For the Japanese, summer is when the border between the real world and the spirit world becomes weak, and the legendary yōkai can walk among the living. The yōkai are a complex amalgamation of legendary ghosts, goblins, and spirits that have played a role in Japanese culture for thousands of years. These creatures, which can be a blessing or a curse, are more than just ghost stories; they are often directly inspired by everyday occurrences and offer a glimpse into the Japanese way of life and system of spiritual beliefs.
Yōkai: More Than Just Monsters
Every culture has ghost stories, and the villain is usually a monster. In Japan, the strange creatures and phenomena found in folklore have been referred to by many names, such as Mononoke, Bakemono, and Obake.
However, today, the term yōkai is used most frequently as a catch-all term to refer to these creatures and phenomena. In the past, yōkai were connected to folk narratives, including myths, folktales, and legends. They were also a part of the local belief systems in Japanese cities and villages.
However, even when translated into English, it is difficult to comprehend the term yōkai. Because the yōkai are not just creatures, they can also be characterized as complex emotions, everyday objects, or even very old household pets.
The term yōkai first came to prominence during the Meiji Period (1868–1912) to refer to the paranormal events documented throughout Japan’s history. In addition, the word yōkai can also mean uncanny or eerie, and it can be used to describe everything from unusual sensations and sounds to mythological creatures and even ghosts.
Yōkai and Japanese Religion
To interpret yōkai as just simply the Japanese equivalent of goblins, ghouls, and ghosts is to greatly oversimplify their significance in Japanese culture and history. Yōkai are often rooted in both Taoism and the native Japanese religion of Shinto. Shinto is a religion closely tied to nature that involves the worship of spirits, known as kami, who live in natural objects. One of the fundamental practices of Shinto philosophy is the idea that everything, including the sun, mountains, flowers, and rocks, contains a spirit that has the power to affect people’s lives.
According to Taoist philosophy, an entity can have two sides, a yin and a yang, which can alter according to how the object is treated. Over time, this concept of duality was introduced to Shinto beliefs in Japan, where it was adopted and given a broader meaning. As a result, the kami who inhabit all things were seen to have both good and bad qualities. This means that all kami have the potential to become yōkai if they are not acknowledged and honored properly.
For example, in yōkai folklore, the Tsukumogami (literally, an object or tool imbued with a spirit) are old everyday objects such as umbrellas, lanterns, or instruments that have not been properly looked after or were unceremoniously discarded. The spirit within these objects then becomes vengeful, and the object grows arms and legs in order to haunt its former owner. In the Hyakki Yagyo Emaki (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons), these commonplace objects—now equipped with arms and legs—are depicted marching alongside several other yōkai in a parade.
Yōkai and Unexplained Phenomena
Tōkai are associated with far more than household objects coming to life. In Japanese folklore, countless unexplained phenomena are said to be caused by the actions of a yōkai. For instance, while walking through tall grass, you may find your legs covered in unexplained cuts, the Kamaitachi (a yōkai resembling a squirrel with razor blades for hands).
Similarly, while walking down a road at night, you may feel like you are being watched or even followed. According to Japanese folklore, this sensation was caused by the Betobeto-san, a benevolent yōkai that haunts the footsteps of travelers after dark. Generally, a yōkai may point to any unexplained phenomena, such as the sound of beans being washed in the river, the sound of drums in the night, or fireballs flying over a cemetery.
However, yōkai are something more tangible that can be compared to the West folkloric traditions of goblins, ghouls, and other strange creatures. A yōkai can be an animal that drowns children in the river, like the kappa, which resembles a frog-man with a pool of water on its head.
Alternatively, it could mean the tengu, an ugly mountain goblin that can be either dangerous or friendly. The flora and fauna of the Japanese islands can also become yōkai, such as the kitsune (an intelligent and mischievous fox), the tanuki (a shapeshifting version of the Japanese raccoon), and even humble cats dressed like a geisha (the Nekomata, a cat that plays the shamisen, an instrument traditionally made from the skin of cats).
The Duality of Yōkai
One of the most fascinating and confusing aspects of Japanese yōkai folklore is that they are not always entirely evil; the distinction between an evil spirit and a benevolent one can be difficult to draw. The Shinto belief that any item, living or otherwise, possesses an animating spirit that can be swayed to good or evil is the core of the idea that the yōkai possesses a complex moral compass.
Take the tengu, for example, a mountain-dwelling yokai with a long nose and hideous grimace. Originally a feature of Chinese Buddhist mythology, in yōkai folktales, tengu have aggressive and arrogant personalities and are often blamed for abducting travelers and leading them astray. However, people held captive by tengu would not come to harm and would usually be returned to a location far away from where they were captured. According to traditional beliefs, the tengu only kidnapped travelers if they strayed too far into their territory or the nature they were protecting.
The Kappa and Zashiki-Warashi
The duality of the yōkai can be seen further when examining two of the most popular creatures from Japanese folklore, the kappa and the zashiki-warashi.
The kappa, known in Japanese as a child born of the river, is a highly common water spirit that appears in countless Japanese folktales. According to legend, the kappa is somewhat dim-witted and is said to take pleasure in challenging passers-by to a sumo wrestling match. In Japanese folklore, a cucumber may be offered to a kappa in order to placate it and earn its protection from other evil water spirits. Today, kappa rolls (cucumbers wrapped in sushi rice) are eaten at Japanese restaurants all over the world.
However, they can also be highly dangerous, as they are also known for luring children and animals to their deaths. Most likely, the kappa rose to prominence in Japanese folklore as they were used by adults to caution children about straying too far into rivers and lakes.
Many such examples of malevolent water spirits that drag people to their deaths exist in folklore around the world. The kappa’s duality extends beyond its actions; in some folk tales, it transforms into an entirely different yōkai. According to some local beliefs, after having spent the summer living in the river and irrigating the rice fields, the kappa would change into a yamawaro, or a child of the mountains.
Another popular yōkai known for its benevolence and dangerous qualities is the zashiki-warashi. The zashiki-warashi is a tiny, innocent ghost who lives hidden inside a house and does all kinds of trouble, such as tossing pillows, spilling drinks, and moving furniture.
Having one of these unseen familiars around was considered fortunate, even with their troublemaking tendencies. But, if you were to come upon a glimpse of your resident zashiki-warashi one day, this may indicate that it was about to leave for another residence and that things would start to go south for your family.
In some folktales, the zashiki-warashi is not a unique yokai at all but a kappa that hides in the home and plays tricks on the residents. Tragically, the zashiki-warashi may have originated from real examples of infanticide throughout Japan’s Tōhoku region. Allegedly, some poverty-stricken families who could not afford to feed their children would crush newborns to death under a large stone and bury them under the floor of their house.
Yōkai, Yuru-Kyara, and the Japanese Imagination
The official number of yōkai is impossible to pin down. Japanese folklore includes thousands of creatures, along with countless local deities and variants. Therefore, the invention of yōkai can be interpreted as a creative way the premodern peoples of Japan explained the natural phenomena that populated their environment.
Even today, when unexplained events occur, many people are ready to believe that a mythological creature or a ghost is responsible. However, due to Japan’s inherent Shinto beliefs in the kami spirit, these events are given a yōkai personification that becomes unique to that particular moment and feeling.
In modern Japanese culture, the drive to personify the unknown and assign a spirit to certain objects has led to the phenomenon of mascot characters, known as yuru-kyara in Japanese. These mascot characters have come to personify virtually every village, river, town, and major city, as well as numerous private businesses and organizations.
Occasionally, these yuru-kyara take on the appearance of a particular yōkai, which are derived straight from local folktales or old stories. Local residents frequently create distinctive yuru-kyara by fusing local traits—a certain natural feature here, a well-known product there—into a hybrid entity that embodies the originality and uniqueness of the community while also being endearing and unforgettable. In a way, the process of creating yōkai is alive and well in modern Japan; it has simply become associated not with scary stories but has become an emblematic symbol of a local area.
