Hanging scroll, "Tengu in Flight"

A tengu is a yōkai in the form of a mountaingoblin or spirit. There are different types of tengu. Daitengu are usually depicted as a male human, or at times as a yamabushi (“mountain priest”) with a long nose and a red face. A karasu tengu is a bird or bird-like tengu, like the one showing in this scroll painting. They are usually associated with flight, and sometimes their form is a combination of a long-nosed man with bird wings. Tengu are generally considered malevolent spirits. In early Japanese Buddhism the image of the tengu as a monk was sometimes used to convince people not to follow opposing Buddhist groups. However, like other yōkai, tengu do not easily fall into a good or bad category. Despite their description as evil, tengu can also be noble and helpful to people.