or is a Japanese of (a type of lantern), " helantern-spook () ... a stock character in the pantheon of ghouls and earned mention in the definitive demonology of 1784". They can also be called simply , , , and . They appear in the , , and card games like starting from the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

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 would split upwards and downwards, and the part that got split would become a mouth and stick out a long tongue, and the is commonly considered not to have one eye in its upper half, but two. Sometimes, the would also grow a face, hands, a torso, and wings. In pictures from the Edo period, both bucket-shaped and cylindrical were depicted. In the by

Sekien Toriyama 200px, A , specifically a Miage-nyūdō, as portrayed by Toriyama , real name Sano Toyofusa, was a scholar, '' kyōka'' poet, and ''ukiyo-e'' artist of Japanese folklore. Early life Born to a family of high-ranking servants to the Tokugawa sh ...

, a lantern-shaped under the name of was depicted. They are also known from such as

Katsushika Hokusai , known mononymously as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. His woodblock print series '' Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'' includes the iconic print ''The Great Wave off Kanagawa''. Ho ...

's from the ''

One Hundred Ghost Stories ''One Hundred Ghost Stories'' () is a series of ukiyo-e Woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock prints made by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) in the Yūrei-zu genre circa 1830. He created this series around the same time he was creating his most ...

'', and

Utagawa Kuniyoshi Utagawa Kuniyoshi (, ; 1 January 1798 – 14 April 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al'' (2005). "Kuniyoshi" in He was a member of the Utaga ...

's from the Edo period and beyond. These were inspired by the , the (1825), in which the spirit of Oiwa, who was killed by Kamiya Iemon, was performed displaying itself from a (which was called ), and as well as another performance in which a had a human face, the (in 1825, at the among other places), so these were called . Among that depict many of tools, there is the , but there have been no found in older works before the Edo Period. Examples of works after the Edo Period include the by . Obake_Karuta_1-08

The in particular was created from a lantern composed of "bamboo and paper or silk".Bakechochin, 57. They are portrayed with "one eye, and a long tongue protruding from an open mouth".

Oral legends

Although they are famous , it is said that there are almost no legends in any area that are about this, so in -related literature they are classified as " that exist only in pictures". It is also commonly believed that they were created as a story for entertaining children. The comic artist

Mizuki Shigeru , also known as , was a Japanese manga artist and historian. He was known for his ''yōkai'' manga such as ''GeGeGe no Kitarō'' and ''Akuma-kun'', as well as for his war stories based on his own war manga such as '' Shōwa-shi''. He was born in ...

published a story about how a would surprise people and suck out their souls, but it did not cite any primary sources. Also, considered to be in the legends are often described as atmospheric ghost lights like rather than as the tool itself. In an old story from the

Yamagata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,005,926 (1 February 2025) and an area of 9,325 Square kilometre, km2 (3,600 Square mile, sq mi). Its neighbours are Akita Prefectu ...

, at a shrine with an aged , a would appear and frighten humans. The would no longer appear after the was put away.

Description

Oral legends

See also

Notes

Further reading