Fiery Yokai

Furari-bi is a strange fire depicted in Edo-period yokai art, often shown as a bird wreathed in flames. Examples appear in Toriyama Sekien’s Gazu Hyakki Yagyo, Sawaki Suushi’s Hyakkai Zukan, and the anonymous Bakemono-zukushi. Explanatory notes are scarce, so its nature is unclear. Generally it is understood as a manifestation of unappeased spirits wandering as fire, with the birdlike visage serving as a symbolic form.

Shiranui are mysterious sea fires said to appear along Kyushu’s shores, especially on the Yatsushiro and Ariake Seas. On a windless new-moon night around the first day of the eighth lunar month, one or two “parent lights” flare up offshore, split left and right, and multiply until hundreds or thousands line the horizon. They are hard to see from sea level but clear from higher ground, and retreat as one approaches. Also called “Thousand Lanterns” and “Dragon Lanterns,” they were feared as bad omens that warned fishers to stay ashore.

Battlefield Will-o'-Wisp refers to ghost lights that gather over killing grounds where many fell. They drift softly, and in great numbers cast a pale glow across the fields. Said to be fires exuded by the grudges of fallen soldiers and horses, they are depicted in Toriyama Sekien’s Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki as flames rising from blood spilled on the earth. Reliable tales of harm are rare; witnesses are said to recite a Buddhist chant and quietly depart.

Korōka is a yokai associated with stone lanterns, depicted in Toriyama Sekien’s Hyakki Tsurezurebukuro. It sits atop a stone lantern and breathes fire, likely visualizing the lantern’s flame as a spirit turned monster. Sekien alludes to battlefield will-o’-the-wisp tales but notes no classical source for a lantern’s flame becoming a yokai, making his image highly inventive. Later retellings sometimes describe lanterns that light themselves, though such claims are often disputed.

Ubagabi is a will-o’-the-wisp that appears on rainy nights, with traditions centered around Hiraoka in Kawachi and along the Hozu River in Tanba. It flies as a fireball about a foot across and is said to sometimes show the face of an old woman or the shape of a bird. Explanations tie it to the curse of an old woman who stole lamp oil from Hiraoka Shrine, or divine punishment upon a woman who drowned after discarding her child; the phenomenon is noted in old books and picture scrolls. Contact is considered a dire omen.

A mysterious ghostly fire said to drift along rainy nights like a lantern. Recorded in late Edo essays such as Kansō Sadan and Shoshū Saiyakuki Shōroku as observed in Ise. Those who carelessly approach are struck by an illness like an epidemic. If encountered, one should lie flat and let it pass before fleeing. It hovers roughly 12 to 36 inches above the ground.

A yokai depicted by Toriyama Sekien in Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki: an old woman who blows out lights. She is said to snuff lanterns, andon lamps, and candle flames from a distance with a single puff, interpreted as an ominous, yin presence that abhors the cheerful, yang nature of fire. Oral accounts are scarce, and scholars often view the figure as largely Sekien’s invention. Later books and picture chapbooks show name variants (“Fukkeshi Baba,” “Fukikeshi Baba”) and link her to tales of lamps going out at parties or on night roads.

A yokai said to appear at funerals, funeral processions, and graveyards to snatch coffins and corpses. In the early modern period it was told as a hellish jailer or thunder god’s doing, stealing bodies amid black clouds and lightning. Later it merged with bakeneko lore, spreading the belief that an aged cat becomes a kasha and preys on the dead. Reports occur nationwide and are not strictly framed as moral retribution. Traditional countermeasures include blades, prayer beads, mounded earth, and constant vigil.

A yokai depicted by Edo-period artist Toriyama Sekien in Konjaku Hyakki Shūi. It rises from beneath the floorboards, licking the oil of an andon lamp and disrupting night work. Sekien notes it as the spirit of someone who shirked duties in life, becoming a “Himamushi Night Nyūdō” after death to lick lamp oil and hinder late-night tasks. The name is linked to a visual wordplay on “Hemamushi-nyūdō,” commonly read as a moral against laziness and sloth.

Tsurube-bi is a mysterious fire that moves up and down from treetops at night like a hanging bucket. It appears in Toriyama Sekien’s Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, interpreted as the fiery apparition from Kyoto’s Saiin noted in Edo-period ghost tales. In Shikoku and Kyushu, it’s said to be a wood spirit turning into a bluish-white fireball that dangles from branches. The flames do not burn things, and faces of people or animals sometimes appear within. Considered a type of will-o’-the-wisp, it’s often reported on quiet mountain paths.

A nocturnal apparition in which a heron’s body appears to glow pale blue. Also called Goi no Hi and Goi no Hikari. Recorded in Edo-period picture books and essays, it was seen on moonlit and rainy nights. Often identified as the black-crowned night heron (goisagi); in flight it looked like blue flames, startling onlookers. Explanations include reflections from wet plumage or substances along the water’s edge, yet many locales remember it as a ghostly fire.

Grave Fire is a type of ghostly flame that appears around cemeteries and old gorintō (five-ring pagoda gravestones). In Toriyama Sekien’s Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki, flames blaze from a timeworn gorintō with damaged Sanskrit seed syllables amid an overgrown burial ground. Some interpret the missing syllables as leaving worldly desires unsevered, which flare up as fire. Early modern ghost tales describe it as a phosphorescent flame arising from blood or fat seeping from corpses or graves, drifting and wavering at night.

A type of onibi (will-o’-the-wisp) seen near rice field ridges, river embankments, and graveyards. A lantern-sized flame drifts about a meter above the ground and vanishes when approached. In Shikoku it’s often blamed on foxes or tanuki, with names and traits varying by region. Sometimes it appears in strings along night roads and is linked to ominous signs like sudden deaths or fevers, yet its true nature remains unknown.

Basan is a phantom bird from Iyo, also called Basabasa or the Dog Phoenix. It sports a red comb and breathes vivid red fire, yet the flames are like foxfire—cold and unable to burn. Said to lurk in deep bamboo groves, it rarely shows itself. On late nights it may swoop over villages with a loud rustling of wings, only to vanish at once. It startles people but causes no harm. Edo-period curiosa and picture scrolls record its image and traits.

Ayakashi is a catch-all term for supernatural phenomena appearing at sea. What it refers to varies by region and may include ghostly fires, vengeful boat ghosts, and maritime mirages. In Nagasaki it can mean mysterious flames over the water; in Yamaguchi and Saga, spirits that harm boats. On Tsushima, a vast will-o’-the-wisp is said to appear on the beach and, offshore, take the shape of a mountain that blocks a ship’s course. In some areas the belief merges with folk ideas about the remora fish, and the ayakashi serves as an explanation for shipwrecks and maritime misfortune.

Hitodama are small, floating balls of light seen at night, long interpreted as souls that have left the human body. Reports describe bluish-white, orange, or red hues, often trailing a tail and drifting low to the ground. While often confused with onibi or kitsunebi, hitodama specifically denote the luminous manifestation of a human soul and are linked to death and liminal moments. They appear frequently in classical literature, early modern essays, and regional lore, with sightings continuing into modern times.

Taimatsumaru is a fire-bearing bird yokai depicted in Toriyama Sekien’s Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro. Shown as a raptor wreathed in flames from beak and talons, it casts uncanny light across the deep mountain night. Sekien links it in his notes to the glow of the “tengu pebbles,” interpreting it as a force that hinders ascetics in training. Its fire is not a practical torch but a delusive flame that leads night travelers astray. No specific historical locations of appearance are recorded.

Kazembō is a yokai depicted by Toriyama Sekien in Konjaku Hyakki Shūi: a monk-shaped will-o’-the-wisp said to appear at Toribe Hill, Kyoto’s historic cremation ground. Shown as a beggar-monk wreathed in flames and smoke, it is often interpreted as the spirit-fire of a monk who sought self-cremation for salvation but, shackled by earthly attachments, failed to pass on. Sekien’s image is the primary source; the name and appearance were later cataloged in yokai encyclopedias.

Minobi is a will-o’-the-wisp–like fire said to appear as tiny lights dotting a straw rain cloak on boats crossing Lake Biwa, especially on rainy nights in the rainy season. It neither burns nor spreads; if the cloak is removed, the lights vanish. Brushing at them makes them multiply, glittering like starlight. Some traditions call it the manifestation of drowned spirits, while modern views liken it to a kind of gaseous luminescence; similar reports exist across Japan.

A haunting said to appear at cremation grounds (sanmai-ba) after many corpses are burned. The amassed dead form a humanlike figure; in some regions it appears as a giant nyūdō. It performs ominous acts tied to death—beating clappers at night or driving stakes into the cremation grounds—to frighten people. It reportedly loses power and vanishes when it crosses running water.