Tag Archives: ghosts

Heikegani–The Samurai Crab

Heikegani--The Samurai Crab

Artist’s impression of a heikegani. Remarkably, it’s pretty close to the reality.

The year was 1185, the place a tiny bay called Dan-no-ura. Two great fleets faced one another; on once side, the Heike clan, imperial rulers of Japan, and on the other the Minamoto, upstarts fighting to control the throne. At stake was control of all Japan. After a half-day of fighting, the Heike were routed, and their 6-year old emperor drowned to keep him out of Minamoto hands. Minamoto Yoritomo went on to become the first Shogun, or military ruler, of Japan.

A strange story arose in the wake of the battle. Locals told a legend about crabs in the area with strange patterns on their shells, said to resemble samurai masks. Legend held that the crabs were the reincarnations of samurai slain at the Battle of Dan-no-ura.

See what I mean? Credit: Nasir Sadeghi.

The crabs do bear an ...

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Kamaitachi–The Sickle Weasel

Kamaitachi--The Sickle Weasel

Kamaitachi, by Toriyama Sekien.

Night has fallen. You’ve had a hard day at work, and you’re walking home, cutting across a grassy field to save time. All of a sudden, a huge gust of wind knocks you to the ground. When you stand, you happen to look down and notice that your pants have been sliced open at the calf, and a closer look shows an inch long slit in your skin. There is no blood, and no pain. Yet, anyway. The pain will set in later, and you’ll suffer for days as the wound will take a long time to heal.

So what in the world just happened? Well my friend, you have just run afoul of the kamaitachi, or the sickle weasel. The critters are yokai that hang around the Koshin’etsu region for the most part. They are said to resemble weasels, with sharp, sickle like claws. Accounts of ...

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Nuppeppo–The Blobby…Monster…Thing…

Nuppeppo--The Blobby...Monster...Thing...

Japanese folklore is populated by many a weird critter.  I am constantly amazed by the bizarre menagerie of monsters that Japanese believed populated their home country.  Possibly the strangest I’ve come across so far is the Nuppeppo.

The Nuppeppo is actually kind of cute, in a morbid, Tim Burton-esque way.  It is a blob of fatty flesh standing about 1.5 meters tall, with stubby arms and bulbous fingers and toes. The ink drawing of a Nuppeppo kinda reminds me of Mr. Potatohead! There’s a hint of a face in there among the fat folds as well.  It generally hangs out in lonely places, especially temples and cemeteries, and no wonder as it is purported to have a horrible smell, like rotting flesh.

Despite being the lonely outcast of the J-folklore world, the Nuppeppo are harmless.  They’re classified as yurei, but unlike many other yurei they aren’t deadly to humans, and in fact ...

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The Gashadokuro

The Gashadokuro

Japan is home to some very strange spirits, to say the least.  Not long ago I did a post about an odd breed of spirit that exclusively haunt Japan’s bathrooms.  Last night I was poking around, looking for more Japanese ghouls and goblins when I came across the Gashadokuro (also known as the Odokuro).

While classified as a spirit being, it seems that much like the yurei (and contrary to the West’s notion of ghosts), the Gashadokuro have a physical substance to them rather than being incorporeal.  These beings manifest as gigantic skeletons, fifteen times the size of a normal man which would put them at roughly ninety feet tall.  They arise from the gathered bones of people who died as a result of starvation or warfare.  Due to the terrible deaths that gave them un-life, the Gashadokuro are full of anger and a blood lust that can only be sated ...

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Japan’s Ghosts–The Yurei

Japan's Ghosts--The Yurei

Several months ago, I did a post about Aokigahara, Japan’s suicide capital and a purportedly haunted forest.  It is widely believed that the forest is haunted by Yurei, which are essentially Japan’s version of ghosts.  These differ from the traditional Western style ghosts.  On our side of the ocean, ghosts are ephemeral things that can only interact with the physical world with great difficulty.  They knock and creak and moan, but they’re generally harmless; in fact, they’re usually little more than annoying, at least according to the lore.  Their goal is usually to attempt some sort of communication with the living, in order to fulfill some sort of unfinished business, after which they can pass on to the other side.  Some are more malevolent, intending to scare folks away from their haunts or just to generally be pains in the butt.  In general, they’re said to be tied to our ...

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