List Of Legendary Creatures From Japan - Japanese Spirit Animals

The following is a list of demons, ghosts, yōkai, obake, yūrei, and other legendary creatures that are notable in Japanese folklore and mythology.

A

• Abumi-guchi â€" A furry creature formed from the stirrup of a mounted military commander who worked for Yamata no Orochi.
• Abura-akago â€" An infant ghost who licks the oil out of andon lamps.
• Abura-sumashi â€" A spirit with a large head who lives on a mountain pass in Kumamoto Prefecture.
• Akabeko â€" A red cow involved in the construction of Enzō-ji in Yanaizu, Fukushima.
• Akaname â€" A spirit who licks off filth in untidy bathrooms.
• Akashita â€" A creature that looms in a black cloud over a floodgate.
• Akateko â€" A red hand dangling out of a tree.
• Akkorokamui â€" An Ainu monster resembling a fish or octopus.
• Akurojin-no-hi â€" A ghostly fire from Mie Prefecture.
• Amabie â€" A Japanese mermaid yokai.
• Amaburakosagi â€" A ritual-disciplinary demon from Shikoku.
• Amamehagi â€" A ritual-disciplinary demon from Hokuriku.
• Amanojaku â€" A small demon that instigates people into wickedness.
• Amanozako â€" A monstrous goddess mentioned in the Kujiki.
• Amazake-babaa â€" An old woman who asks for sweet sake and brings disease.
• Amefurikozō â€" A little boy spirit who plays in the rain.
• Amemasu â€" An Ainu creature resembling a fish or whale.
• Ameonna â€" A rain-making female spirit.
• Amikiri â€" A net-cutting bird-headed, crustacean-armed, snake-bodied spirit.
• Amorōnagu â€" A Tennyo from the island of Amami ÅŒshima.
• Amaterasu â€" A sun goddess.
• Anmo â€" A ritual-disciplinary demon from Iwate Prefecture.
• Aoandon â€" The demonic spirit which arises from an andon lamp at the end of a Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai.
• Aobōzu â€" The blue monk who kidnaps children.
• Aonyōbō â€" A female ghost who lurks in an abandoned imperial palace.
• Aosaginohi â€" A luminescent heron.
• Arikura-no-baba â€" An old woman with magical powers.
• Ashimagari â€" A spirit which entangles the legs of travelers.
• Ashinagatenaga â€" A pair of characters, one with long legs and the other with long arms.
• Ayakashi (yōkai) â€" A phenomenon considered to be the funayurei.
• Azukiarai (or Azukitogi) â€" A spirit that washes azuki beans.

B

• Bake-kujira â€" A ghostly whale skeleton that drifts along the coastline of Shimane Prefecture.
• Bakeneko â€" A shape-shifting cat.
• Bakezōri â€" A zori straw sandal spirit.
• Baku (spirit) â€" Supernatural beings that devour dreams and nightmares.
• Basan â€" A large fire-breathing chicken monster.
• Bashōnosei
• Betobeto-san â€" Invisible spirit which follows people at night, making the sound of footsteps.
• Binbōgami â€" The spirit of poverty.
• Biwa-bokuboku- Animated biwa lute.
• Buruburu
• Byakko â€" Japanese version of the Chinese White Tiger.
• Byōbunozoki

C

• Chōchinobake â€" A possessed chōchin lantern.
• Chōchinbi â€" Demonic flames which appear in footpaths between rice-fields.

D

• Daidarabotchi â€" A giant responsible for creating the geographical features of Japan.
• Daitengu â€" The most powerful tengu, each of whom lives on a separate mountain.
• Danzaburou-danuki â€" a tanuki from Sado Island.
• Datsue-ba â€" An old woman in the Underworld who removes clothes (or skin if unclothed) of the dead.
• Dodomeki â€" A hundred-eyed demon.

E

• Enenra â€" A monster made of smoke.
• Enkō â€" Kappa of Shikoku and western HonshÅ«.

F

• FÅ«jin â€" The wind god.
• FÅ«ri â€" A monkey-like yokai.
• FunayÅ«rei â€" Ghosts of people who died at sea.
• Furaribi â€" A creature engulfed in flames that flies aimlessly.
• Furutsubaki-no-rei â€" A soul-sucking plant.
• Furu-utsubo â€" An animated jar.
• Futakuchi-onna â€" The two-mouthed woman.

G

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

H

• Hakanohi
• Hakuja no Myojin â€" A white serpent God.
• Hakutaku â€" A beast which handed down knowledge on harmful spirits.
• Hanako-san â€" A spirit of a young World War IIâ€"era girl who haunts school restrooms.
• Hannya â€" A noh mask representing a jealous female demon.
• Harionago â€" A woman with a thorn-like barb on the tip of each strand of her hair.
• Hashihime â€" A woman-turned-spirit associated with the bridge at Uji.
• Heikegani â€" Crabs with human-faced shells. They are the spirits of the warriors killed in the Battle of Dan-no-ura.
• Hibagon â€" The Japanese version of the Bigfoot or the Yeti.
• Hiderigami â€" The spirit of drought.
• Hihi â€" A baboon-like Chinese yokai.
• Hikeshibaba â€" An old woman who extinguishes lanterns.
• Hinode
• Hitodama â€" A fireball ghost that appears when someone dies, signifying the dead person's spirit.
• Hitotsume-kozō â€" A one-eyed child spirit.
• Hitotsume-nyÅ«dō â€" A one-eyed monk spirit.
• Hiyoribō â€" The spirit which stops rainfall.
• Hoji â€" The wicked spirit of Tamamo-no-Mae.
• Hone-onna â€" A skeleton-woman.
• Hō-ō â€" The legendary Fenghuang bird of China.
• Hoshi-no-Tama â€" 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 â€" A ritual exorcist.
• Hotoke â€" A deceased person.
• Hyakki Yakō â€" The demons' night parade.
• Hyōsube â€" A kind of hair-covered Kappa.

I

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

J

• Jami - A wicked mountain spirit.
• Janjanbi â€" A soul in the form of a ball of fire, named for the sound it makes.
• Jibakurei â€" A spirit that protects a specific place.
• Jikininki â€" Ghosts that eats human corpses.
• Jinmenju â€" A tree with human-faced fruits.
• Jishin-namazu â€" The giant catfish that causes earthquakes and tsunami. It was blamed during the Ansei quake & tsunami.
• Jorōgumo â€" A spider-woman.
• Jatai â€" Animated folding screen cloth.
• Jubokko â€" A vampiric tree.

K

• Kahaku (河伯) â€" Another name for a Kappa.
• Kakurezato
• Kamaitachi â€" The slashing sickle-clawed weasel that haunts the mountains.
• Kambarinyōdō â€" A monk spirit that spies on people using the toilet.
• Kōtahi (コタãƒ') - A Manawa Bradford, a spirit monkey that is very hairy and gets engulfed in rage. The "Kotahi" is also commonly referred to as "カノト"
• Kameosa â€" A possessed sake jar.
• Kanedama â€" A spirit that carries money.
• Kappa â€" A famous water monster with a water-filled head and a love of cucumbers.
• Karasu-tengu â€" Crow demon.
• Karura â€" Anthropomorphic eagle akin to the Hindu Garuda.
• Kasa-obake â€" A possessed paper umbrella monster.
• Kasha â€" A cat-like demon that descends from the sky and carries away corpses.
• Katawaguruma â€" A type of Wanyudo, with an anguished woman instead of a monk's head in a burning wheel.
• Kawauso â€" River otters.
• Kawaakago â€" A river spirit that pretends to be a crying baby.
• Kechibi â€" Fireballs with human faces inside.
• Keneō â€" An old man seated in the underworld who weighs the clothes given to him by Datsue-ba.
• Keseran Paseran â€" Creature from folklore that resembles a ball of fluff floating in the air.
• Keukegen â€" A small dog-like creature covered entirely in long hair.
• Kijimuna â€" A tree sprite from Okinawa.
• Kirin â€" 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 â€" A fox spirit.
• Kitsunebi â€" Flames created by the Kitsune.
• Kitsune no yomeiri
• Kiyohime â€" A woman who transformed into a serpent demon out of the rage of unrequited love.
• Kodama â€" A spirit that lives in a tree.
• Kodama Nezumi - A spherical Japanese dormouse, would swell up and explode at the approach of humans, the Matagi saw it as an omen and would not hunt that day if one was seen.
• Kokakuchō â€" The Ubume bird.
• Komainu â€" The pair of lion-dogs that guard the entrances of temples.
• Konaki-jiji â€" This yokai disguises itself as an abandoned baby then cries until someone picks it up.
• Konoha-tengu â€" A bird-like Tengu.
• Koropokkuru â€" A little person from Ainu folklore.
• Kosenjōbi â€" Fireballs that float over former battlefields.
• Kosode-no-te â€" A possessed kosode.
• Kubikajiri â€" Female corpse-chewing graveyard spirit.
• Kuchisake-onna â€" The slit-mouthed woman.
• Kuda-gitsune â€" A small fox-like animal used in sorcery.
• Kudan - A cow with a human face.
• KyonshÄ« â€" The Japanese version of the Chinese hopping vampire, known as "jiangshi".
• Kumo Yōkai â€" A Japanese spider demon.
• Kyōkotsu â€" A skeletal figure that emerges from a well.
• Kyōrinrin â€" Possessed scrolls or papers.

M

• Mekurabe â€" The multiplying skulls that menaced Taira no Kiyomori in his courtyard.
• Miage-nyÅ«dō â€" A spirit that grows as fast as you can look up at it.
• Mikaribaba â€" A one-eyed old woman.
• Mikoshi-nyÅ«dō â€" A bald goblin with an extending neck.
• Misaki â€" High-ranking divine spirits.
• Mizuchi â€" A dangerous water dragon.
• Mokumokuren â€" A swarm of eyes that appear on a paper sliding door in an old building.
• MomonjÄ«
• Mononoke â€" Any mischievous and troublesome creature/entity of uncertain origin.
• Morinji-no-kama â€" Another name for Bunbuku Chagama, the tanuki teakettle.
• Mōryō
• Mujina â€" A shapeshifting badger.
• Mu-onna â€" The nothing woman.
• Myōbu â€" A title sometimes given to a fox.

N

• Namahage â€" A ritual-disciplinary demon from the Oga Peninsula.
• Namazu â€" A giant catfish that causes earthquakes.
• Nekomata â€" A cat yokai.
• Nuppeppō - A genderless blob of flesh with a hint of a face in the folds of fat.
• Ningyo â€" A fish person or "mermaid".
• Nobusuma â€" A flying squirrel-like monster.
• Noderabō â€" Strange creatures that stand near a temple bell.
• Noppera-bō â€" A faceless ghost.
• Nozuchi â€" A fat snake-like creature.
• Nogitsune â€" A dangerous kitsune.
• Nue â€" A monster with the head of a monkey, the body of a raccoon dog, the legs of a tiger, and a snake-headed tail. It plagued the emperor with nightmares in the Heike Monogatari.
• Nukekubi â€" A vicious human-like monster whose head detaches from its body, often confused with the Rokurokubi.
• Nuppeppo â€" An animated lump of decaying human flesh.
• Nure-onna â€" A female snake-like monster who appears on the shore.
• Nuribotoke â€" An animated corpse with blackened flesh and dangling eyeballs.
• Nurikabe â€" A ghostly wall that traps a traveler at night.
• Nurarihyon â€" A strange character who sneaks into houses on busy evenings.
• NyÅ«dō-bōzu â€" A yokai that grows larger the further one looks up.
• NyÅ«naisuzume

O

• Obake (or Bakemono) â€" Shapeshifting spirits.
• Obariyon â€" Yokai which rides piggyback on a human victim and becomes unbearably heavy.
• Oboroguruma â€" An oxen cart with a face in its carriage.
• Oiwa â€" The ghost of a woman with a distorted face who was murdered by her husband. One of the most famous onryō.
• ÅŒkaburo
• ÅŒgama - A giant toad which breathes rainbow-like smoke and wields a giant spear against whoever attacks it.
• Okami â€" A powerful wolf spirit that either takes your life or protects it.
• Okiku â€" The plate-counting ghost of a servant girl.
• ÅŒkubi â€" The huge face of a woman which appears in the sky.
• Okuri-inu â€" A spectral dog which follows lone travellers, attacking them if they trip. Similar to the Black dog of English folklore.
• ÅŒmagatoki â€" Dusk.
• ÅŒmukade â€" Giant, human-eating centipede that lives in the mountains.
• Oni â€" The classic Japanese demon. It is an ogre-like creature which often has horns.
  • Oni of Rashomon
• Onibaba â€" The demonic hag of Adachigahara.
• Onibi â€" A demonic flame which can suck out life if they come too near.
• Onihitokuchi â€" One-eyed oni that kill and eat humans.
• Onikuma - Bear yokai.
• Onmoraki â€" Bird-demon created from the spirits of freshly dead corpses.
• ÅŒnyÅ«dō â€" Wastebasket taxon for all 'priestly' demons.
• Onryō â€" A vengeful ghost formed from powerful feelings like rage or sorrow.
• Otoroshi â€" A hairy creature that perches on the torii gates to shrines and temples.
• Onmyoji â€" A human who has powers like a yokai's.
• Osakabe

R

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

S

• Sa Gojō â€" The water-monster Sha Wujing from Journey to the West, often interpreted in Japan as a Kappa.
• Samebito â€" A shark-man from the undersea Dragon Palace.
• Sankai â€" Amorphous afterbirth spirit.
• Sansei
• Sarakazoe
• Satori â€" An ape-like creature that can read one's thoughts.
• Sazae-oni â€" A turban snail that turns into a woman.
• Sesshō-seki â€" The poisonous "killing stones" which Tamamo-no-Mae transformed into.
• SeiryÅ« â€" Japanese version of the Chinese Azure Dragon.
• Shachihoko â€" A tiger-headed fish whose image is often used in architecture.
• Shibaemon-tanuki â€" A tanuki from Awaji Island.
• Shichinin misaki â€" A group of 7 ghosts who sicken the living.
• Shidaidaka â€" A humanoid yokai that appears above roads.
• Shikigami â€" A spirit summoned to do the bidding of an Onmyōji.
• Shikome â€" Wild women sent by Izanami to harm Izanagi.
• Shinigami â€" The Japanese Grim Reaper.
• Shiranui â€" A mysterious flame seen over the seas in Kumamoto Prefecture.
• Shirime (尻目) â€" An apparition in the shape of a man having an eye in the place of his anus.
• Shirōneri â€" Possessed mosquito nettings or dust clothes.
• Shiryō â€" The souls of the dead, the opposite of ikiryo.
• Shisa â€" The Okinawan version of the Shishi.
• Shishi â€" The paired lion-dogs that guard the entrances of temples.
• Shōjō â€" Red-haired sea sprites who love alcohol.
• Shōkera â€" Is a creature which peeks in through the skylight of an old house.
• Sōjōbō â€" The famous Daitengu of Mount Kurama.
• Suiko â€" Another name for Kappa.
• Son GokÅ« â€" The monkey king Sun Wukong from Journey to the West.
• Sunakake Baba â€" A witch who uses sand.
• Sunekosuri â€" A dog-like yokai that rubs up against people's legs when it is raining.
• Shuten-doji
• Suzaku â€" Japanese version of the Chinese Vermilion Bird.
• Suzuri-no-tamashii

T

• Taka-onna â€" A female monster that can stretch its waist to peer inside buildings.
• Tamamo-no-Mae â€" A wicked nine-tailed fox who appeared as a courtesan.
• Tanuki â€" A shape-shifting raccoon dog.
• Teke Teke â€" 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
• Tengu â€" A wise demon with two variants: a red man with a long nose, or a bird-like demon.
• Tenjōkudari
• Tenka (kaika)
• Tenko (fox)
• Tennin â€" A heavenly being.
• Te-no-me â€" A ghost of a blind man with his eyes on his hands.
• Teratsutsuki
• Tesso â€" A priest who was snubbed by the emperor and became a swarm of rats which laid waste to a rival temple.
• Tōfu-kozō â€" A yokai that appears as a young boy carrying a plate of tofu.
• Tsuchigumo â€" A clan of spider-like yokai.
• Tsuchinoko â€" A legendary serpentine monster. It is now a cryptid resembling a fat snake.
• Tsukinowaguma â€" A legendary bear.
• Tsukuyomi â€" A moon god.
• Tsukumogami â€" 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 â€" A monster that drops out of the tops of trees.
• Tomoe(fox)

U

• Ubume â€" The spirit of a woman who died in childbirth.
• Uma-no-ashi â€" A horse's leg which dangles from a tree and kicks passersby.
• Umibōzu â€" A giant monster appearing on the surface of the sea.
• Umi-nyōbō â€" A female sea monster who steals fish.
• Ungaikyo â€" A possessed mirror.
• Ushi-no-tokimairi
• Ushi-oni â€" A name given to an assortment of ox-headed monsters.
• Ushi-onna - A kimono-clad woman with a cow head.
• Ushirogami
• Uwan â€" A spirit named for the sound it shouts when surprising people.

W

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

Y

• Yadōkai â€" Monks who have turned to mischief.
• Yama-biko â€" Small creatures that create echoes.
• Yamajijii â€" An old man with one eye and one leg.
• Yamako
• Yamaoroshi â€" A possessed vegetable grater, almost porcupine-like in appearance.
• Yamata no Orochi â€" The eight-headed dragon/serpent monster slain by the god Susanoo.
• Yama-inu â€" Dog-like mountain spirit, that may appear to travelers on mountain roads; may be friendly, or may attack and kill the traveler, depending on the tale, (also see the Japanese wolf).
• Yama-uba â€" A Crone-like yōkai.
• Yashima no Hage-tanuki â€" A tanuki that protects the Taira clan.
• Yatagarasu â€" The three-legged crow of Amaterasu.
• Yato-no-kami â€" Deadly Snake Gods which infested a field.
• Yobuko â€" A mountain-dwelling spirit.
• Yōkai/Youkai â€" A class of supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons in Japanese folklore. They can also be called ayakashi (妖?), mononoke (物の怪?), or mamono (é­"物?).
• Yomotsu-shikome â€" The hags of the underworld.
• Yonakinoishi
• Yōsei â€" The Japanese word for "fairy".
• Yosuzume â€" A mysterious bird that sings at night, sometimes indicating that the okuri-inu is near.
• Yuki-onna â€" The snow woman.
• Yurei â€" Ghosts in a more Western sense.

Z

• Zashiki-warashi â€" A protective childlike house spirit.
• Zennyo Ryūō â€" A rain-making dragon.
• Zorigami â€" An animated clock.
• Zuijin â€" A tutelary spirit.
• Zunbera-bō â€" Another name for the Noppera-bō.

See also

• Japanese mythology
• Kaidan

References

External links

• Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist and Shinto Deities
• 百物語怪談会 Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai | Translated Japanese Ghost Stories and Tales of the Weird and the Strange, a blog by Mizuki Shigeru
• 133 Yokai Statues on Mizuki Shigeru Road