GOH-toh-koo NEH-koh
Their soul is listening — speak, and they will answer.
GOH-toh-koo NEH-koh
A shape-shifting bakeneko depicted by Toriyama Sekien in Hyakki Tsurezurebukuro. It is a split-tailed cat balancing a gotoku—an iron trivet for a hearth—like a crown, fanning the fire with a blowpipe. Sekien plays on the phrase “gotoku-no-kanja” from Tsurezuregusa, punning on the utensil name. Scholars note continuity with Muromachi-period Night Parade scrolls that show figures wearing trivets, placing this design within that iconographic lineage.
In Tsurezuregusa section 226, the courtier Yukinaga forgets two virtues of the dance “Seven Virtues,” earning the nickname “Man of Five Virtues” (gotoku-no-kanja); Sekien cites this and adds a wordplay note. Muromachi Hyakki Yagyō scrolls depict beings with trivets on their heads, and Gotoku Neko is understood as drawing on that imagery. Later writers say it stokes its own hearth fire, but early sources give few concrete behaviors.
Gotoku Neko (Trivet Cat) across multiple art-style decks
The hierarchical evolution of aged cats as they gain demonic power, altering their forms and status. From the newly transformed bakeneko, to the twin-tailed nekomata, and ultimately the kasha, which snatches corpses from funeral processions. The Gotoku-neko and Neko-musume are kindred spirits connected to this lineage. The placement of the kasha at the apex is one prominent theory.
This yokai is included in the following collections:
This section is our own creative profile for storytelling. It is not historical fact or scholarship.
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