These lights are different from the typical Japanese kaika (怪火; strange lights), in that the floating fires are said to contain what looks to be small children running around inside of them. This phenomenon is particularly associated with Tsushima city, Nagasaki. Some of these ayakashi no kai...
Neither word has quite the same meaning in Chinese as it does in Japanese. Chinese uses the kanji 鬼 (gui) to mean ghost, which was imported into Japanese as the word “oni.” And the Chinese usage of 妖怪 (yokai) refers specifically to human beings under some sort of supernatural influ...
Bakekujira’s name is the same as many magical animals in Japanese folklore, with a difference of nuance. For most bake- creatures (bakeneko, bakenezumi, etc … ) the kanji 化 (bake; change) refers to a transformation, the ability to shift from one form to another. In Bakekujira—化 (...
As I have said before, Japanese folklore runs the gambit from funny, to strange, to terrifying. After doing Eyeball Butt, I was in the mood for a monster that was honestly scary. Well, except for looking between a cow’s legs … that’s just weird. One of the interesting things about...
What does Guhin mean? Guhin is made up of two kanji.狗(gu) meaning “dog” and賓(in) meaning “guest” or “visitor from afar.” These seem innocuous enough, however both have deeper associations. 狗is the kanji used in the name tengu (天狗), which translates literally as “heavenly...
and terrible Japanese curse-ritual. It has been performed for millennia—some sources trace it back as far as the Kofun period (250 – 538 CE), although in a different form. While the costume and ritual have changed over the centuries, the basic rite of pounding nails into dolls remains ...
either in Japan or China. The other names mentioned by Toriyama—the Snake Family (云蛇塚) and the Old Snake-Bone Woman’s husband Jako Emon—have never been found in any other text, Japanese or Chinese. Nor has the snake-marked tomb been discovered. However, all of these peculiar and ...
Inen – The Possessing Japanese Ghost Funa Yurei Enju no Jashin – The Evil God in the Pagoda Tree Translated from Edo Tokyo Kaii Hyakumonogatari In July 28th, in the seventh year of Kaei (1854), a sake seller plied his trade between the Kamakura riverbanks and the lower valley. On th...
I’ve been writing these birthday greetings for a few years now, and I am always happy when I get to write another. I have gone into Mizuki’s history and importance in Japanese society on several occasions. If you aren’t familiar with this great genius, spend some time reading up on...
There are several Japanese folklore stories—involving both yokai and yurei—that involve the bottom of a well. In Japanese folklore, water was a channel to the world of the dead, and the bottoms of wells were directly connected. Wells also served as a convenient hiding place for murders co...