Talk:List of legendary creatures from Japan

Itsamu-Na
The only sources I can find for this in Japanese indicate this is a katakanization, then re-romanization of the Mayan founder spirit Itzamna, and therefore not a Japanese mythological creature.--Ben Applegate 08:41, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Unreferenced Chinese Folklore?
Instead of deleting the information I am simply moving them here. While both articles claim that there are Japanese versions of these Chinese legends neither actually provides references or sources:
 * Hakutaku - the wise Bai Ze beast of China, who reported on the attributes of demons. [note: article doesn't actually say this is part of it's Japanese function, rather it simply describes it as having a lot of eyeballs, no references or sources]
 * Hōkō - a dog-like tree spirit from China. [no references or sources]
 * Hōkō - a dog-like tree spirit from China. [no references or sources]
 * Hōkō - a dog-like tree spirit from China. [no references or sources]

If anyone has references to help improve these two articles that would be wonderful. Cheers! Duende-Poetry (talk) 12:43, 7 December 2011 (UTC)

Why Do Deadlinks Keep Reappearing In This List?
It seems that someone is simply reinserting deadlinks for pages that have yet to be written. I thought the lists on the talk page was where we were putting such links instead of the article itself? Am I wrong? Is it better to have a shorter list with links that work or a longer list full of deadlinks that might, or might not, ever get written? Just curious before I start working on this page. Thanks! Chalchiuhtlatonal (talk) 01:20, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

Important Edits Letter A
The following dead links need references and/or citations from qualified sources:


 * Abura-bō - a spirit fire from Shiga Prefecture, in which the shape of a monk can often be seen.
 * Akamataa - a snake spirit from Okinawa.
 * Akanbei - a humanoid yokai who always has one drooping eye.
 * Akuma - an evil spirit.
 * Ame-onna - a female rain spirit.
 * Asobibi - a spirit fire from Kōchi Prefecture.
 * Ashiaraiyashiki(足洗邸) - the story of a huge demon that demands that its leg be washed.
 * Ato-oi-kozō - an invisible spirit that follows people, said to be the spirits of deceased children.
 * Azukibabaa - azukiarai's more vicious cousin, a bean-grinding hag who devours people.
 * Ayakashi - another name for the ikuchi, also another name for demons or yokai.
 * Ayakashi-no-ayashibi - a spirit fire from Ishikawa Prefecture.

Important Edits Letter B
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 * Betobeto-san - an invisible spirit that follows people at night, making the sound of footsteps.
 * Bake-kujira - an angry ghostly whale skeleton that drifts along the coastline.
 * Biwa-bokuboku - the spirit of a biwa lute.
 * Boroboro-ton - A possessed comforter.
 * Buruburu - a spirit that causes the shivers.

Important Edits Letter C
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 * Chōkōzetsu - a man with a large tongue sticking out of his mouth, like a Chōchinobake.

Important Edits Letter D
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 * Dodomeki - the ghost of a pickpocket, her arms are covered in eyes.
 * Doji - a spirit with white wings, accounted in European mythology as being like an angel.
 * Dorotabō - the ghost of an old man whose rice fields were neglected and sold.
 * Dozaemon - a yokai who resembles a kappa.
 * Diran-san - a spirit who laughs at others misfortunes. seen being a small fat boy. about a foot tall.

Important Edits Letter E
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 * Enkō - the kappa of Shikoku and western Honshū.
 * Eritate-goromo - the tengu Sōjōbō's enchanted clothes.

Important Edits Letter F
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 * Fukuko - spirit or creature that brings luck.

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 * Gagoze - a demon who attacked young priests at Gangō-ji temple.
 * Gangi-kozō - a fish-eating water-monster.
 * Garappa - a kind of kappa from Kyūshū.
 * Gotokuneko - a cat Yōkai who can breathe fire from a cut shoot of bamboo. His name means "Cat of Five Virtues".

Important Edits Letter H
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 * Hainu - A ferocious winged dog which attacked humans and livestock.
 * Hakuzōsu - a fox who disguised himself as a trapper's uncle.
 * Harionago - a female monster with deadly barbed hair.
 * Hayatarō - the dog that killed the sarugami.
 * Hihi - a baboon monster.
 * Hinoenma (飛縁魔) - a Japanese succubus.
 * Hyakume - a creature with a hundred eyes.
 * Hyōtan-kozō - a gourd spirit.
 * Hikiko- A ghost of a girl who was violently treated by her parents and bullied by her classmates.
 * Hinoenma - A succubus spirit that draws energy/blood from its male victims.
 * Hōkō - Dog-like tree spirit from China. Beag maclir (talk) 16:29, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

Important Edits Letter I
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 * Ichiren-bozu - Animated prayer beads.
 * Ibaraki-dōji - the oni of the Rashomon gate, Shuten-dōji's accomplice.
 * Ichimoku-nyūdō - a one-eyed kappa from Sado Island.
 * Ikazuchi-no-Kami - a thunder god.
 * Ikuchi - a sea-serpent that travels over boats in an arc while dripping oil.
 * Ippon-datara - a one-legged spirit of the mountains. A one-eyed, one-legged monster said to be an expert blacksmith.
 * Itsumaden - a monstrous bird that appeared over the capital in the Taiheiki.
 * Iwana-bōzu - a char that appeared as a Buddhist monk.
 * Ichimoku-nyūdō - A one-eyed Kappa from Sado Island* Ippon-datara - One-legged mountain spirit said to be a ghost of a blacksmith or the blacksmith deity Ameno-me-Hitotsu.
 * Iwana-bōzu - A Char that appears as a Buddhist monk.Beag maclir (talk) 16:31, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

Important Edits Letter J
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 * Jakotsu-babaa - an old woman who guards a snake mound.
 * Jinmenken - a human-faced dog appearing in recent urban legends.
 * Jotai - Possessed cloths draped from folding screens.

Important Edits Letter K
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 * Kage-onna - the shadow of a woman cast on the paper doors of a haunted house.
 * Kamikiri - the hair-cutting spirit.
 * Kameosa - a bottle that never runs dry.
 * Kanbari-nyūdō - a bathroom spirit.
 * Kanedama - the spirit of money.
 * Katawa-guruma - a woman riding on a flaming wheel.
 * Katsura-otoko - a handsome man from the moon.
 * Kawa-akago - an infant monster that lurks near rivers and drowns people.
 * Kawa-zaru - a smelly, cowardly kappa-like creature.
 * Kerakera-onna - a giant cackling woman who appears in the sky.
 * Kesaran-pasaran - a mysterious white fluffy creature.
 * Kibagurui - a nasty creature with sharp teeth, and can pull his entire body together to form a giant floating, fanged mouth.
 * Konaki-jijī - an infant spirit that cries until it is picked up, then increases its weight and crushes its victim.
 * Kosode-no-te - a short-sleeved kimono with its own hands.
 * Kurabokko - the guardian spirit of a warehouse.
 * Kurage-no-hinotama - a jellyfish that floats through the air as a fireball.
 * Kyōkotsu - the ghost of a corpse discarded in a well.
 * Kyūbi-no-kitsune - a fox with nine tails.
 * Kanashimi - demon shinobi of sorrow which wear play mask displaying different emotions said to live in mount hiei zan.

Important Edits Letter L
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 * Letchku- The golden Demon owl; brother of Netchku.

Important Edits Letter M
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 * Maikubi - the quarreling heads of three dead miscreants.
 * Makura-gaeshi - the pillow-moving spirit.
 * Mekurabe - the multiplying skulls that menaced Taira no Kiyomori in his courtyard.
 * Mōryō - a long-eared, corpse-eating spirit.
 * Mukujara - a massive, faceless creature covered in hair.

Important Edits Letter N
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 * Nando-baba - an old-woman spirit who hides under the floor in abandoned storerooms.
 * Narikama - a kettle spirit whose ringing sound is a good omen.
 * Nebutori - a spirit-disease that causes a woman to grow immensely fat and lethargic.
 * Nikusui - a monster that appears as a young woman and sucks all of the flesh off of its victim's body.
 * Nobusuma - a supernatural wall, or a monstrous flying squirrel.
 * Notari-bō - a very small humanoid yōkai.
 * Nowake-baba - an old crone that can blow strong gusts of wind.
 * Nogitsune - another name for a kitsune.
 * Nozuchi - Another name for the tsuchinoko serpent.
 * Numagozen - a lake spirit of a women who's husband disappeared in battle.
 * Nuribotoke - an animated corpse with blackened flesh and dangling eyeballs.
 * Nyoijizai - a skeletal-looking spirit that does as they please. Able to stretch their arms great lengths.
 * Nyūbachibō - a mortar spirit.

Important Edits Letter O
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 * Obariyon - a spirit that rides piggyback on a human victim and becomes unbearably heavy.
 * Oboro-guruma - a ghostly oxcart with the face of its driver.
 * Ohaguro-bettari - a female spirit lacking all facial features save for a large, black-toothed smile.
 * Ōkamuro - a giant face that appears at the door.
 * Okuri-inu - a dog or wolf that follows travelers at night, similar to the Black dog or Barghest of English folklore.
 * Okurimono- a demon which is known for following one home to either protect them from being eaten or to eat them.
 * Ōmukade - a giant human-eating centipede that lives in the mountains.
 * Onikuma - a monster bear.
 * Onmoraki - a bird-demon created from the spirits of freshly dead corpses.
 * O-kubi - A enormous head in the clouds. Often means something awful around the corner.

Important Edits Letter R
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 * Rokurobei - a male Rokurokubi.

Important Edits Letter S
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 * Sakabashira - a haunted pillar, installed upside-down.
 * Sagari - a horse's head that dangles from trees on Kyūshū.
 * Sarugami - a wicked monkey spirit which was defeated by a dog.
 * Seko - a kind of kappa, that can be heard making merry at night.
 * Senpoku-Kanpoku - a human-faced frog that guides the souls of the newly deceased to the graveyard.
 * Setotaishō - a warrior composed of discarded earthenware.
 * Shibaten - a kind of kappa from Shikoku.
 * Shiki-ōji - another name for a shikigami.
 * Shiro-bōzu - a white, faceless spirit.
 * Shiro-uneri - an old, rotten dishcloth appearing in the form of a dragon.
 * Shiryō - the spirit of a dead person.
 * Shōkera - a creature that peers in through skylights.
 * Shuba-uba- said to be Yama-uda's brother in the folklore of Atsumi peninsula in Aichi region of Japan.
 * Shu no Bon - a red-faced ghoul that surprises people.
 * Sodehiki-kozō - an invisible spirit that pulls on sleeves.
 * Sōgenbi - the fiery ghost of an oil-stealing monk.
 * Soragami - a ritual disciplinary demon in the form of a tengu.
 * Soraki-gaeshi - the sound of trees being cut down, when later none seem to have been cut.
 * Sorobanbōzu - a ghost with an abacus.
 * Sōtangitsune - a famous fox from Kyoto.
 * Sunakake-baba - the sand-throwing hag.
 * Sunekosuri -a small dog- or cat-like creature that rubs against a person's legs at night.
 * Suppon-no-yūrei - a ghost with a face like a soft-shelled turtle.

Important Edits Letter T
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 * Taimatsumaru - a tengu surrounded in demon fire.
 * Taka-onna - a female spirit that can stretch itself to peer into the second story of a building.
 * Tankororin - an unharvested persimmon which becomes a monster.
 * Tantanbō - a massive stone head with glowing eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. His saliva can turn anything into stone.
 * Tatami-tataki - a poltergeist that hits the tatami mats at night.
 * Teke-Teke - a beautiful young girl with no lower body, carries a sythe.
 * Tenjōname - the ceiling-licking spirit.
 * Te-no-me - the ghost of a blind man, with his eyes on his hands.
 * Tesso - the ghost of the priest Raigō, who transformed into a swarm of rats.
 * Tōfu-kozō - a spirit child carrying a block of tofu.
 * Toire no Hanako-san - a ghost who lurks in grade school restroom stalls.
 * Tsurara-onna - an icicle woman.
 * Tsuchikorobi - a tumbling monster that rolls over travelers.

Important Edits Letter U
The following dead links need references and/or citations from qualified sources:


 * Uma-no-ashi - a horse's leg that dangles from a tree and kicks passersby.
 * Umi-nyōbō - a female sea monster who steals fish.
 * Umizatou - a blind man from the sea who asks travelers about their worst fears.
 * Ungaikyō - a mirror monster that can display assorted wonders in its surface.

Important Edits Letter Y
The following dead links need references and/or citations from qualified sources:


 * Yagyō-san - a demon who rides through the night on a headless horse.
 * Yakubyō-gami - spirits who bring plagues and other unfortunate events.
 * Yama-biko - a creature that creates echoes.
 * Yama-chichi - a mountain spirit resembling a monkey.
 * Yama-inu - the fearsome mountain dog.
 * Yama-jijii - a humanoid with a head like a large rock, with one eyeball and a constant smile. Often lives in the trees in the mountains.
 * Yama-otoko - the giant mountain man.
 * Yama-oroshi - a radish-grater spirit, a pun on a word for "mountain storm".
 * Yama-waro - a hairy, one-eyed spirit, sometimes considered a kappa who has gone into the mountains for the winter.
 * Yanari - poltergeists that cause strange noises.
 * Yosuzume - a mysterious bird that sings at night, sometimes indicating that the okuri-inu is near.
 * Yukinko - a child-like snow-spirit.

Important Edits Letter Z
The following dead links need references and/or citations from qualified sources:


 * Zanki - a lightning oni(demon).

Modern and Unreferenced Should Equal Deleted
I understand that for many people -- many sheltered people, people who mean well but due to a failed education system have yet to learn how to cite or reference or even separate all the nonsense Rumiko Takahashi has made up over the years from actual academic research -- and who are only are exposed to anime and manga as the source for all their information about Japan ... then trying to have an actual conversation about mythological creatures from Japan and finding, instead, that editors can't seem to separate anything and everything found in Sailor Moon and InuYasha and every other comic book marketed and sold to 13 year old boys is, how do we say this? problematic? idiotic? an insult to Japanese culture and research? It's like saying all your knowledge on the USSR came directly from the movie Red Dawn, or Red Heat. So where do I even begin with this list? Yes, there are a billion links here (as if that somehow excuses not citing anything), but most seem to go to orphan articles that are equally unsourced, unreferenced and highly problematic. Again, this is the problem with Wikipedia's policies: for anyone who actually cares about fixing this page we now have to pain-stakingly go, link by link, looking to see which are actual referenced articles and which are poorly made up bulls*it, and yet all this could have been solved in the beginning if Wiki's "anyone with 2 braincells can write whatever the hell they want here and the burden falls on those of us who've passed English 101 to fix it all" policy. Because as a bushiness model, Wiki fails, but as a way to abuse their volunteer help, why not! Duende-Poetry (talk) 16:39, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

The Obakemono Project?
So ... this is what exactly? Because a HUGE amount of these links go to articles whose only source is the Obakemono Project, which seems, as far as I can tell, not to have any, you know, actual research attached to it. Just saying, before I start deleting ... it gets a bit tiring, people, trying to see what has actual historical Japanese relevance and what got put here by some 13 year old because it once appeared in an InuYasha episode. Duende-Poetry (talk) 17:16, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

Spook Changed To Spirit
The word spook to indicate a supernatural entity is, at best, a curious choice. I changed it to spirit, cheers! Duende-Poetry (talk) 19:18, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

Akago
Should the Akago be in here if it only links to an inuyasha article?

Hmm, Akago in the manga and anime series InuYasha is definitely a yōkai. However, in the aspect of folklore, Akago should not be added to the list. He is just one of many fictional characters who are just introduced to the public in year 2000 and around. He is TOO young to be listed here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shigerello (talk • contribs) 15:24, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Japanese Wikipedia Yōkai list
I think people need to be a little more choosy about adding things from this list. I think whoever wrote it got a little overzealous in including everything that could possibly be considered a yōkai, including a lot of things that are so extremely obscure there isn't really any information about them on the internet, and iffy things like historical figures with supernatural legends associated with them, or like dōsojin, roadside stone markers that are supposed to house protective kami, but which don't really fall into the "legendary creature" category unless you want to be extremely loose with the definition.

It is horrendously thorough, though, so it might be good to use it to double-check entries from Encyclopedia Mythica, to make sure things like "Yofune Nushi" and "Uwibami" (which don't even seem to exist on the Japanese-speaking internet) don't get re-added. Kotengu 23:57, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

Equivalent creatures?
Are the Biwa-bokuboku on this list and the Biwa-yanagi the same? Pfhreak (talk) 19:36, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Even though I know some yōkais, I know no yōkai known as Biwa-yanagi. I Googled this one with katakana and possible kanji translations, but to no avail. So I believe Biwa-yanagi is mistakenly referred... Shigerello (talk) 15:14, 3 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Biwa-bokuboku is the form of Biwa-yanagi created by Toriyama Sekien for one of his yōkai books. Then again, even biwa-yanagi is probably a fictional (rather than legendary) tsukumogami creation. Very few distinct tsukumogami appear in folk tales and fairy tales. 67.167.29.149 (talk) 01:38, 3 November 2008 (UTC) Chris G.

Wrong Reference!
Cho Hakkai in the Japanese yōkai list is not a Japanese yōkai. You know, historically, he only appeared in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. So I suggest we should remove Cho Hakkai from the list. What would you say? Shigerello (talk) 15:14, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Omukade a monster?
I've looked all over online but can't find any information on this "monster" centipede--only pictures of a real "giant" centipede which does live in the mountains but apparently never exceeds 12 inches. Is there any real proof that there is a monstrous centipede by that name, or is this just a misinterpretation on somebody's part? 97.104.210.67 (talk) 20:09, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

It certainly is indeed a Japanese Monster which is from the tale of Fujiwara no Hidesato, the creature also "apparently falls under a type of henge" that can actually take on a human appearance as well, but I have not able to locate a exact source for that as of yet whether this is true. I think the issue is that this yokai is poorly sourced, and I have taken a look at the article on here which has very little information compared to outside of the wikipedia page. The details is out there, but nobody has bothered to implement the already available information.74.124.163.114 (talk) 10:52, 20 October 2019 (UTC)

Folktale
I just deleted a "creature" as it is a folktale, and the monster from the folktale is on this page as well. It was a hyperlink to it and the small discription on the side even said it was just a folktale, not an actual creature 77.101.246.75 (talk) 19:35, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

should Gozu and Mezu be on this article
cause if you look up about them their is no information linking them to Japanese mythology or folklore only Chinese.--Jasonz2z (talk) 23:35, 24 July 2012 (UTC)

Gozu and Mezu has roots in Chinese Mythology, but both these creatures eventually were imported into Japanese-Buddhist Religion. I would say for future additions that are considered imported yokai that it should be separated into a different list or at least make note it falls under a shared mythology.74.124.163.114 (talk) 10:43, 20 October 2019 (UTC)

Kotahi-Manawa Bradford and the Kōtahi fiasco
The article "This 19-year-old Kiwi farmer accidentally became a character in a US board game" explains how the made-up entry "Kōtahi" (named after a New Zealand teenager) was added 7 September 2016, and persisted undetected for so long that games company CMON Limited picked it to be a monster in a forthcoming board game. The perils of beginning and ending your research on Wikipedia! It was finally deleted only yesterday, after being exposed on Twitter. Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 06:32, 24 January 2018 (UTC)

More effort needed for yokai Folklore
I think it is a big shame that a good chunk of the yokai is currently still only exclusive to the Japanese List that has yet to make an Transition to the English List for quite a number of years now, it is hard enough for non-Japanese speakers to research the more obscure ones. I hope there will be more support to update this legendary creature list sometime in the near future, and some of us don't have to rely on Google Machine translation that requires a lot of extra work than needed to be able to figure out what exactly certain articles are about.74.124.163.114 (talk) 10:37, 20 October 2019 (UTC)