Aethereal List

First topic message reminder :

Elements, Elementals, Spirits, and Energy.

Kamigami



Kamigami is the great spirit from which all spirits flow and go, and can be considered the 'Will Of The Spirits.' It is the basis for the Kamigami, themselves, and can cause lower ranking spirits to become 'Kamigami' through a Spirit Quest or Spirit Test.

Geyser

Melusine



Is not a Sprite, like the Undine -- is actual water.

Nure onago

Spoiler:

Iso onna

Spoiler:

Kenmun

Spoiler:

Umidebito
海出人
うみでびと

Translation: person from the sea
Habitat: oceans

Appearance: Umidebito are prophetic yōkai which live in the seas off of Japan. They have the head, arms, and breasts of a human woman, and a scaled body like a fish or a dragon. The lower half of their body is hidden inside of a large spiral shell like that of a conch or a sea snail.

Interactions: Umidebito spend their lives deep in the sea, so little is known about them. They occasionally surface to deliver prophecies foretelling bountiful harvests and devastating illnesses. When they surface, they ride the waves using their shell like a small boat. They then call out to humans, searching for someone who they can deliver their message to.

Origin: Umidebito follows a pattern of prophetic yōkai emerging from the sea to deliver a warning and offering salvation by copying their image. This theme is seen throughout the Edo and Meiji Periods, increasing dramatically in the latter half of the 19th century due to increase contact between Japan and the rest of the world. Whenever such a creature appeared, it was common for newspapers to report the story along with an illustration of the yōkai that people could hang in their homes for protection.

Legends: An umidebito was sighted in Fukushimagata, Echigo Provice (present-day Niigata Prefecture) in mid-April of 1849. According to reports, a bright light was spotted during the evening off the shore of Fukushimagata. Witnesses heard a woman’s voice call out from the light. Most people were too afraid to approach the light, but a brave samurai named Shibata Chūsaburō approached the voice to see it with his own eyes. As he approached, the voice said:

“I am an umidebito who lives in these seas. A bumper crop lasting five years will begin this year in every province. However, in November, a great sickness will spread and kill 60% of the population. Those who see me or a picture of me will be spared. Go quickly and spread this message!”

After delivering her prophecy, the umidebito vanished.

Punisher



Type of Cage.

Scorch




Tōdaiki
燈台鬼
とうだいき

Translation: candlestick spirit, candlestick demon

Appearance: A tōdaiki is a magical lamp created using black magic and a living human being.

Origin: Stories about people visiting strange lands and being transformed, or disappearing into another world and never returning are not uncommon in Japanese folklore. Fanciful stories like these might have originated in true but unsolved disappearances of loved ones.

Legends: The most famous tōdaiki story involves a real historical figure. Hitsu no Saishō was the nickname of Fujiwara no Arikuni, a Heian period noble who lived from 943-1011 CE.

Long ago, during a period of great movement of culture and ideas between China and Japan, a government minister named Karu no Daijin was sent on a diplomatic mission to Tang China. He never returned, and his family in Japan, including his young son, Hitsu no Saishō, were left not knowing even knowing whether he was alive or dead.

Many years later, when Hitsu no Saishō was an adult, he traveled to China to search for news of his missing father’s whereabouts. He traveled far and wide, and in a particular location he came across something he had never seen before: a a candlestick fashioned out of a living human being! The man had been installed like a piece of furniture onto a fancy platform, and a large candle had been affixed to his head. Every inch of his body was covered in strange tattoos. And by some combination of strange drugs and sorcery, the man’s throat had been blocked up and ability to speak had been removed.

As Hitsu no Saishō looked in amazement at the strange creation, the tōdaiki began to shed tears. Unable to speak, the man bit hard into his finger tip until it began to bleed. Then, using his finger, he wrote out a poem in his blood:

Long ago I came to China from Japan. I have the same family name as you.
The bond between father and son transcends even the seas and mountains that have separated us.
For years I have cried in this horrible place. Every day I think of my parents.
I have been transformed into this candlestick in this faraway land. I just want to go home.

Upon reading this, Hitsu no Saishō realized in horror that the tōdaiki was his own father whom he had come to China looking for!

Corona




Hinode

Spoiler:

Ignis



Of the same name and essence as the Sprite, however is powered by Spiritual Energy rather than Creative Energy.


Hiderigami

Spoiler:

Myst

Creatures that are literally born of and made of pure Myst. They can harness the power of the Myst in their own attacks. They are sentient parts of the Myst, and can therefore take on and element or any form of their choosing. They are always used as envoys of the Veritas, though they are allowed to manifest and exist on their own.

Mist: Spews out pure Mist from itself, which will harm the foe, induce Sleep and Blind, drain magic/soulenergy/chakra/etc., drain health, and also create more Mistodons.


Weakness:

Immunities: Vanish

Blue Magic Learned: Angel's Snack

Item Dropped: Peridot, Ether

Additional Info:

Jack O Lantern

Jack-O-Lanterns are said to be mischievous spirits or otherwise supernatural beings who travel the realm of twilight between the living and dead.
Stemming from Irish folklore, they are known for having carved out vegetable lanterns (like turnips or pumpkins) in their possession, which they use to light their way through the twilight. They also use these lanterns in attempts to lead travelers astray. But they are commonly seen as carved pumpkins.

Electromagnetic Interference - All ghosts disrupt nearby electronics with their presence.
Thermokinesis - Nearly all ghosts can lower or drop the surrounding temperature with their presence.
Invisibility - Ghosts can remain invisible to the living, but they may appear as a blur or faint light. However, when they want, they can appear as they were in life though it takes a while to gain that level of strength. They appear in wispy, distorted, flickering forms.
Telekinesis - They are able to move virtually anything with their minds if they have enough concentration on the objects. With practice, they can become stronger telekinetics, able to manipulate many simple objects at once. Very powerful ghosts are highly capable telekinetics, able to throw people like demons can.
Intangibility - Without a body, these spirits are able to move without hindrance even if objects are in their way, as they can phase through them with ease. They are naturally intangible, as such they can phase through solid matter unfazed.
Environment Manipulation - Most ghosts have shown to have the ability to manipulate the elements like wind, fire, electricity, water, and dropping temperature. Affinity to fire or water is usually because of the manner of a person's death and the ghost's origin. Manipulating electricity and dropping temperature are the two common signs that indicate a ghost's presence.
Possession - A ghost can enter and take possession of the bodies of living beings.
Mental Influence - Angry, vengeful ghosts or spirits can sometimes manipulate peoples minds and drive them crazy and can then manipulate the people they drove crazy to do their will.
EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) - A ghost ability, where they can communicate through electronic devices, cassette records, cell phones etc.
Shapeshifting - Some ghosts have displayed the ability to alter their form, shifting between what they looked like when they were alive, and a more disturbing and decayed version of themselves.
Flight - Ghosts are able to hover above the ground.
Spiritual Ward Vulnerability - Ghosts are reportedly vulnerable to spirit wards, magical spells, incantations, pure minerals such as iron and salt, and certain items/weapons that are built specifically to interact with spirits (such as Lala's scythe).
Energy Absorption - As they can not derive energy from nutrient intact, ghosts gain energy from absorbing the thermonuclear or electrical energies around them (due to this, they disrupt nearby electronics with their presence). This often results in "Cold Spots" forming as the ghost absorbs the heat in the area for energy. In addition to thermonuclear and electrical energies, ghosts can also absorb "life energy" or "vitality" from living beings to sustain themselves. Depending on how much energy the ghost absorbs the process can often leave the living being tired and physically weakened.
Lantern - Jack O Lanterns carry a pumpkin lantern (although sometimes it may be a turnip) that is said to be lit by an ember from hell to light their way in the mortal world. Jack O Lanterns seem to be able to alter the appearance of their lanterns at will.

Fudakaeshi
札返し
ふだかえし

Translation: fuda (charm) returner
Alternate names: fudahegashi (“charm ripper”)
Habitat: homes, temples, and areas protected by charms
Diet: none

Appearance: Fudakaeshi are spirits which remove the magical charms protecting places from evil spirits. Their appearance resembles the classic image of a yūrei—a kimono-clad, long-haired, semi-translucent human whose image fades away towards the feet.

Behavior: Fuda are protection charms popular throughout Japan. They are usually made of a strip of paper containing holy images or calligraphy, such as the name of a god, a sutra, or a buddha. They are used to ward an area from evil forces. Yōkai are not able to enter buildings or cross boundaries protected by these talismans. A fudakaeshi’s goal is to remove these protections so that it and other yōkai can pass freely.

Interactions: Being spirits themselves, fudagaeshi cannot touch fuda to remove them. Therefore, they must convince humans to remove the fuda instead. They do this by threatening, bribing, or promising something to tempt the hearts of the greedy and foolish. Unsurprisingly, those who are willing to help an evil spirit in this way do not actually receive their reward, but instead soon meet with calamity.

Origin: Fudakaeshi were first described as a yōkai in the Kyōka hyakumonogatari, a collection of comical yōkai-themed poems from the late Edo Period. However, the concept of spirits attempting to remove protection charms goes back much further than that.

Legends: An example of a fudakaeshi appears in the famous ghost story Botan dōrō (“The Tale of the Peony Lantern”). A ghost which has fallen in love with a living man is unable to enter his house because of the protective charms placed on it. She begs the man to remove the fuda so that she can enter and spend the night with him. Eventually, her pleading moves his heart, and he removes the talismans. The ghost is then able to enter his home and sleep with the man, but in doing so she drains his life away and he dies.

Hiyoribō
Hiyoribou日和坊
ひよりぼう

Translation: weather priest
Alternate names: teruteru bōzu
Habitat: mountains (only appearing on sunny days)
Diet: unknown

Appearance: Hiyoribō is a yōkai from Ibaraki prefecture who calls forth the sun and creates good weather. It lives deep in the mountains, and can only be seen on sunny days. During rain or in bad weather, this yōkai remains hidden.

Origin: Hiyoribō strongly resembles another weather yōkai from China known as the hiderigami. It may be that hiyoribō is simply another form of the hiderigami.

Hyōsube
兵主部
ひょうすべ

Translation: onomatopoeic; written with characters connoting warfare
Alternate names: hyōsue, hyōsubo, hyōsunbo, hyōsunbe
Habitat: rivers and streams; found primarily on Kyūshū and in West Japan
Diet: omnivorous; prefers eggplants

Appearance: Hyōsube are squat, hairy humanoids found mostly in the southern and western parts of Japan. Cousins of kappa and garappa, they are more savage and belligerent. Physically they are short, with bald scalps, sharp claws, and a mouth full of sharp teeth which are prominently visible due to the malicious smile they wear. Their skins are covered with a pelt of thick, greasy hair that gathers dust, oil, and dirt. This repulsive pelt constantly sheds wherever they go. Their name is said to come from the “hyo hyo” call that they make. However, written in kanji, the characters have a martial connotation.

Behavior: Hyōsube live near rivers, where they catch wild fish and generally keep away from humans. Their favorite food is eggplant—they are capable of devouring whole patches in the blink of an eye. Like kappa, hyōsube love mischief and hate horses. They are generally more violent and malicious than their cousins, but they retain a strong sense of honor.

Interactions: Hyōsube are capricious, insolent, and extremely dangerous. Simply looking at a hyōsube can cause a terrible and contagious fever, which can spread and turn into an epidemic. Hyōsube cackle with an evil laughter which is also contagious; an unlucky person who hears a hyōsube laugh, and who laughs himself, will be struck with fever and die within hours.

A hyōsube’s thick hair builds up with dirt and grime; they love nothing more than to sneak into houses at night and slip into the bathtub. When a hyōsube finds a bathtub it likes it often returns every night, leaving behind a thick scum of greasy body hair and a horrible stench. Once, the unlucky owner of such a house emptied the bathwater and threw out the hair and grease. This angered the hyōsube so much that it slaughtered the owner’s horse the next night. When another unfortunate dumped his bathtub and some hyōsube hairs accidentally landed on a nearby horse, the animal promptly dropped dead. In yet another tale, a woman spied on a hyōsube ravaging her eggplant garden; the next morning her entire body had turned purple. She died soon after.

Hyōsube are occasionally honored at local Shinto shrines, usually worshiped as gods of war for some military service performed for villagers in the past. Farmers living in areas inhabited by hyōsube often leave offerings of the first eggplants of the harvest in hopes that the hyōsube will spare their fields for the remainder of the year. Those who do not leave offerings can find their fields trampled.

Ikiryō
Ikiryou生霊
いきりょう

Translation: living ghost
Alternate names: shōryō, seirei, ikisudama
Habitat: inhabited areas
Diet: none; lives off its owner’s emotions

Appearance: Ikiryō are the souls of still-living people which have temporarily left their bodies and move about on their own. They appear just as the living person from which they spawn; sometimes they take on a ghostly, translucent form, while other times they are indistinguishable from a living person.

Interactions: There are a number of common ways for ikiryō to appear: during a near-death-experience, fainting, intense passion or desire, intense hatred, or even as part of a curse. Ikiryō most commonly appear due to some intense emotion or trauma, and the owner of the soul is almost always unaware of the ikiryō’s existence. This can lead to some very awkward situations and misunderstandings.

Folk superstitions about ikiryō go back to before recorded history. According to ancient superstition, just before death the soul leaves the body and is able to walk around, making strange noises and doing other things outside of the body. This is especially common during wartime, and the ikiryō of soldiers even in far off lands are said to appear to their friends and loved ones moments before or after their deaths, in their war uniforms, to give one last goodbye. The souls of the soon-to-die and recently-deceased are also sometimes seen visiting nearby temples and praying for a few days after their deaths.

During the Heian period, ikiryō were a popular subject of stories. They were sometimes attributed to intense feelings of love. When a person (usually a woman) felt such intense passion and love, her spirit would detach from her body and haunt the object of her affection, whispering sweet things into his ears. Depending on the strength of her feelings, the ikiryō could even physically move her lover around. This was not romantic, however — people haunted in this way were often tormented to the point of extreme sickness by these ghosts.

The most common form on ikiryō is one born of rage and vengeance. Just as the ghosts of the dead can go after those who wrong them in life, an ikiryō can manifest from one living person to curse another. These are also usually unconscious manifestations, however a few famous examples of conscious manifestations of ikiryō curses exist. The pilgrimage of the hour of the ox (ushi no koku mairi) and ichijama (from Okinawa) are ceremonial curses in which a person consciously sends their soul from their body to hurt or to kill their enemies. Of course, this sort of black magic often has dire consequences for the performer as well as the target.

During the Edo period, ikiryō were considered a symptom of certain illnesses, such as the aptly-named rikonbyō, or “detached soul syndrome,” and kage no yamai, or “shadow illness.” These horrifyingly-named diseases were Edo period terms for sleepwalking and out-of-body experiences. For carriers of these illnesses, it was said that the soul could depart from the body at night, taking the person’s consciousness along with it. This would cause them to experience things from the ikiryō’s perspective as if they were actually doing it. A person might have false memories of things he didn’t do, or be accused of things he didn’t remember. Some people even experienced meeting their own selves, as if they had a doppelganger.

Superstitions about ikiryō have persisted into modern times, particularly those dealing with people appearing to family members and friends on or around the times of their deaths. The idea of the soul leaving the body and experiencing things during out of body experiences persists as well, and remains an unexplained phenomenon.

Katashiro
Katashiro形代
かたしろ

Translation: form substitution

Appearance: Katashiro are human-shaped dolls. They are usually made of paper, but sometimes of wood, straw, or metal. There are different shapes and designs of katashiro to suit the many purposes they serve.

Interactions: Katashiro are a type of yorishiro—ceremonial objects used as a substitution for someone or something. Specifically they are used as a substitution for a person during a ritual. They are commonly used in purification rituals, where a person’s sins are transferred into the katashiro. The karashiro is then discarded into a river or body of water, taking the sin away with it.

Katashiro are also frequently used to ward off evil in a similar fashion. If you are suffering bad luck, a katashiro can be used to absorb the bad luck from you or prevent bad things from occurring. If you suspect that you are going to be targeted by a curse, a katashiro can be prepared as a substitute target for your person. The doll will receive all of the evil effects in place of the intended target.

Katashiro can even be used in spells or curses as a substitution for a real human target. Usually this involves inscribing the name, birthdate, and other personal information on the paper doll. The spell is performed on the doll, after which the intended effects happen to the actual person.

Katsura otoko
Katsuraotoko桂男
かつらおとこ

Translation: katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) man
Habitat: the moon
Diet: vampiric

Appearance: Katsura otoko is an incomparably beautiful man who lives in the face of the moon. He appears on moonlit nights as gazes back down at those who gaze up at him. His beauty is said to be so enchanting that those who gaze at him find it difficult to turn away, even to their own peril.

Interactions: If one gazes long enough at a katsura otoko, he will extend his hand and beckon, calling the moon-gazer towards him. With each shake of his beckoning hand, his viewer’s lifespan shrinks. If one stares long enough at katsura otoko, he or she may drop dead right on the spot!

Origin: Katsura otoko originates in Chinese mythology, where there is said to be a man who lives in a great palace on the moon and spends his time pruning and chopping away at a gigantic katsura tree which grows there. As he prunes the tree, the shape of the moon grows smaller and less round until there is almost nothing left, and then the tree slowly grows its branches back — sort of a just-so-story to explain the waxing and waning of the moon.

Kawa akago
Kawaakago川赤子
かわあかご

Translation: river baby
Alternate names: kawa akaji
Habitat: rivers, streams, ponds, swamps
Diet: omnivorous

Appearance: Kawa akago are cousins of the kappa, and trickster yōkai. They look like small, red-skinned babies.

Interactions: Kawa akago appear on riverbanks and call out to passersby, perfectly mimicking the sound of crying human babies: “Waah! Waah!” (Japanese: “Ogyaa! Ogyaa!”) When someone wanders down to the river’s edge, the kawa akago retreats further into the underbrush and calls out again. This continues with the yōkai leading its victim further and further into the river. Finally, it sneaks up under the unsuspecting human, pulls his legs out from under him, and sends him tumbling into the river. While this is only meant as a prank, some people drown in this manner. This makes kawa akago a fairly dangerous yōkai.

Origin: Similar yōkai called yama akago (mountain baby) are found in Akita Prefecture (old Dewa Province). They hide in leaf piles in the mountains, and when people step on the leaves, they call out in a loud voice, “Ouch! That hurt!” Then they laugh and vanish into thin air.


Kawahime

Spoiler:

Kawa otoko

Spoiler:

Kodama
木霊
こだま

Translation: tree spirit
Habitat: deep in untouched forests, inside very old tress
Diet: none; its life is connected to the life of its host tree

Appearance: Deep in the mountainous forests of Japan, the souls of the trees are animated as spirits called kodama. These souls wander outside of their hosts, tending to their groves and maintaining the balance of nature. Kodama are rarely ever seen, but are often heard—particularly as echoes that take just a little longer to return than they should. When they do appear, they resemble faint orbs of light in the distance; or occasionally a tiny, funny shaped vaguely humanoid figure. A kodama’s life force is directly tied to the tree it inhabits; if either the tree or the kodama dies, the other cannot live.

Interactions: Kodama are revered as gods of the trees and protectors of the forests. They bless the lands around their forest with vitality, and villagers who find a kodama-inhabited tree honor it by marking it with a sacred rope known as a shimenawa. Occasionally, very old trees will bleed when cut, and this is regarded as a sign that a kodama is living inside. Cutting down such an ancient tree is a grave sin, and can bring down a powerful curse, causing a prosperous community to fall into ruin.

Maikubi
舞首
まいくび

Translation: dancing heads
Habitat: the sea around Sagami Bay
Diet: none; they are driven solely by anger

Appearance: Maikubi are a trio of severed samurai heads which appear on the surface of the sea at night.

Behavior: Maikubi dance around in circles above the waves trying to bite one another. They spit flames from their mouths, making them especially visible at night. Their dancing creates large waves shaped like tomoe–a symbol that looks like a large comma.

Interactions: Maikubi bring bad luck as they dance on the sea. Shipwrecks and other sea disasters are said to occur more frequently when maikubi are nearby.

Origin: Maikubi come from the local folklore of Manazuru, in Kanagawa Prefecture. They are also depicted in the illustrated Edo period ghost story collection Ehon hyakumonogatari.

Legends: During the 1240’s CE, three wicked samurai named Kosanta, Matashige, and Akugorō were in the town of Manazuru for a festival. They became very drunk and started to argue. Their quarrel got so heated that they drew their swords and began to fight. In the midst of their violent fight, they managed to cut off each others’ heads. Their severed heads rolled away and fell into the sea. However, death did not settle their disagreement. They turned into onryō. The heads floated up to the surface and began to bite and breath flames at each other, locked in an undying argument.

The onryō of the three warriors still haunt the sea around Manazuru. At night they can be seen dancing on the sea’s surface as they spit fire snap at each other. Locals of Manazuru fear the area and call it tomoe ga fuchi (“the tomoe depths”). When waves shaped like three tomoe appear on the surface, they stay away from waters out of fear of shipwrecks and other disasters caused by maikubi.



Mekurabe
目競
めくらべ

Translation: staring contest
Alternate names: dokuro no kai (the phenomenon of skulls)

Appearance: Mekurabe are giant mounds of skulls and severed heads which stare at people. They begin as masses of individual skulls, which roll around and around. Eventually they clump together and form into a massive skull-shaped mound.

Interactions: Mekurabe are only known for doing one thing: staring at people. If you win the staring contest, the skulls will vanish without a trace. If you lose the staring contest, what happens is not recorded.

Origin: Mekurabe are famously described in The Tale of the Heike. Their name was invented later during the Edo Period, and mekurabe appears in Toriyama Sekien’s Konjaku hyakki shūi.

Legends: Taira no Kiyomori, the young general who had just recently conquered all of Japan, stepped out into his garden one morning to see an uncountable number of skulls rolling about, glaring at him. The surprised Kiyomori called for his guards, but nobody heard him.

As Kiyomori watched, the skulls began to gather together in the middle of the garden. They clumped together, rolling up on top of each other, and formed a single giant mass. The pile of skulls was shaped like an enormous skull close to 45 meters in size.

The mass of skulls glared at Kiyomori out of its countless eye sockets. Kiyomori took a breath and steadied himself. He glared back at the skulls with all of his resolve.

Finally, the mass of skulls crumbled apart. The skulls melted like a snowflake in the sun, and vanished without a trace.


Ōkubi
Ookubi大首
おおくび

Translation: giant head
Habitat: hiding in large barns, or flying around in the sky
Diet: unknown

Appearance: Ōkubi appear as enormous, severed heads, which fly through the sky. In most accounts they are female in appearance. Quite commonly they have blackened teeth.

Interactions: Ōkubi are little threat to humans. Their most common activity is to fly about harassing people: grinning at them, blowing away their umbrellas, or otherwise scaring them. According to some accounts, if an ōkubi breaths on any body part, that part will become inflamed. However, stories about serious injuries or deaths are rare to nonexistent.

Legends: Eyewitness accounts of ōkubi were common during the Edo period. In a story from Inou Mononoke Roku, the protagonist Inou Heitarō opens the door to his storage house. He discovers that an enormous head of an old woman—the size of the entire storage house—has taken up residence inside. Curious, he pokes at the head with a long chopstick. Instead of bumping against the forehead of the ōkubi, the head is sticky and mushy and the chopstick slides right in.


Tsurube otoshi
釣瓶落とし
つるべおとし

Translation: dropping like a well bucket
Habitat: heavily wooded areas; particularly coniferous trees
Diet: carnivorous; large ones prefer humans, crushed or mashed

Appearance: Tsurube otoshi are a gigantic disembodied heads of either a human, a tengu, or an oni. Sometimes they appear wreathed in flames like large fireballs with facial features. Spending most of their lives high in the trees (preferring pine, kaya, and other conifers for their height), they live deep along paths in the forest, or just outside of town where travelers are likely to pass. Tsurube otoshi range in size from an ordinary human head to up to two meters in diameter.

Behavior: Tsurube otoshi lurk in the treetops late at night and wait for unsuspecting creatures to pass underneath. When they need to feed, they drop quickly to the ground like a stone. This is the reason for its name, which means “falling well bucket.” The goal is to trap and eat an animal, or a human if the head is large enough. Then they slip back into the trees, sometimes singing a monstrous taunt, challenging others to pass underneath. They enjoy this style of killing, letting out a horrible, guffawing laugh as they hunt and devour their prey. When they are not hungry, tsurube otoshi will sometimes drop down and crush people just for fun. They also drop large rocks or even well buckets (they have a sense of humor) on their victims from up high, laughing at the damage they inflict. Travelers passing under tall trees late at night would be wise to keep their heads up. They may be crushed by a falling tsurube otoshi.

Tsurube otoshi encountered in the Kansai region are most often solitary, gargantuan heads. In the Tohoku region, tsurube otoshi are usually encountered in larger groups of slightly smaller heads.

Ghost Ship


Mayoibune
迷い船
まよいぶね

Translation: wandering ship
Alternate names: yūreibune, yoiyoibune, mōjabune
Habitat: open seas
Diet: none

Appearance: Mayoibune are ghost ships which sail the Sea of Japan on bright, moonlit nights during the Bon holiday—the night of the 15th in particular. They are the ghosts of sailors who died in shipwrecks and never passed on to the next life.

Behavior: Mayoibune appear to sailors who stay on the seas late at night. They begin as phantom sounds—unpleasant cackles which sound like dozens of people, although no people or ships are anywhere to be seen. Next, strange orbs of fire appear on the surface of the water and drift about. Then, an evil wind blows in from the northwest. Finally, a ghostly ship comes into view, sailing against the wind.

Interactions: Sailors who encounter mayoibune are haunted by strange sights and sounds. Those who flee and return to shore usually die shortly afterwards from the mental trauma. Those foolish enough to sail closer to a mayoibune are guaranteed to die in a shipwreck.

Origin: Mayoibune are a type of funa yūrei from Fukuoka Prefecture. Similar ghost ships can be found all along Japan’s coasts, known by many names such as yūreibune (ghost ship), mōjabune (ship of the dead), and yoiyoibune (“Row! Row!” boat).

The northwesterly wind which accompanies a mayoibune is called tamakaze. Tamakaze normally only blows over the Sea of Japan in the winter. It is dangerous for fishermen due to the strong gusts and heavy rain it brings. It is also said to carry the souls of the dead. These lost souls wander the sea, never having made it to the world of the dead.

In the old Japanese lunar calendar, the full moon fell on the 15th night of each month—it was the brightest night and thus good for fishing and hunting. But during the Obon holiday, the dead return from the afterlife to visit the living. Working on the sea was prohibited during these nights; fishermen were told to return home before nightfall to be with their families. Accordiong to superstition, bad things happen to people who break this taboo. Meeting a mayoibune is just one example.

Legends: Long ago, four young men from Hatsu, Fukuoka went out fishing during Obon on the night of the 15th. Normally, fishermen take this day off as a holiday, but these men did not care at all about the taboo. They had the waters all to themselves, and caught a great number of mackerel. But as they fished, severed heads began to float up out of the sea. The heads rolled about, bumping into each other and laughing. The fishermen were terrified. They pulled in their nets and began to hurry home. That’s when they noticed that their entire catch was not mackerel, but straw sandals! The men finally made it home, but could not forget the terror of that night. One by one, they went mad and died.


Takarabune
宝船
たからぶね

Translation: treasure ship
Alternate names: hōsen

Appearance: Takarabune are splendid sailing ships laden with treasures such as gold and silver, gems, coral, and other precious cargo. The sails are often decorated with auspicious kanji or other symbols. Spirits of good luck like the Seven Lucky Gods and auspicious animals are often seen aboard and around takarabune.

Origin: Takarabune evolved from the concept of harai, or spiritual cleansing—an ancient Japanese belief that spiritually unclean things can be cleansed or disposed of by washing them away down a river. A person’s first dream of the new year was an auspicious one, and a bad dream foretold a bad year. During New Year’s or Setsubun, images of ships were placed under the pillow before sleeping in order to catch bad dreams and keep them from coming true. The following morning the images were gathered and ritually discarded in river, carrying the bad dreams away with them like cargo ships. Over time more imagery was added to the ships, such as treasures, gods, and other symbols of prosperity and longevity, and they evolved into the ships of good fortune known as takarabune.

Takarabune appear at the beginning and again at the end of Toriyama Sekien’s final yōkai book, Hyakki tsurezure bukuro. The yōkai in this book are all described as things he saw in dreams, so the takarabune serves as both a symbolic framework for his book—a vessel to carry the “treasure” contained within the book—and as a good luck charm to protect readers from the strange dreams it describes.

Legends: Long ago an old man named Kamijinjii lived on the island of Niijimamura. One day he was walking along Habushiura Beach when he came across the most beautiful sailboat that he had ever seen. There was no dock anywhere nearby, so he thought it strange that such a ship would be there. Even stranger, there was no crew. The ship was filled to the brim with gold and silver, precious art objects, and other treasures piled up on top of each other.

There was no way that Kamijinjii could carry everything off of the boat by himself, so he took a single gold and lacquer pot lid from the boat as evidence. Then he rushed back to the village to gather people to help him unload the rest of the treasure from the boat. However, by the time Kamijinjii and the other villagers arrived back at Habushiura beach the takarabune was gone, and there was no sign it had ever been there.


Utsurobune
虚舟
うつろぶね

Translation: hollow ship
Alternate names: utsubobune

Appearance: Utsurobune are strange boats that have drifted ashore in Japan’s coastal prefectures several times throughout history. Different accounts vary on some details, such as when and where the boats appeared, but agree on others, such as its appearance and its inhabitant.

Origin: The most well-known utsurobune appeared in Hitachi Province (Ibaraki Prefecture) in 1803—in February at Harayadori according to one account, and in March at Haratonohama according to another. However neither of these locations match anywhere in historical records. Other utsurobune sightings took place in 1883 in Kōbe City, 1796 in Kaga Province (Ishikawa Prefecture), and in 1681 in Owari Province (Aichi Prefecture) and Echigo Province (Niigata Prefecture). They go back as far as the 7th century, when a girl named Wake hime was discovered in a strange round boat in Iyo Province (Ehime Prefecture). She claimed to be the daughter of the Chinese emperor.

Utsurobune sightings have been researched by authors like Kyokutei Bakin and folklorists like Yanagita Kunio. Various explanations have been given for the real identity behind the utsurobune and its inhabitant. The red hair, white skin, strange materials, and unknown language suggest that she could have been European, and Kyokutei Bakin believed she might have been a Russian princess—or possibly British, American, or even Bengali. Utsurobune stories share several themes with marebito legends about gods visiting villagers from across the sea, and Yanagita Kunio believed that the accounts were simply fabrications built upon earlier folktales—perhaps remnants an ancient national memory about immigration to Japan. More recently, ufologists have suggested that utsurobune were flying saucers which crash landed in Japan centuries before the idea of UFOs entered the global imagination.

Legends: In 1803, a strange vessel drifted to shore in Hitachi Province. The object was shaped like a circular box about 5.4 meters in diameter and 3.3 meters in height. The upper section was made of wood and transparent glass plates, and sealed with tree resin. The lower section was lined with metal sheets.

Villagers peered inside the glass windows and saw that the inside of the boat was decorated with text written in a strange, unknown language. A few supplies were contained within, including two fancy rugs for a makeshift bed, a jug of water, a brazier, a decorative earthenware dish and teacup, and some cakes and kneaded meat.

A beautiful young woman emerged from the boat. She was about twenty years old, from an unknown foreign country. Her skin was pale and clean, and she stood 1.5 meters tall. She had red eyebrows and long red hair with extensions made of white fur or threads. She wore fine clothing made from unknown fabrics. She carried a plain-looking box, which must have been valuable because she would not put it down and would not let anyone touch it. The woman seemed polite and friendly, but her language was unrecognizable. Nobody could figure out where she came from.

Nobody knew what to do with the strange girl. One villager suggested that the woman might be a foreign princess. She may have been exiled for having an extramarital affair. Her lover was executed, but since she was a beloved princess, she was merely exiled to sea. The box she carried probably contained her lover’s head, which is why she guarded it so strongly.

The villagers worried that if she was indeed an exiled princess, they could be ordered to spend a great deal of money investigating her. They decided the best solution was to return her to sea and leave her to her fate. The strange woman was forced back into her boat and pushed out to sea again.

Minobi
Minobi蓑火
みのび

Translation: raincoat fire
Alternate names: minomushibi, minoboshi, etc.; varies widely from place to place
Habitat: wet rural areas

Appearance: Minobi is a phenomenon that appears on rainy days in rural areas, particularly during the rainy season. Often it appears near bodies of water such as rivers or lakes, such as Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture. Minobi appears as a number of tiny fireballs which glow like fireflies. They float about in the air and tend gather in large numbers.

Interactions: Minobi gets its name from its tendency to gather around people wearing mino (traditional straw raincoats). It sticks to the raincoat and burns. When someone attempts to brush off or swat out the fire, the minobi instead multiplies, growing larger and larger. Eventually the person is forced to strip off the raincoat and leave it on the road.

Origin: Minobi is found all over Japan, although often by different names and with different explanations. Sometimes this phenomenon is thought to be caused by natural gas escaping from the ground (as with other mysterious fireballs like onibi and kitsunebi). Most often it is said to be the work of a mischievous kitsune, itachi, or tanuki. Because it appears more frequently during the rainy season, sometimes minobi’s true form is believed to be a firefly or other insect, such as the minomushi (bagworm moth).


Shiranui
Shiranui不知火
しらぬい

Translation: unknown fire
Habitat: along the shores of Kyūshū

Appearance: Shiranui are a specific type of kaii known as a kaika, or mysterious fire. They appear in bodies of water around Kyūshū on dark, calm nights—particularly at the end of the 7th month according to the old lunar calendar. They are most visible during the strongest ebb tide, around 3 am, and appear roughly 8 to 12 kilometers off shore. They can be seen from elevated parts of the coast, but not from sea level.

Behavior: Shiranui begin with one or two distant fireballs, called oyabi, floating just above the surface of the sea. The oyabi sway left and right, splitting apart and multiplying until finally there are hundreds or thousands of fireballs swaying in the distance. This line of fireballs can stretch out for many kilometers.

Origin: Shiranui were thought to be manifestations of the lanterns created by Ryūjin, the dragon god of the sea. On days that shiranui appeared, local villages were forbidden to catch fish in the same area as the kaika. Boats that tried approaching shiranui reported that no matter how long they sailed, the fireballs remained far away on the horizon.

Nando babā
納戸婆
なんどばばあ

Translation: storeroom hag
Habitat: storerooms, closets
Diet: whatever they can find

Appearance: Nando babā is an old hag who haunts storerooms and closets, especially in western Japan. They look like short, ugly, balding old women in ragged clothing.

Behavior: Nando babā make their homes in storerooms, sheds, and closets. The darker and dirtier the better. They are shy and jumpy, so they prefer storerooms which remain closed during the day and are only rarely opened.

Interactions: Nando babā are not violent and don’t do anything particularly harmful to humans. When someone opens the storeroom door, they quickly scurry away and hide, and so they are rarely encountered. If the door is opened suddenly and they are taken by surprise, they will leap out of the storeroom screaming, and chase people around the house. If you strike them on the head with a broom, they will become disoriented. Then they will run away and hide under the floorboards.

In some areas, nando babā are believed to steal newborn infants. However, this is due to confusion between nando babā and the much more dangerous yama uba.

Origin: Nando babā were probably once protector spirits, a kind of house god which inhabited storerooms. In ancient Japanese religion, there were different tutelary deities for every part of the house. As ancient traditions were replaced by newer ones, old customs died away, leaving yōkai in place of the forgotten gods.

Sesshō seki
Sesshouseki

殺生石
せっしょうせき

Translation: killing stone

Appearance: Sesshō seki is a large boulder that stands in the plains of Nasuno, Shimotsuke (modern day Tochigi Prefecture). Around it is a desolate, lifeless field, filled with toxic gasses and the skeletons of animals who strayed too near.

Origin: Sesshō seki was formed when the evil nine-tailed kitsune Tamamo no Mae was slain. Her hunters returned triumphantly, bearing her body to the capital. Her spirit, however, attached itself to a large boulder near where she fell. It continued to kill long after her death. Any living thing that wandered close enough to the stone died instantly. Sesshō seki remained a deadly landmark until 1385 CE, when Tamamo no Mae’s spirit was put to rest once and for all.

Legends: One day, a high priest named Gennō was traveling through Shimotsuke Province when he noticed a peculiar sight—the birds in the air fell to their deaths whenever they passed over a certain boulder in the plain of Nasuno. At the base of the stone was a pile of dead birds. Gennō wondered what could cause such a phenomenon. Not long afterwards, a local woman appeared near the priest, and he asked her about the stone.

The woman explained that Sesshō seki was haunted by the spirit of Tamamo no Mae. She told him the story of the fox courtesan, and then vanished. Gennō realized that the woman had been the ghost of the infamous kitsune. He performed a Buddhist memorial service over the stone, and suddenly Tamamo no Mae’s spirit reappeared and confessed all of her sins, going back thousands of years all the way to India and China. After hearing Gennō’s pure words and Buddhist teachings, Tamamo no Mae repented all of her evils and swore never again to do wrong, and then disappeared. Her spirit, exorcised from the rock, never harmed anyone again.

Gennō—whose name means hammer—hit the rock and it burst into many pieces. The pieces flew all across Japan, where many of them remain today. The base of the rock still stands in Nasu, Tochigi. Other chunks flew to Okayama, Niigata, Hiroshima, and Ōita where they were enshrined. Smaller fragments landed in present-day Fukui, Gifu, Nagano, Gunma, and parts of Shikoku, where they were picked up and used as magical amulets to perform charms or curses.


Yonaki ishi
夜泣き石
よなきいし

Translation: night-crying stone

Appearance: Yonaki ishi are stones or boulders which cry loudly at night. In many cases, the stones cry because they are possessed by the spirit of someone who was murdered and seeks revenge. However, in some cases it is the stone itself that cries and not a person’s spirit haunting it. The most famous yonaki ishi comes from Kakegawa City in Shizuoka Prefecture.

Legends: Long ago, a pregnant woman was walking home through the steep mountains. She had reached the Sayo no Nakayama Pass when she needed to stop for a rest. She leaned against a large round boulder to catch her breath, but suddenly a bandit appeared. He slashed at her with his blade, and would have cut all the way through her if the sword hadn’t also struck the large boulder she was leaning against. The bandit grabbed her purse and fled into the night. The wound was a fatal one—the woman bled to death.

Thanks to the blade striking the rock, her baby was not hurt by the attack. It emerged from her body through the stab wound. Although the mother was dead, her soul was so driven by the need to protect her child that it got stuck in the boulder. From then on, every night the rock would wail and cry loudly. This yonaki ishi became known as one of the “Seven Wonders of Shizuoka.”

A priest from a nearby temple heard the crying. When he went to investigate, he discovered the newborn baby lying beside the boulder. The priest took the baby to his temple and raised him, naming him Otohachi. When Otohachi grew up he was apprenticed to a sword sharpener. After many years he became an accomplish sword sharpener as well.

One day, a samurai appeared before Otohachi and commanded him to repair his chipped katana. Otohachi was surprised by the terrible crack in the blade. The samurai casually explained that the blade had been chipped many years before when he struck a stone in the Sayo no Nakayama Pass. Otohachi realized that this samurai was the bandit who murdered his mother. Otohachi stood up, gave his name, and then took his revenge.

Shikigami
Shikigami

式神
しきがみ

Translation: ceremonial spirit
Alternate names: shikijin, shiki no kami
Diet: varies

Appearance: Shikigami are servant spirits used by onmyōji in rituals for various purposes. Some are used as charms for good fortune, some are used as amulets for protection, and some are used as curses. To call a shikigami means to call a god, a demon, a yōkai, or a ghost and to utilize its power for some deed or another.

Interactions: Shikigami can be powerful and dangerous. They come in many forms. The most common are enshrined in small objects, such as strips of paper or amulets. Others may come in the form of animal possessions, using the bodies of chickens, cows, or dogs as vessels. The most dreadful shikigami take the form of humans, ghosts, yōkai, or oni.

While shikigami are powerful and terrifying, perhaps their most horrifying aspect is that they never act under their own will; they are slaves in the service of human magic users who tell them what to do.

Innocent


Shiro ukari
Shiroukari白うかり
しろうかり

Translation: white floater

Appearance: Shiro ukari is a ghost-like spirit with a very long tail. It is white, with large eyes that stare off into the distance as if lost in thought. It floats about in the air, aimlessly wandering about.

Origin: Shiro ukari appears on a few Edo period scroll paintings, and nowhere else. It was invented by an artist rather than recorded from folklore. Aside from its name, nothing is written about it. Everything about it, including its behavior and its origin, is unknown and unexplained. However, its name may be a clue to its origin.

While it shiro ukari literally means “white floater,” both of these words carry a number of nuances which could refer to this spirit’s true nature. Shiro not only refers to the color white, but to a state of total innocence or naivety. Whereas ao (blue) is used in many yokai to refer to a novice or an apprentice, shiro can refer to a state of total, absolute naivete. It has a negative connotation, akin to a “fool” or a “country bumpkin” in English. The urban socialites of Edo looked down on the “shiro” people who lived in the rural areas outside of the capital. While not specifically stated, the vacant expression on this yōkai’s face could be an allusion to this alternate meaning of shiro.

Ukari comes from the word for floating, which has a number of different implications. The most literal meaning is to float about from place to place. There is also a nuance of absentmindedness or disconnect from others. Tourists who feel out of place in a strange city might be described as floating about in this way. It can also refer to merrymaking, particularly in a way that is disconnected with the real world. This is the same origin as the word ukiyo, which refers to the “floating world”—the urban, pleasure-seeking lifestyle of old Edo. In a spiritual sense, this word can also refer to spirits which have not been able to pass on to the next world due to the weight of their sins. They float about, but never ascend, and are doomed to haunt this world.

Perhaps shiro ukari is a pun describing the uncouth, naive rural bumpkins who Edo urbanites thought had no business being in their city. Their experience in the capital might be something like a wide-eyed ghost floating from place to place. Perhaps it is a yōkai which seeks out the impermanent pleasures of life just as the humans of old Edo did. Or perhaps it is the spirit of someone who is unable to ascend into the next world, and they are forced by the weight of their sins to float about and wander aimlessly for the rest of their existence.

Shiro uneri
白溶裔
しろうねり

Translation: white undulation

Appearance: Born out of a dish towel or kitchen rag which has seen too many years of usage, the shiro uneri looks like a ferocious, yet tiny cloth dragon.

Behavior: Shiro uneri flies through the air, chasing cleaning staff and servants. It attacks them by wrapping its slimy, mildewy body around their necks and heads, causing them to pass out from the stench. Though they seem more interested in mischief than murder, shiro uneri have occasionally killed servants by strangulation.

Shiryō
Shiryou死霊
しりょう

Translation: dead ghost
Alternate names: shirei
Habitat: inhabited areas
Diet: none; thrives solely on its emotions

Appearance: Shiryō are the ghosts of the dead, and are contrasted with ikiryō, the ghosts of the living. The word is generally synonymous with yūrei (“faint spirit”), as they both refer to the classic Japanese ghost. However while yūrei can be creepy sometimes and beautifully mysterious at other times, shiryō is almost exclusively used to refer to unpleasant, malevolent spirits. The inclusion of the kanji for “death” in the name is the clue that this ghost is not to be romanticised.

Interactions: Shiryō act in similar ways to ikiryō, appearing to relatives or close friends of the deceased. While ikiryō usually appear in the moments just before death, a shiryō appears in the moments just after death. When one appears, it is most often to give one last goodbye to its loved ones before departing… however, shiryō do not always appear in order to say goodbye; sometimes they come to take their loved ones away with them into the world of the dead.

Legends: Belief in shiryō goes back to before recorded history, and has long been a staple of Japanese folk superstition. One famous account is recorded in the Tōno Monogatari, a 1910 collection of folk beliefs which gave birth to the field of academic folklore research in Japan. In this story, there was a young girl who lived together with her father. After her father died, his shiryō appeared before the young girl and tried to take her with him into the world of the dead. The girl narrowly escaped and fled from the house to ask for help. Every night, various friends and distant family members agreed to stay overnight in the house with her and watch over her, and every night without fail, her father’s shiryō came looking for her, to try to take her away. Only after a whole month of sleepless, terrifying nights did the ghost stop appearing, and finally the girl was left in peace.

Goryou

Vengeful Japanese ghosts from the aristocratic classes, especially those who have been martyred. The belief was that "the spirits of powerful lords who had been wronged were capable of catastrophic vengeance, including destruction of crops and the summoning of a typhoon or an earthquake."