Chōchin-bi (Lantern Fire)Chochin-bi (Lantern-Flame, regional will-o’-the-wisp type)

A regional catch-all name for ghostly lights about the size of a paper lantern. In some areas it is conflated with kitsune-bi and tanuki-bi, its name stemming from the idea of monsters lighting lanterns. It appears on rainy nights along riverbanks, dikes, and graveyards, drifting at a fixed height. Accounts vary by era and locale: vanishing when approached, splitting when struck, or marching in clusters. In folklore it portends untimely death or a curse and marks taboos along the roadside, anchoring tales that warn against pursuit or striking it. It appears in early modern essays and kaidan, sometimes gaining proper names (such as Koemon-bi) and lodging in local memory. Natural ignition and animal-origin theories coexist, and its true nature remains unsettled.

This yokai is included in the following collections:

Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki

Published in 1779, Toriyama Sekien’s sequel to Gazu Hyakki Yagyō adds notes to each yokai in three volumes: Rain, Dusk, and Dawn.

テーマ別

今昔画図続百鬼鳥山石燕

Fiery Yokai

A collection of fiery yokai—Furari-bi, Kosenjō-bi, Shiranui, Aosagabi—exploring Japan’s eerie lights and flames.

注目

火

Yokai with similar personality and characteristics to Chochin-bi (Lantern-Flame, regional will-o’-the-wisp type)

Hyakume (Hundred-Eyed Demon)

Iconographic Origin, Modern Interpretation

93%

Compatibility

Nyūbachibō

Emaki Seigan Iconography Version

92%

Compatibility

Sazae-oni (Turban Shell Ogre)

Pictorial and Allegorical Representation (Sekien Edition)

91%

Compatibility

Yokai with opposite personality and characteristics to Chochin-bi (Lantern-Flame, regional will-o’-the-wisp type)

Hotei

Incarnation of Maitreya, the Laughing Monk, Hotei

60%

Compatibility

Fudo Myo-o

The Wrathful Avatar of Dainichi Nyorai

61%

Compatibility

Sakata no Kintoki

The Herculean Boy of Mt. Ashigara: Sakata no Kintoki

61%

Compatibility