Shimotsuke Provinceしもつけ

A local apparition said to descend with peals of thunder during the seedbed season, feared for ravaging paddies. Rites to drive it off include cracking split bamboo, and folk custom sets bamboo poles in fields to mark a safe return path. It is understood less as a human-harming monster than as a personification of lightning disaster, and those who approach are said to have their vitality sapped and fall stupefied. Its diet and appearance are inconsistent, with traditions likening it to a weasel, a tanuki, or a cat.