Kasa-obake

Karakasa or Kasa Obake, are a type of Tsukumogami, a form of Japanese Spirit that originate from objects reaching their 100th year of existence, thus becoming animate. Karakasa in particular are Spirits of Parasols (umbrellas) that reach the century milestone. They are typically portrayed with one eye, a long tongue protruding from an open mouth, and a single foot, generally wearing a geta.

Bungaya

The kijimunaa (or bungaya) is one of the most famous of Okinawa's magical creatures. A sprite (Japanese yosei), the kijimunaa resembles a short young boy and features bright red hair.

Kitsune

Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore; kitsune usually refers to them in this context. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others—as foxes in folklore often do—other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives.

Shisa

Shīsā (シーサー) (Okinawan: siisaa) (alternative spelling shishi or shisaa) is a traditional Ryukyuan decoration, often found in pairs, resembling a cross between a lion and a dog, from Okinawa mythology. Many people put a pair of shisa on their rooftops or flanking the gates to their houses. Shisa are wards, believed to protect from various evils. When found in pairs, the shisa on the left traditionally has a closed mouth, and the one on the right an open mouth. The open mouth to ward off evil spirits, and the closed mouth to keep good spirits in.

Noppera-bō

The Noppera-bō (のっぺら坊, Noppera-bō?), or faceless ghost, is a Japanese legendary creature. They are sometimes mistakenly referred to as a mujina, an old Japanese word for a badger or raccoon dog. Although the mujina can assume the form of the other, noppera-bō are usually humans. Such creatures were thought to sometimes transform themselves into noppera-bō in order to frighten humans. Lafcadio Hearn used the animals' name as the title of his story about faceless monsters, probably resulting in the misused terminology.

Noppera-bō are known primarily for frightening humans, but are usually otherwise harmless. They appear at first as ordinary human beings, sometimes impersonating someone familiar to the victim, before causing their features to disappear, leaving a blank, smooth sheet of skin where their face should be.

Amazake-babaa

Amazake-babaa (甘酒婆, "amazake hag") is an old woman yōkai from the folklore of Miyagi and Aomori prefectures. She comes to the doors of houses at late night asking for amazake in a child like voice, but if anyone answers they fall ill. It was said that to keep her away, a cedar leaf is placed in the doorway. She was also known as the goddess of Chickenpox.

Amanozako

Amanozako (天逆毎, "heaven opposing everything", or 天狗神, "tengu deity") is a monstrous goddess mentioned in the Kujiki, an ancient Japanese text, which states that she originated when Susanoo let his own ferocious spirit build up inside him until he vomited her out. The Wakan Sansai Zue describes this deity as having a furious temper, a beastly head with a long nose, long ears, and great fangs so strong they can chew metal blades ragged, and to be capable of flying for a thousand ri.

Amanozako was illustrated by Toriyama Sekien in the third volume of his Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki.

Hyakki Yakō

Hyakki Yakō (百鬼夜行; lit. "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons") was a Japanese folk belief. The belief holds that every year yōkai, the Japanese supernatural beings, will take to the streets during summer nights. Anyone who comes across the procession will die, unless protected by some Buddhist sutra. The game Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai was based on the folklore.

It was a popular theme in Japanese visual art. An early example is the famous 16-century handscroll Hyakki Yakō Zu (百鬼夜行図, with zu meaning "picture"), attributed to Tosa Mitsunobu, in the Shinju-an of Daitoku-ji, Kyoto. Notable works of this motif include those by Toriyama Sekien and Utagawa Yoshiiku. These works are more often humorous than frightening.

Inugami

In Japanese mythology an inugami (犬神, inugami? lit. "dog god") is a type of shikigami (式神, shikigami?), similar to a familiar spirit, resembling, and usually originating from, a dog, and most commonly carrying out vengeance or acting as guardians on behalf of the inugami-mochi, or "inugami owner". Inugami are extremely powerful and capable of existing independently, as well as turning on their "owners" and even possessing humans.

Ikiryō

In Japanese mythology, an ikiryō (生霊, ikiryō?) (also read shōryō, seirei, or ikisudama) is a manifestation of the soul of a living person separately from their body.

Traditionally, if someone holds a sufficient grudge against another person, it is believed that a part or the whole of their soul can temporarily leave their body and appear before the target of their hate in order to curse or otherwise harm them.

Souls are also believed to leave a living body when the body is extremely sick or comatose; such ikiryō are not malevolent.

Amanojaku

Amanojaku, or Amanjaku (天邪鬼, "heavenly evil spirit") is a demon-like creature in Japanese folklore. It is usually depicted as a kind of small oni, and is thought to be able to provoke a person's darkest desires and thus instigate him into perpetrating wicked deeds.

One of the amanojaku's best known appearances is in the fairytale Urikohime (瓜子姫, "melon princess"), in which a girl miraculously born from a melon is doted upon by an elderly couple. They shelter her from the outside world, and she naively lets the amanojaku inside one day, where it kidnaps or devours her, and sometimes impersonates her by wearing her flayed skin.

Bai Ze (traditional Chinese: 白澤; simplified Chinese: 白泽; pinyin: Baí Zé; Wade-Giles: Pai Tse), or hakutaku (白沢, hakutaku?) in Japanese, is a fantastic beast from Chinese legend. Its name literally means "white marsh".

The Bai Ze was encountered by the Yellow Emperor while he was on patrol in the east. The Bai Ze dictated to Huang Di a guide to the forms and habits of all 11,520 types of supernatural creatures in the world, and how to overcome their hauntings and attacks. The emperor had this information written down in a book called the Bai Ze Tu (白澤圖). This book no longer exists, but many fragments of it survive in other texts.

Aspidochelone

According to the tradition of the Physiologus and medieval bestiaries, the aspidochelone is a fabled sea creature, variously described as a large whale or sea turtle, that is as large as an island. The name aspidochelone appears to be a compound word combining Greek aspis, the asp, and chelone, the turtle. It rises to the surface from the depths of the sea, and entices unwitting sailors to make landfall on its huge shell. In Old English literature, in the poem The Whale, the creature appears under the name Fastitocalon, apparently a variant of aspidochelone. In the moralistic allegory of the Physiologus and bestiary tradition, the aspidochelone represents Satan, who deceives those whom he seeks to devour.

Tengu

Tengu (天狗, Tengu? "heavenly dogs") are a class of supernatural creatures found in Japanese folklore, art, theater, and literature. They are one of the best known yōkai (monster-spirits) and are sometimes worshipped as Shinto kami (revered spirits or gods). Although they take their name from a dog-like Chinese demon (Tiangou), the tengu were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey, and they are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics. The earliest tengu were pictured with beaks, but this feature has often been humanized as an unnaturally long nose, which today is practically the tengu's defining characteristic in the popular imagination.

Buddhism long held that the tengu were disruptive demons and harbingers of war. Their image gradually softened, however, into one of protective, if still dangerous, spirits of the mountains and forests. Tengu are associated with the ascetic practice known as Shugendō, and they are usually depicted in the distinctive garb of its followers, the yamabushi.

Namahage

Namahage is Japanese traditional folkways which is observed throughout Oga Peninsula, Akita Prefecture in northern Japan. Originally it is said to be a ritual for cleansing people's soul, and praying coming year to be a good one. It is a kind of toshigami.

On New Year's Eve, a group of young villagermen dressed up as fierce demons or bogeymen, or Namahage, visit each house in the village, interrogating loudly "any misbehaving kids live here?" They then come up to children in the house, to menace them telling not to be lazy or cry, though little children bursting out crying is usually the case. Then parents will assure Namahage there is no bad child in their house, and treat refreshments to the demons.

An obvious purpose of the festival is to encourage young children to obey their parents and to behave, important qualities in Japan's heavily structured society.

Alphyn

An alphyn (from the Germanic word for "chaser" or "wolf") is a rare heraldic creature. It is much like an heraldic tiger, but is stockier and has tufts of hair covering its body. It also has a thick mane and a long thin tongue. Another notable characteristic is its knotted tail, reminiscent of Celtic design. The tail, shown as a lion's, may relate it to the griffin. Sometimes its forefeet are depicted like an eagle's claws, also comparable it to the griffin, other times they are cloven, as in a goat. Occasionally all four feet are shown like the claws of a lion. In English heraldry, the alphyn was used as a heraldic badge of the Lords de la Warr and in addition to appearing on the guidon held by the knight in the Milleflour Tapestry in Somerset.

Alp

An alp is a nightmare creature originating from Teutonic or German folklore.

Not to be mistaken with the similarly named Alp Luachra, the alp is sometimes likened to a vampire, but its behavior is more like that of the incubus. The word "alp" is also a variation on the word "elf", and it also is known by the following names: trud, mare, mart, mahr, Schrat, and Walrider. Many other variations exist in surrounding European areas. The appearance of the alp itself is rarely described, other than it wears a hat and can shape-shift.

Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga (Russian: Ба́ба-Яга́, Serbian: Баба Рога, Bulgarian: Баба Яга, Polish, Czech, Slovak: Baba Jaga, Croatian: Baba Roga, Slovene: Jaga Baba) is, in Slavic folklore, a witch-like character who flies around on a giant mortar, kidnaps (and presumably eats) small children, and lives in a house on chicken feet. In most Slavic folk tales, she is portrayed as an antagonist; however, some characters in other mythological folk stories have been known to seek her out for her wisdom, and she has been known on occasion to offer guidance to lost souls, although this is seen as rare.

Bishop-fish

The sea bishop or bishop-fish was a type of sea monster reported in the 16th century. According to legend, it was taken to the King of Poland, who wished to keep it. It was also shown to a group of Catholic bishops, to whom the bishop-fish gestured, appealing to be released. They granted its wish, at which point it made the sign of the cross and disappeared into the sea. It was supposedly captured in the ocean near Germany in 1531. It refused to eat and died after three days. It was described and pictured in the fourth volume of Conrad Gesner's famous Historiae animalium.

Al-mi'raj

The Al-mi'raj is a mythical beast from Islamic poetry said to live on a mysterious island called Jezîrat al-Tennyn within the confines of the Indian Ocean. Its name appears as several spellings and way, generally truncated such as Mi'raj, Mir'aj or just Miraj. Its name is also synonymous with Muhammad's ascent into heaven.

The Al-mi'raj is a large, harmless-looking yellow rabbit with a single, two foot long, black, spiraling horn protruding from its forehead, much like that of a unicorn.

The Al'Mir'aj frightens other animals and they will always flee from their presence. Despite its docile appearance, the Al-Mir'aj is actually a ferociously territorial predator known to be able to kill animals and people many times their own size with a few stabs of its horn. It also has an immense appetite and can devour other living things several times its size without effort.

The people of the island were so terrified of the Al-Mi'raj eating them and their livestock that they would turn to witches to ward them away as soon as the rumor of a Miraj met their ears. It was reported that the witch would charm the Miraj, rendering it harmless so they could remove them from the area.

Allocamelus

In heraldry, the allocamelus, or ass-camel, was the depiction of a mythical creature with the head of a donkey and body of a camel; it is the legendary representation of the llama. It was first used as a crest for the English Eastland Company, and later by the Russia Company.

Basan

Basan is a fowl-like bird illustrated in the Ehon Hyaku Monogatari. According to the description on the illustration, it resembles a large chicken and breathes ghost-fire from its mouth. It lives in the mountains of Iyo Province (today Ehime Prefecture).

Alkonost

The Alkonost is a legendary bird in Slavic mythology. It has the body of a bird with the face of a woman. The name Alkonost came from the name of Greek demi-goddess Alcyone transformed by gods into a kingfisher. The Alkonost reproduces by laying eggs on the sea-shore then putting them into the water. The sea is then calm for six or seven days at which point the eggs hatch, bringing a storm. For the Russian Orthodox Church Alkonost personifies God's will. She lives in paradise but goes into our world to deliver a message. Her voice is so sweet that anybody hearing it can forget everything. Unlike Sirin, another similar creature, she is not evil.

Griffin

The griffin is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and often wings of an eagle. As the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle the king of the birds, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. Griffins are normally known for guarding treasure. In antiquity it was a symbol of divine power and a guardian of the divine.

Alan (legendary creature)

The Alan are deformed spirits from the folklore of the Tinguian tribe of the Philippines. They have wings, and their fingers and toes point backwards.

The Alan are said to take drops of menstrual blood, miscarried fetuses, afterbirth, or other reproductive waste and transform them into human children, whom they then raise as their own. They live near springs in extremely fine houses, made of gold and other valuables.


[edit] Basic Legend
A Tinguian was once walking along a trail in the wood when he heard a strange sound in a large tree near him, and looking up he was startled to see that it was the home of the Alan-spirits who live in the wood.

He stopped and gazed for a moment at the horrible creatures, large as people, hanging from the limbs of the tree with their heads down like bats. They had wings to fly, and their toes were at the back of their feet, while their long fingers, which pointed backward, were fastened at the wrist.

"Surely," thought the man, "these terrible beings will eat me if they can catch me. I will run away as fast as I can while they are asleep." He tried to run but he was too frightened, and after a few steps he fell face down on the ground.

At this the Alan began to wail loudly, for they saw him fall and believed him dead And they came down out of the tree with gold and beads which they laid on him.

After a while the man gathered courage and, jumping up, he cried as loudly as he could, "Go away!"

The Alan did not move, but they looked at him and said: "Give us the one bead nagaba [a peculiar bead of double effect], and you may have the rest." When the man refused to do this, they were angry and turned away, crying, "Then we are going to burn your house, for you are a bad man."

Thereupon the man went home as fast as he could go, but very soon after that his house burned, for the Alan kept their word.

Oni

Oni (鬼, Oni?) are creatures from Japanese folklore, variously translated as demons, devils, ogres or trolls. They are popular characters in Japanese art, literature and theatre.

Depictions of oni vary widely but usually portray them as hideous, gigantic, creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads. They are humanoid for the most part, but occasionally, they are shown with unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and toes. Their skin may be any number of colors, but red and blue are particularly common.

They are often depicted wearing tiger-skin loincloths and carrying iron clubs, called kanabō (金棒, kanabō?). This image leads to the expression "oni with an iron club" (鬼に金棒, oni-ni-kanabō?), that is, to be invincible or undefeatable. It can also be used in the sense of "strong beyond strong", or having one's natural quality enhanced or supplemented by the use of some tool.

Akashita

An Akashita (赤舌, Akashita? lit. "red tongue") is a yōkai that appeared in Toriyama Sekien's Gazu Hyakki Yakō. It is drawn as a beast with clawed hands and a hairy face, with most of its body hidden in a black cloud over a floodgate. In its open mouth is a large tongue. Sekien did not attach an explanatory note, so it is not certain whether he intended it as an original creation, but it may be related to the shakuzetsujin (赤舌神, shakuzetsujin? lit. "red-tongued god") which guards the western gate of Jupiter. It may also be related to the shakuzetsunichi (赤舌日, shakuzetsunichi?), a day of bad luck in Onmyōdō.

Akabeko

Akabeko (赤べこ, Akabeko?, red cow) is a traditional toy from the Aizu region of Japan. The toy is made from two pieces of papier-mâché shaped and painted to look like a red cow or ox. One piece represents the cow's head and neck and the other its body. The head and neck hangs from a string and fits into the hollow body. When the toy is moved, the head thus bobs up and down and side to side.

Aizu legend claims that the toys are based on a real cow that lived in the 9th century and showed its devotion to Buddha by willing its soul away or by refusing to leave the site of a temple it had helped to construct. The earliest akabeko toys were created in the late 16th or early 17th century. Over time, people came to believe that the toys could ward off smallpox and other illnesses. Akabeko has become one of Fukushima Prefecture's most famous crafts and a symbol of the Aizu region.

Abura-akago

Abura-akago (油赤子, Abura-akago? "oil baby") is a creature illustrated in Toriyama Sekien's Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki, as an infant spirit lapping oil out of an andon lamp.

Sekien's accompanying notes describe it:

In the eighth town of Ōtsu in Ōmi ("Afumi") Province there exists a flying ball-like fire. (近江国　（あふみのくに）　大津の八町に玉のごとくの火飛行　（ひぎやう）　する事あり。, In the eighth town of Ōtsu in Ōmi ("Afumi") Province there exists a flying ball-like fire.?)
The natives say that long ago in the village of Shiga there was a person who stole oil, and every night he stole the oil from the Jizō of the Ōtsu crossroads, but when this person died his soul became a flame and even now they grow accustomed to this errant fire. (土人云、むかし志賀の里に油をうるものあり、夜毎に大津辻の地蔵の油をぬすみけるが、その者死て魂魄炎となりて今に迷ひの火となれるとぞ。, The natives say that long ago in the village of Shiga there was a person who stole oil, and every night he stole the oil from the Jizō of the Ōtsu crossroads, but when this person died his soul became a flame and even now they grow accustomed to this errant fire.?)
If it is so then the baby which licks the oil is this person's rebirth. (しからば油をなむる赤子は此ものの再生せしにや。, If it is so then the baby which licks the oil is this person's rebirth.?)
Sekien seems to have have based this illustration on a story from the Shokoku Rijin Dan (諸国里人談, Shokoku Rijin Dan?), in which an oil merchant from Ōtsu steals oil from a Jizō statue at the crossroads, and is punished posthumously by being transformed into a wandering ghost-fire.

Poseidon

In Greek mythology, Poseidon (Greek: Ποσειδῶν; Latin: Neptūnus) was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon. Linear B tablets show that Poseidon was venerated at Pylos and Thebes in pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, but he was integrated into the Olympian gods as the brother of Zeus and Hades.

Hippocamp

The hippocamp or hippocampus (plural: hippocampi; Greek: ἵπποκαμπος, from ἵππος, "horse" and κάμπος , "monster", often called a sea-horse in English, is a mythological creature shared by Phoenician[3] and Greek mythology, though the name by which it is recognized is purely Greek; it became part of Etruscan mythology. It has typically been depicted as a horse in its forepart with a coiling, scaly, fishlike hindquarter.

The ahuizotl (or ahuitzotl) is a legendary creature in Aztec belief. It was described as otter-like, with hands capable of manipulation and an additional hand on its tail. The ahuizotl was feared due to its liking for human flesh, especially nails, eyes, and teeth. It was said to live in or near the water and uses the hand on the end of its tail to snatch its prey.

Abumi-guchi

An abumi-guchi (鐙口, abumi-guchi? lit. "stirrup mouth") is a strange, furry yōkai, or Japanese monster, that is illustrated in Sekien Toriyama's Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro. It is a type of tsukumogami formed from a stirrup, usually one that once belonged to a fallen soldier. It is said that the abumi-guchi will wait where it lies for the fallen soldier to return.