Brushing Shoulders with Yokai: The Reiwa Everyday

SandwormSAHND-wohrm

A colossal mouth tears through the ground of a residential street, homing in on the footsteps of children walking to school. The sandworm is no classical yokai, but a foreign monster that migrated from science fiction and games into the Japanese imagination. It hunts by vibration, so the faster you run, the farther away the journey home becomes.

NueNue

At dusk in the shopping arcade, a shadow combines a monkey's face, a tiger's limbs, and a snake's tail. Nue is the unknowable monster said to have tormented the imperial palace with black clouds and eerie cries before Minamoto no Yorimasa shot it down. Even up close, no one can decide what animal it is.

Ryūjoryūjo

Beside the breakwater, a woman with scales still on her skin closes her eyes in the salt wind. Ryūjo are water dragons in human form, returning blessings to those who keep their promises and storms to those who break them. Notice the damp clothes if you must, but asking after her true form would be tactless.

Furari-bi (Wandering Flame)foo-RAH-ree-bee

Near a rain-soaked crossing, a bird-shaped flame drifts along the railway. Furari-bi is a mysterious fire preserved in Edo-period yokai art, sometimes interpreted as the flame of an unappeased soul, though its precise deeds are unknown. Even with no train coming, do not follow it.

Nekomataneh-koh-MAH-tah

An aged cat with a forked tail hunches before the fire in an old farmhouse. Stories of long-lived house cats becoming Nekomata have kept the yokai close to human homes since the medieval period. Older than anyone else in the household, this one can be trusted with the fire and the night watch.

Iso-onnaiso-onna

On rocks exposed by the tide, a woman with wet hair turns to look back. In Amakusa, Iso-onna was said to creep aboard moored boats along the stern line, so sailors in unfamiliar harbors made a practice of not tying up to shore. Tonight, before locking the doors, check what still reaches toward the sea.

Iso-onnaiso-onna

A lone woman with wet hair sits among the rocks where the waves have gone still. Along the shores of Kyushu, Iso-onna is said to answer a caller with a piercing scream, entangle them in her long hair, and drink their blood. The quieter the sea, the quieter you should be.

Amenosagumeah-meh-noh-sah-GOO-meh

Looking over the city at dusk, Ame-no-Sagume waits for someone to speak. In myth, she twisted a bird messenger's cry into an omen and, with a single remark, prompted Ame-no-Wakahiko to fire an arrow. In front of her, even silence acquires a meaning.

Fuguruma Yōhi (Letter-Carriage Enchantress)FOO-goo-ROO-mah YOH-hee

In a nearly empty carriage, a woman rests an old love letter on her lap. Fuguruma Yōhi is Sekien's tsukumogami, the feelings accumulated in letters no longer reread transformed into a court lady. The messages left unread are often the ones that linger longest beside us.

Lamp-less Soba Stallah-kah-ree NAH-shee SOH-bah

At an old food stall between office towers, a proprietor whose face cannot be seen silently serves bowls of noodles. In the Seven Mysteries of Honjo, Akarinashi Soba brought misfortune to anyone who relit its extinguished lantern. However hungry you are, do not touch the light without permission.

Shidai-daka (Ever-Rising Tall One)SHEE-dye-DAH-kah

A tall, thin figure looms above the rooftops of a residential street at dusk. Shidai-daka, known in the Chūgoku region, grows taller the more you look up at it. Since it is said to shrink when you lower your gaze, pretending to check your phone may finally prove useful.

Red TongueAH-kah-shah

A shaggy face and long red tongue hang from an overpass beside the canal. In Edo-period yokai art, Akashita appears in a black cloud above a floodgate, but no explanation survives of what it does. An uncertain origin is still reason enough not to walk directly underneath.

Umibōzuumibōzu

In a still bay, a black, shaven head floats with its shoulders above the water. Umibōzu is said to block ships at night and demand a ladle, then use it to flood the vessel. On days when no bottomless ladle is handy, it is best to pretend you never made eye contact.

Golden CrowKEEN-oo (Kin-ū)

Against the dawn sky, a black crow stands on a rooftop with a golden disc held between its wings. Kin'u is the three-legged crow that lives within the sun, an ancient celestial counterpart to the rabbit in the moon. It seems intent on watching over daybreak until the city is awake.

Red-HeadAH-kah-gah-shee-rah

A figure with red hair stands deep in a dim wood. Tosa's Akagashira does not attack people, but its hair is said to shine like the morning sun and blind anyone who looks directly at it. Even through a camera, it is better not to stare for long.

Itsumadee-tsu-mah-deh

Beneath a cloudy sky, a strange bird with a human face looks down on the town from the riverbank. The bird of the Taiheiki flew into a plague-stricken capital and cried "itsumade," or "how long," night after night. Whether the question is for the neglected dead or for a life with no end remains unsettled even in the Reiwa era.

Suzuhiko-himeSuzuhiko-hime

A woman crowned with kagura bells moves slowly through a town corner in the afternoon. Suzuhiko-hime is a pictorial yokai created by Toriyama Sekien, giving human form to the spiritual power of bells and sacred dance. Even beneath the traffic noise, that single chime seems to come from the direction of the shrine.

Moon RabbitTSOO-kee-noh oo-SAH-ghee

Under a full moon, a white rabbit raises a mallet in a garden. In Buddhist tales, the Moon Rabbit is the compassionate creature that offered itself to the fire; in China it compounds the elixir of immortality, while in Japan it is beloved for pounding rice cakes. A little moonlight has found its way into tonight's batch.

Giant CentipedeOH-oh-MOO-kah-deh

A centipede as thick as a fallen tree crawls across the damp forest floor. The giant centipede of Mount Mikami was said to coil around the mountain many times, its massive body and hard shell tormenting even the Dragon King's kin. Without a bow like Tawara Tōda's, it is best to retrace your steps quietly.

Wanyūdōwah-nyoo-DOH

A flaming wheel set with a monk's face rolls over the wet cobbles. Wanyūdō is said to steal the souls of those who look upon him, though writing "This is Shōbo's village" over the doorway will keep him away. If you take a photograph, do not stare directly and do not try to overtake him.

Emperor SutokuEmperor Sutoku

With the sea of Sanuki behind him, a figure in crimson turns to look back just once. Emperor Sutoku lost the Hōgen Rebellion and died in exile, never permitted to return to the capital. He later came to be feared as one of Japan's mightiest vengeful spirits and a great tengu. His profile is calm, but it has not forgotten how far away the capital remains.

Fridge WardRAY-zoh-MO-ree

In the dark kitchen, a tiny blue resident peers through the gap in the door. Reizōmori is a Reiwa-born tsukumogami, awakened after a longtime refrigerator magnet absorbed years of appetite and family memories. If one pudding cup has vanished, question this face before calling a family meeting.

Ushi-oniushi-oni

A hulking creature with a bull's head and spider's legs crawls along the fishing quay. Ushioni haunt the coasts and deep pools of western Japan, attacking people in some tales while serving as powerful, calamity-clearing leaders in festivals. Judging by the way this one steps over the fish crates, it is not here to bid.

Karakasa-kozouKAH-rah-KAH-sah koh-ZOH

A one-eyed paper umbrella clops down a wet shopping street on a single geta. Karakasa-kozō is the quintessential old umbrella turned tsukumogami, though it became a star of pictures and toys rather than old oral tradition. Tonight, it seems less interested in startling anyone than in finding a dry spot under the eaves.

Mikoshi-nyūdō (Looming Priest)mee-KOH-shee nyoo-DOH

In the Shibuya rain, a dark-robed monk towers above the buildings. Mikoshi Nyūdō is a night-road apparition that grows larger the higher you look. It is said to retreat if you declare, "I have seen beyond you," and look down on it. First, though, you have to get your neck back down.

GashadokuroGashadokuro

An enormous skull peers over the rooftops. Gashadokuro took shape in Shōwa-era supernatural media as a monster born from the bones and hunger of those who died without rites. If the clatter of bone draws closer after midnight, there is nowhere large enough to hide.

Amabieamabie

A blue figure with scales and a beak stands on a quay lined with fishing boats. Amabie emerged in a glow from the sea off Higo, predicted bountiful harvests and disease, and instructed people to show her likeness to others. The broadsheet may have become social media, but the request still travels well.

RokurokubiRokurokubi

In a studio-apartment kitchen, a face peers into the light while its body stays behind in bed. Some Rokurokubi are said to stretch their necks at night; in other tales, the head detaches and flies away altogether. If this is only a midnight snack run, one hopes everything is back in place by morning.

TenguTengu

After the rain in Kurama, a great tengu sits on the stone steps. Sōjōbō is the stern master said to have taught the young Ushiwakamaru the art of war, yet never abandoned a student of true promise. The wind carries off every excuse before it can be spoken.

TenguTengu

A yamabushi walks through an avenue of cedars, making no attempt to hide his long nose or wings. Atago Tarōbō is regarded as the commander of the great tengu of many mountains, feared and revered as an adept who wards off fire and grants martial fortune. The line of worshippers parts on its own, and not because of the signs.