Maya Calendar

Yōkai traits

Zashiki-warashi is a childlike spirit (yokai) from the Tohoku region, particularly Iwate Prefecture, that haunts the inner parlors (zashiki) and dirt floors of old houses. It typically appears as a child of five or six, with bobbed hair and wearing a red vest, revealing its presence through the sound of running footsteps or laughter in the hallways at night. The greatest supernatural trait of the zashiki-warashi lies in its direct connection to the "fate (rise and fall)" of the household. It has been firmly believed that a house where a zashiki-warashi lives and can be seen will prosper, but a house from which the spirit departs will instantly decline, leading in the worst cases to the family's scattering or extinction. It is not merely a child's ghost, but a tutelary and destiny-controlling deity of the home, possessing both the blessings of a god of fortune and a fearsome deterministic power.