{"id":28717,"date":"2025-10-15T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/?p=28717"},"modified":"2025-10-07T12:27:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T03:27:24","slug":"japanese-monsters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/blog\/japanese-monsters\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese monsters: demons and the ghosts of the underworld"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As every culture has its ghosts<\/strong> and ghouls<\/strong>, so too do the Japanese in the form of y\u014dkai<\/em> (\u5996\u602a). Made up of two kanji that represent \u201cbewitching; calamity\u201d and \u201capparition; mystery; suspicious,\u201d they also come by different names such as ayakashi<\/em> or mononoke<\/em> (sound familiar? A famous Ghibli movie<\/a>, perhaps?). Y\u014dkai are the Japanese monsters that makeup all the manifestations beyond the human realm, and though some are evil, others choose not to associate with the human world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They often have supernatural abilities<\/strong> like shapeshifting and can possess animal features \u2014 like the kappa<\/em>, which is similar to a turtle. These traits trace back to Japan\u2019s roots in animism, along with its history of Buddhist and Shinto philosophies woven into its timeline. According to these beliefs, spirits called mononoke<\/strong> (\u7269\u306e\u602a) \u2014 further divided into nigi-mitama<\/em> (good fortune) and ara-mitama<\/em> (ill fortune) \u2014 reside in all things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ara-mitama were converted into nigi-mitama under rituals, however if those rituals failed due to insufficient veneration, they then became y\u014dkai. These y\u014dkai have been popular since the middle ages, and there are certain types known by nearly every Japanese person since childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Types of ghosts and ghouls<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"kappa<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kappa (\u6cb3\u7ae5)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The kappa, translating to river-child, is a y\u014dkai reaching back to ancient times. It was meant to scare children into staying away from areas of deep water. After all, drowning would be the least of your worries if compared to running into a monster, right?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a human-like form, webbed hands, feet, and a turtle-like shell<\/strong>, the kappa also has a dish on its head that holds water. This dish is its life force, and if its water spills, the kappa is weakened. These Japanese monsters are seen as mischievous tricksters, though this can range to the downright diabolical such as kidnapping or harming women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They love cucumbers. In old Tokyo, there was a tradition where people wrote their family members\u2019 names onto cucumbers and sent them downstream to appease the kappa. Looking for protection before a swim out in the ocean? Bring a cucumber!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"bronze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tengu (\u5929\u72d7)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Meaning “heavenly dog”, tengu<\/em> can be considered a god in the Shinto religion<\/a>, as well as a demon and omen of war in Buddhism. Some bad, some good; they come in a variety of shapes, mainly a large anthropomorphized bird<\/strong> with a red face and long nose or beak. They\u2019re often shown holding a fan made of feathers (\u7fbd\u56e3\u6247) with the power to summon powerful winds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tengu are known to be opponents of Buddhism, carrying off monks and throwing them into remote places. They possess women in order to seduce holy men, rob temples, and disguise themselves as false priests. Over time, the tengu image has softened to the point that in some circles, they are considered deities. Some consider them to be staunch defenders of forests, so if hiking the many beautiful forests of Japan, keep an eye out for that long nose!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"two<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kitsune (\u72d0)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kitsune<\/em> is the Japanese word for fox, and similar to Western folklore, they\u2019re known as clever animals. In Japanese mythology, however, they possess the ability to shapeshift<\/strong> and cause a bit of mischief. They\u2019ve been known to take control of women by entering through their fingernails or breasts, a trick known as kitsune-tsuki<\/em> (\u72d0\u4ed8\u304d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kitsune live long, are intelligent, and possess powerful magic. There are good foxes as well as bad, some possessing up to nine tails \u2014 with a greater number correlating with more power. It\u2019s believed that after reaching 1,000 years old and gaining their ninth tail, kitsune turn into golden heavenly foxes<\/strong> (\u5929\u72d0, tenko<\/em>). Interested in seeing these guardians in all their stoic grandeur? Stop by the Fushimi Inari<\/a> shrine in Kyoto, where these spirits silently keep watch over visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tanuki<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tanuki (\u72f8)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tanuki<\/em> fall into the category of Japanese monsters, but they are a whole category of their own! These raccoon dogs<\/strong><\/a> (not quite raccoon, and not quite dog; they\u2019re their own unique species in Japan) are mischievous shapeshifters that can take human form. They\u2019re easy to spot, as it only takes a stroll down one of Japan\u2019s many small alleys to spot a tanuki statue sitting outside an izakaya<\/em> or shop as a sign of good luck and wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"three<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kodama (\u6728\u970a)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kodama<\/em> are spirits that inhabit the trees, similar to dryads in Greek mythology. They can be seen as mountain gods, and in some parts of Japan, prayers are made for each kodama before a tree is cut down. Their appearances vary from that of ghostly lights to more humanlike figures, such as the white bobblehead-like people in “Princess Mononoke” <\/em>from Studio Ghibli<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tsukumogami (\u4ed8\u55aa\u795e)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Japanese folklore, tools that have reached a hundred years of age acquire a spirit and identity. With their name meaning divine object, these inanimate items<\/strong> become endowed with souls that can become angered when treated wastefully or thoughtlessly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a bad idea to teach, is it? Items shouldn\u2019t be wasted or thrown away so quickly. To honor and make use of them would help keep the world a lot cleaner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Amabie<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amabie (\u30a2\u30de\u30d3\u30a8)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This mermaid-like y\u014dkai has a beak for a mouth and three legs. The only documented record of amabie<\/em> is on a woodblock sheet from 1846 that describes the amabie emerging in front of an official in modern-day Kumamoto prefecture. It made two prophesies: a rich harvest and an epidemic. It instructed people to draw an image of it and share it in order to get rid of the epidemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Y\u016brei<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And then there are the ghosts of the dead, unable to reach the peace of the afterlife,<\/strong> stuck and suffering in limbo. The two kanji \u5e7d\u970a (y\u016brei<\/em>) mean \u201cfaint\u201d or \u201cdim,\u201d and \u201csoul\u201d or \u201cspirit\u201d respectively. A typical y\u016brei will have long, messy (and scary) black hair, white clothing, hands dangling lifelessly, sometimes no legs, and accompanied by floating flames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to traditional beliefs, when a person dies, his or her reikon<\/em> (spirit) goes to purgatory, where it awaits a proper funeral and rites to be performed before it may travel to its final resting place along with its ancestors. Y\u016brei are reikon that have been interrupted in this process. Murder, suicide, revenge, hatred, or sorrow are among some of the many strong feelings that may leave a y\u016brei chained in between our world and the next. To properly move on, funeral rites must be performed or the conflict keeping it there must be resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan\u2019s folklore and ghost stories run as deep as its long history. A simple essay hardly scratches the surface, but a trip to this country is a good way to see just how intricate these beliefs are. Take a stroll through museums, read Japanese books, or simply travel along roads and read the historical markers etched throughout the country. It\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to know about Japanese folklore and culture, keep reading our blog<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As every culture has its ghosts and ghouls, so too do the Japanese in the form of y\u014dkai (\u5996\u602a). Made up of two kanji that represent \u201cbewitching; calamity\u201d and \u201capparition; mystery; suspicious,\u201d they also come by different names such as ayakashi or mononoke (sound familiar? A famous Ghibli movie, perhaps?). Y\u014dkai are the Japanese monsters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":28729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[400],"tags":[679,683],"class_list":["post-28717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese-culture","tag-history","tag-tradition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28717"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197079,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28717\/revisions\/197079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}