List of legendary creatures from Japan

A

B

C
  • Chōchinobake – A possessed chōchin lantern.
  • Chōchinbi – Demonic flames which appear in footpaths between rice-fields.

D
  • Daidarabotchi – A giant responsible for creating the geographical features of Japan.
  • Daitengu – The most powerful tengu, each of whom lives on a separate mountain.
  • Danzaburou-danuki – a bake-danuki from Sado Island.
  • Datsue-ba – An old woman in the Underworld who removes clothes (or skin if unclothed) of the dead.
  • Dodomeki – A hundred-eyed demon.
  • Dōnotsura – A headless humanlike yōkai with its face on its torso.

E

F

G
  • Gagoze – A demon who attacked young priests at Gangō-ji temple.
  • Gaki – Starving ghosts of especially greedy people.
  • Gashadokuro – A giant skeleton that is the spirit of the unburied dead. Also known as Gaikotsu.
  • Genbu – Japanese version of the Chinese Black Tortoise.
  • Goryō – The vengeful spirits of the dead.
  • Gozu and Mezu – Underworld guards.
  • Guhin – Another name for tengu.
  • Gyūki – Another name for Ushi-oni.

H
  • Hakanohi – A fire which lights on graves.
  • Hakuja no Myojin[1] – A white serpent God.
  • Hachishaku-sama – A woman that is 8 feet tall and famous by kidnapping children.
  • Hakutaku – A yak-like beast which handed down knowledge on harmful spirits.
  • Hanako-san – A spirit of a young World War II-era girl who inhabits and haunts school restrooms.
  • Hannya – A noh mask representing a jealous female demon.
  • Haradashi – A creature with a giant face on its stomach.
  • Harionago – A woman with a thorn-like barb on the tip of each strand of her hair.
  • Hashihime – A woman-turned-spirit associated with the bridge at Uji.
  • Heikegani – Crabs with human-faced shells. They are the spirits of the warriors killed in the Battle of Dan-no-ura.
  • Hibagon – The Japanese version of the Bigfoot or the Yeti.
  • Hiderigami – The spirit of drought.
  • Hihi – A baboon-like Chinese yokai.
  • Hikeshibaba – An old woman who extinguishes lanterns.
  • Hinode – The Sunrise.
  • Hitodama – A fireball ghost that appears when someone dies, signifying the dead person's spirit.
  • Hitotsume-kozō – A one-eyed child spirit.
  • Hitotsume-nyūdō – A one-eyed monk spirit.
  • Hiyoribō – The spirit which stops rainfall.
  • Hoji – The wicked spirit of Tamamo-no-Mae.
  • Hone-onna – The skeleton-woman.
  • Hō-ō – The legendary Fenghuang bird of China.
  • Hoshi-no-Tama – A ball guarded by a Kitsune (fox) which can give the one who obtains it power to force the Kitsune to help them. It is said to hold some reserves of the Kitsune's power.
  • Hōsōshi – A ritual exorcist.
  • Hotoke – A deceased person.
  • Hyakki Yakō – The demons' night parade.
  • Hyōsube – A kind of hair-covered Kappa.

I
  • Ibaraki-doji – Offspring of an oni.
  • Ichiren-Bozu – Animated prayer beads.
  • Ikiryō – Essentially a living ghost, as it is a living person's soul outside of their body.
  • Ikuchi – A sea-serpent that travels over boats in an arc while dripping oil.
  • Inugami – A dog-spirit created, worshipped, and employed by a family via sorcery.
  • Inugami Gyoubu – A type of bake-danuki.
  • Isonade – A fish-like sea monster with a barb-covered tail.
  • Issie – A lake monster.
  • Itsumade – A fire-breathing birdlike monster.
  • Ittan-momen – A possessed roll of cotton that attempts to smother people by wrapping itself around their faces.
  • Iyaya – A woman whose face is reflected as an old man.

J

K
  • Kahaku (河伯) – Another name for a Kappa.
  • Kakurezato
  • Kamaitachi – The slashing sickle-clawed weasel that haunts the mountains.
  • Kamikiri - A yokai that secretly cut people's hair.
  • Kambarinyūdō – A monk spirit that spies on people using the toilet.
  • Kameosa – A possessed sake jar.
  • Kanedama – A spirit that carries money.
  • Kappa – A famous water monster with a water-filled head and a love of cucumbers.
  • Karasu-tengu – Crow demon.
  • Karura – Anthropomorphic eagle akin to the Hindu Garuda.
  • Kasa-obake – A possessed paper umbrella monster.
  • Kasha – A cart-like demon that descends from the sky, or a cat-like demon, which carries away corpses.
  • Katawaguruma – A type of Wanyudo, with an anguished woman instead of a monk's head in a burning wheel.
  • Kawauso – River otters.
  • Kawaakago – A river spirit that pretends to be a crying baby.
  • Kechibi – Fireballs with human faces inside.
  • Keneō – An old man seated in the underworld who weighs the clothes given to him by Datsue-ba.
  • Keukegen – A small dog-like creature covered entirely in long hair.
  • Kijimuna – A tree sprite from Okinawa.
  • Kirin – The Japanese version of the Qilin of China, which is part dragon and part deer with antlers, fish scales and an ox's tail. Said to be a protective creature and the guardian of the metal element.
  • Kitsune – A fox spirit.
  • Kitsunebi – Flames created by the Kitsune.
  • Kitsune no yomeiri - Ghost lights
  • Kiyohime – A woman who transformed into a serpent demon out of the rage of unrequited love.
  • Kodama – A spirit that lives in a tree.
  • Kokakuchō – The Ubume bird.
  • Komainu – The pair of lion-dogs that guard the entrances of temples.
  • Konaki-jiji – This yokai disguises itself as an abandoned baby then cries until someone picks it up.
  • Konoha-tengu – A bird-like Tengu.
  • Koromodako – An octopus-like Yokai that lives in the waters bordering Kyoto and Fukui.
  • Koropokkuru – A little person from Ainu folklore.
  • Kosenjōbi – Fireballs that float over former battlefields.
  • Kosode-no-te – A possessed kosode.
  • Kubikajiri – Female corpse-chewing graveyard spirit.
  • Kuchisake-onna – The slit-mouthed woman.
  • Kuda-gitsune – A small fox-like animal used in sorcery.
  • Kudan – A cow with a human face.
  • Kyonshī – The Japanese version of the Chinese hopping vampire, known as "jiangshi".
  • Kumo Yōkai – A Japanese spider demon.
  • Kunekune - A tall, slender strip of paper sheet that wiggles on rice or barley fields during hot summer.
  • Kyōkotsu – A skeletal figure that emerges from a well.
  • Kyōrinrin – Possessed scrolls or papers.

M
  • Mekurabe – The multiplying skulls that menaced Taira no Kiyomori in his courtyard.
  • Menreiki - A spirit composed of Gigaku masks.
  • Miage-nyūdō – A spirit that grows as fast as you can look up at it.
  • Mikaribaba – A one-eyed old woman.
  • Mikoshi-nyūdō – A bald goblin with an extending neck.
  • Misaki – High-ranking divine spirits.
  • Mizuchi – A dangerous water dragon.
  • Mokumokuren – A swarm of eyes that appear on a paper sliding door in an old building.
  • Momonjī - An old-man who is waiting for travelers at every fork in the road.
  • Mononoke – Any mischievous and troublesome creature/entity of uncertain origin.
  • Morinji-no-kama – Another name for Bunbuku Chagama, the bake-danuki teakettle.
  • Mōryō – A general term for various water demons that eat corpses.
  • Mujina – A shapeshifting badger.
  • Myōbu – A title sometimes given to a fox.

N

O
  • Obake (or Bakemono) – Shapeshifting spirits.
  • Obariyon – Yōkai which rides piggyback on a human victim and becomes unbearably heavy.
  • Oboroguruma – An oxen cart with a face in its carriage.
  • Oiwa – The ghost of a woman with a distorted face who was murdered by her husband. One of the most famous onryō.
  • Ōkaburo - Cross-dressing yōkai
  • Ōgama – A giant toad which breathes rainbow-like smoke and wields a giant spear against whoever attacks it.
  • Ōkami – A powerful wolf spirit that either takes your life or protects it depending on the actions one does in his or her life.
  • Okiku – The plate-counting ghost of a servant girl.
  • Ōkubi – The huge face of a woman which appears in the sky.
  • Okuri-inu – A spectral dog which follows lone travelers, attacking them if they trip. Similar to the Black dog of English folklore.
  • Ōmagatoki – Dusk.
  • Ōmukade – A giant, human-eating centipede that lives in the mountains.
  • Oni – The classic Japanese demon. It is an ogre-like creature which often has horns.
  • Onibaba – The demonic hag of Adachigahara.
  • Onibi – A demonic flame which can suck out life if people come too near.
  • Onihitokuchi – One-eyed oni that kills and eat humans.
  • Onikuma – Bear yōkai.
  • Onmoraki – A bird-demon created from the spirits of freshly dead corpses.
  • Ōnyūdō – Wastebasket taxon for all 'priestly' demons.
  • Onryō – A vengeful ghost formed from powerful feelings like rage or sorrow.
  • Otoroshi – A hairy creature that perches on the torii gates to shrines and temples.
  • Onmyōji – A human who has powers like a yōkai's.
  • Osakabe – An old woman yōkai which resides in Himeji Castle and who can read and manipulate hearts.

R
  • Raijin – The God of Thunder.
  • Raijū – A beast that falls to earth in a lightning bolt.
  • Rōjinbi – A ghostly fire that appears with an old person.
  • Rokurokubi – A person, usually female, whose neck can stretch indefinitely.
  • Ryuu – The Japanese dragon.

S

T
  • Taka-onna – A female monster that can stretch its waist to peer inside buildings.
  • Tamamo-no-Mae – A wicked nine-tailed fox who appeared as a courtesan.
  • Tanuki – Japanese raccoon dog. In folklore, "tanuki" has the ability to shape-shift.
  • Teke Teke – A vengeful spirit of a school girl, with a half upper torso body, who goes around killing people by slicing them in half with a scythe, mimicking her own disfigurement.
  • Ten – A shapeshifting mischievous weasel.
  • Tengu – A wise demon with two variants: a red man with a long nose, or a bird-like demon.
  • Tenjōkudari - A female yokai that crawls on the ceiling.
  • Tenka (kaika) - Ghost lights
  • Tenko (fox) - Divine beast
  • Tennin – A heavenly being.
  • Te-no-me – A ghost of a blind man with his eyes on his hands.
  • Teratsutsuki - The onryō of a man who lived in the 6th century CE.
  • Tesso – A priest who was snubbed by the emperor and became a swarm of rats which laid waste to a rival temple.
  • Tōfu-kozō – A yokai that appears as a young boy carrying a plate of tofu.
  • Tsuchigumo – A clan of spider-like yokai.
  • Tsuchinoko – A legendary serpentine monster. It is now a cryptid resembling a fat snake.
  • Tsukinowaguma – A legendary bear.[2]
  • Tsukuyomi – A moon god.
  • Tsukumogami – An animated tea caddy that Matsunaga Hisahide used to bargain a peace with Oda Nobunaga. It is now understood to mean any 100-year-old inanimate object that has come to life.
  • Tsurube-otoshi – A monster that drops out of the tops of trees.

U
  • Ubume – The spirit of a woman who died in childbirth.
  • Uma-no-ashi – A horse's leg which dangles from a tree and kicks passersby.
  • Umibōzu – A giant monster appearing on the surface of the sea.
  • Umi-nyōbō – A female sea monster who steals fish.
  • Ungaikyō – A possessed mirror.
  • Ushi-no-tokimairi – A curse done at the ox hour (between 1 and 3 in the morning) by a black magic user, with various effects.
  • Ushi-oni – A name given to an assortment of ox-headed monsters.
  • Ushi-onna – A kimono-clad woman with a cow head.
  • Ushirogami - A one-eyed, footless spirit.
  • Uwan – A spirit named for the sound it shouts when surprising people.

W
  • Waira – A large beast that lurks in the mountains, about which little is known.
  • Wani – A water monster comparable to an alligator or crocodile. A related word has been applied to the saltwater crocodile.
  • Wanyūdō – A flaming wheel with a man's head in the center, that sucks out the soul of anyone who sees it.

Y

Z

See also

References
  1. "The Oriental Economic Review". Oriental Information Agency. 14 July 2018 – via Google Books.
  2. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women who Run with the Wolves (1996), Ch. 12.
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