu'' ( ; , , ) are a type of legendary creature found in Shinto belief. They are considered a type of ''yōkai'' (supernatural beings) or Shinto ''kami'' (gods or spirits). The ''Tengu'' were originally thought to take the forms of bird of prey, birds of prey and a Monkeys in Japanese culture#Religion, monkey deity, and they were 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 Japanese macaque, 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 Grand Shrine, Ise region prior to the popularization of Amaterasu. Buddhism long held that the ''Tengu'' were disruptive demons and wikt:harbinger, harbingers of war. Their image gradually ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyakkai Zukan
is a picture scroll by Edo period Japanese artist Sawaki Suushi. Completed in 1737, this scroll is a supernatural bestiary, a collections of ghosts, spirits and monsters (Yōkai), which Suushi based on Japanese literature, literature, Japanese folklore, folklore, other Japanese art, artwork. These images had a profound influence on subsequent ''yōkai'' imagery in Japan for generations. Scroll gallery Image:Suushi_Mikoshi-nyudo.jpg, Image:Suushi_Shokera.jpg, Image:Suushi_Hyosube.jpg, Image:Suushi_Nure-onna.jpg, Image:Suushi_Kappa.jpg, Image:Suushi_Gagoze.jpg, Image:Suushi_Nurarihyon.jpg, Image:Suushi_Kasha.jpg, Image:Suushi_Ubume.jpg, Image:Suushi_Nuppeppo.jpg, Image:Suushi_Waira.jpg, Image:Suushi_Otoroshi.jpg, Image:Suushi_Yama-biko.jpg, Image:Suushi_Nuribotoke.jpg, Image:Suushi_Ouni.jpg, Image:Suushi_Yume-no-seirei.jpg, Image:Suushi_Yama-uba.jpg, Image:Suushi_Inugami.jpg, Image:Suushi_Nukekubi.jpg, Image:Suushi_Yama-warau.jpg, Image:Suushi_Uwan.jpg, Image ... [...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''. The Nekomata has multiple tails, while the Bakeneko has one. Additionally while the Bakeneko is often mischievous and playful, the Nekomata is considered far more malicious in its behaviour. 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 ... [...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's and mosquito netting, 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) du ... [...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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yaoguai
Yaoguai ( zh, 妖怪, p=yāoguài, s=妖怪, t=妖怪) represent a broad and diverse class of ambiguous creatures in Chinese folklore and Chinese mythology, mythology defined by the possession of supernatural powers and by having attributes that partake of the quality of the weird, the strange or the unnatural. They are especially associated with transformation and enchantment. They often dwell in remote areas or on the fringes of civilization where they produce all manner of unexplainable phenomena and mischief. They often have predatory or malevolent tendencies. Yaoguai vary considerably from one another in appearance and powers, and depending on particular individual or type, as being capable of shapeshifting, creating illusions, hypnosis, controlling minds, causing disease, clairvoyance, and draining the life force of mortals. While yaoguai are not evil in the sense Western demons are, they are usually weird and dangerous, tending to exert a baleful influence on mankind. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mononoke
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 ''The Tale of Genji, 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 had not been fully developed, people like monks and Yamabushi, shugensha would perform incantations and prayers against diseases caused by ''mononoke'', and by temporarily moving the ''mononoke'' into a different person called the "Yorishiro, yorimashi" (usually servants, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kidōmaru
Kidōmaru (鬼童丸, 鬼同丸) is an oni that appears in the Kamakura period collection of setsuwa, the ''Kokon Chomonjū'', among other sources. Concept As described in the ''Kokon Chomonjū'', Minamoto no Yorimitsu is known for the slaying of Shuten-dōji. When he went to the home of his brother Minamoto no Yorinobu, Kidōmaru was caught at the toilet. Yorimitsu said that Yorinobu was careless, so they should restrain the oni with chains, and stayed at Yorinobu's house for that night. Kidōmaru easily tore off those chains, and with a grudge against Yorimitsu, looked at his bed and kept watch. Yorimitsu noticed this and told a servant, "tomorrow, I will make a visit to the Kurama-dera, Kurama temple." Kidōmaru then went ahead to Kurama, killed one free-ranging cattle at the Ichihara field, hid inside its body, and waited for Yorimitsu to come. However, Yorimitsu saw through this, and Watanabe no Tsuna upon receiving command from Yorimitsu shot through the cattle with a bow an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Folklore
Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, Tradition, customs, and material culture. In Japanese, the term is used to describe folklore. The Folklore studies, academic study of folklore is known as . Folklorists also employ the term or to refer to the objects and arts they study. Folk religion Men dressed as namahage, wearing ogre-like masks and traditional straw capes (''mino (straw cape), mino'') make rounds of homes, in an annual ritual of the Oga Peninsula area of the Northeast region. These ogre-men masquerade as kami looking to instill fear in the children who are lazily idling around the fire. This is a particularly colorful example of folk practice still kept alive. A parallel custom is the secretive ritual of the Yaeyama Islands, Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa which does not allow itself to be photographed. Many, though increasingly fewer households maintain a kamidana or ... [...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, a knife, or some other sharp object. She is most often described as a tall woman of about 175-180cm, however, some people believe she is up to 8 feet tall, having long, straight black hair, white hands, 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 them in their 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
妖怪 , a supernatural entity in Japanese folklore
{{Chinese title disambiguation ...
妖怪 ("strange apparition") may refer to: * Yaoguai, a supernatural entity in Chinese folklore * Yogoe, supernatural entity in Korean folklore * Yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and Spirit (supernatural entity) , spirits in Japanese folklore. The kanji representation of the word comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
