Yōkai: Ghosts & Demons of Japan
Vivid in Japanese art and imagination, yōkai include ghosts, demons, monsters, shapeshifters and other eerie creatures.
By Museum of International Folk Art
https://yokai.moifa.org/#/
Katamigusa Yotsuya kaidan (Ghost Story of the Yotsuya Road) at the Ichimura Theater (1884) by Kunichika ToyoharaMuseum of International Folk Art
An Abundance of Yōkai
Yōkai is a catchall word for ghosts, demons, monsters, shapeshifters, tricksters, and other kinds of supernatural beings and mysterious phenomena. Yōkai interact with the human world and spark common notions of frightful things.
Tanuki Figures (ca. 1960s) by Artist Not RecordedMuseum of International Folk Art
Tanuki
A tanuki is an animal species indigenous to East Asia that is sometimes referred to as a raccoon-dog. As yōkai, tanuki are recognized as shapeshifters and tricksters. Tanuki figures are often found welcoming patrons and bringing luck to shops, restaurants, and bars.
Holding a bottle of sake, these tanuki like to get people drunk so they lose track of time. It is easier to trick people out of their money when they are drunk. Although they may be creatures to approach with caution, for businesses and shop-owners their image is used as a charm for bringing prosperity. Tanuki are most notoriously known for their larger-than-life testicles, which they may sometimes use as a prop for their disguises or use in their pranking activities.
One Hundred Aspects of the Moon: The Cry of the Fox (1886) by Taiso Yoshitoshi and Enkatsu, block cutterMuseum of International Folk Art
Kitsune
Similar to the ways that the fox is imagined in other cultures, kitsune (foxes), are shapeshifting tricksters known for their cunning behavior. These clever creatures use magical powers and play tricks on people.
Kitsune like to live among people, and the way that humans treat them determines if their power is used for good or evil. Stories of kitsune include beautiful fox-women, fox weddings, foxes disguised as priests, and foxes that possess people. Kitsune are associated with women and bewitch men with their beauty.
Kappa figures (ca. 1960s) by Artist Not RecordedMuseum of International Folk Art
Kappa
Kappa are water yōkai. With amphibian features and beak-like mouths, kappa are as small as children but very strong. These yōkai have notoriously smelly gas. Some stories say that kappa might be repelled by human farts.
Folklore suggests that kappa are relatively harmless creatures but they can indeed be very dangerous. For example, kappa infamously drown people to eat their livers, accessed by sucking out an imaginary organ called the shirikodama, found in the anus. Luckily, kappa are appeased with cucumbers, their favorite food. A dish-like depression on their heads contains water, the source of their power. If they spill the water not only can they lose power, but they can die.
Karasu Tengu Bell (c. 1960) by Artist Not RecordedMuseum of International Folk Art
Tengu
A karasu tengu is a bird or bird-like tengu. They are usually associated with flight, and sometimes their form includes a long nose and bird wings. Tengu are generally considered malevolent spirits.
Like other yōkai, tengu do not easily fall into good or bad categories. Despite the common conception that they are malevolent, tengu can also be noble and helpful to people.
A tengu is a yōkai in the form of a mountain goblin or spirit. Daitengu are usually depicted as a male human, or at times as a yamabushi (“mountain priest”) with a long nose and a red face.
Netsuke in the form of an Oni (Demon) (20th century) by Artist Not RecordedMuseum of International Folk Art
Oni
Oni are fearsome demons from Japanese folklore, often depicted with red or blue skin, horns, and sharp claws. They are symbols of chaos and punishment, known for wielding massive clubs and haunting the wicked. Though usually seen as evil, some Oni serve as protectors.
Oni are demons, ogres, or goblins; they are visual representations of ancient ideas of mononoke (weird, unexplainable events and invisible beings). Images of oni were assigned to represent different forms of mononoke, producing the first yokai characters. In religious contexts, oni—fierce, frightening, and powerful creatures—became protective guardians and deities as well as evil transgressors.
Hannya is a female demon who was once a human woman, transformed by jealousy and rage. One example is Lady Rokujō from the play Aoi no Ue based on a chapter in the Tale of Genji. Prince Genji, a notorious philanderer, takes Lady Rokujō as a mistress, but her love is unrequited. When Genji's wife, Lady Aoi, becomes pregnant and publicly shames Rokujō, her jealousy turns her into a vengeful demon. Consumed by rage, she attacks Aoi but is ultimately subdued by an exorcist, fading into nothingness.
Some argue that hannya is not a yōkai because she was born a human and her human emotions cause her transformation, whereas yōkai are not human.
Yūrei
Yūrei are spirits of the deceased, or ghosts, and arguably a type of yōkai. Japanese ghosts are typically portrayed wearing a white death kimono. Their hair is disheveled, and they do not have feet. These paintings are images of ghosts in typical spectral settings.
Yūrei, Japanese ghosts, often emerge out of willow trees, hover over their own remains, or haunt specific people seeking revenge. A common theme is scorned women who endured abuse or heartache in life. After death, these spirits haunt the men who wronged them. Ghost paintings were sometimes hung in homes for protection or displayed by collectors for their fun-fear appeal, blending the eerie and the entertaining.
Tsukumogami
Tsukumogami are spirited tools and objects. According to tradition, if tools and other implements are discarded without a proper show of thanks, they become resentful of their former owners and haunt them with a vengeance.
Yokai expanded from demons into a wide range of creatures and, in Japan today, they are pop-culture sensations. Yokai popularity grew over the centuries as they materialized in different cultural forms including visual arts, stage performance, storytelling, toys, and games.
Obake yashiki (monster houses)
Obake yashiki (monster houses) are considered a traditional form of Japanese amusement. They are particularly popular in the summertime because, as people often say, spine-chilling experiences cool you down!
This Obake yashiki walkthrough video was produced for the exhibition, Yokai: Ghosts and Demons of Japan, at the Museum of International Folk Art.
This story is adapted from an original exhibition at the Museum of International Folk Art. Click to explore more about this exhibition online.
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