Japanese ghosts, spirits, and demons. Oh my.

Aota · (#1 (**permalink**))

If you have knowledge on urban legends circulating around in Japan nowadays, or you like old Japanese monsters, and ghosts, post here. You might get a laugh, or a scare, or may even lose your life, if you dare.

Aota · (#2 (**permalink**))

Also, forgot to mention, this can also be a talk about favorite Japanese horror movies/anime/manga.

I can start off with a funny spirit I learned about a little earlier. The akaname. The name, translated means filth licker. It is the spirit that licks the bathrooms. Whether it licks it clean, I'm not sure about this yet. Also, one that has kind of scared me was the the kuchisake-onna, or slit-mouthed woman. The legend started around the Heian period. The woman was wife to a samurai, and she was known to be cheating on her husband. Well, one night the samurai cut slits on the sides of her mouth from ear to ear, and asked her, screaming, "Who will think you are beautiful now?" Now, an urban legend goes on in Japan about this. The urban legend picks up from this point, stating that a woman roams around at night (especially during foggy evenings), with her face covered by a surgical mask, which
would not be especially unusual, as people with colds often wear masks for the sake of others. When she encounters someone (primarily children or college students), she will coyly ask, "Do you think I'm beautiful?" ("Kirei da to omou?") or a similar question, at the same time taking off her mask, revealing her mutilated mouth. The victim will usually run away screaming, and the Kuchisake-onna will chase after, carrying a bladed weapon, such as a knife. She will catch the victim on the doorstep of their home and kill them there. The legend says that the only way to avoid being chased is to give a middle-ground answer to Kuchisake-onna's question. Answering "yes" or "no" will result in a chase, and only answering something along the lines of "You look ordinary" will make her leave the victim alone. If a victim is chased, the only way to distract the Kuchisake-onna is by throwing her a favourite brand of candy.

I have reason to believe the story behind Spirited Away, the bathhouse, and the town, and everything was surrounded around the Hyakki Yako, or the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.

Sorry it was so long. I was too tired to explain it in my own way. I'll be more excited about this stuff after some sleep. G'night, or morning all.

musashi · (#3 (**permalink**))

oh, don't they believe in that shikigami stuff....wait, thats not reaaly a scary thing.....but it's kinda cool to think about...

forgotenmemory · (#4 (**permalink**))

Yay!!!!!!! I love threads like these!!!!!!

kokunin · (#5 (**permalink**))

what about the amekushiki (not sure on spelling but it come sout as rain spirit) and when it rains it pours...there usually alittle mean, or maybe alittle forward, and its said they don't care for humans much anymore...

Spikess · (#6 (**permalink**))

great thread! shame i don't know any..

Shiningmonkey · (#7 (**permalink**))

Yay! I love japanese creatures. One of my favorites is the Tengu. A Tengu usually appears as a man with weird colored skin(ex. red) wings, and a really long nose. Another variation is a man's body with bird wings and head.
The acts a Tengu commits can be from mischevious to plain evil like kidnapping children. They live within mountain forests and some people believe they are just monks with masks.
Also, Tengu are supposed to have extremely good martial arts skills. Their leader, Sojobo, was even supposed to have taught a famous samurai the art of fanfighting and some sword arts.
The word Tengu was derived from a chinese phrase meaning heavenly dog.
That's about all I know/can think of about Tengu. See you later.

Next time...The Legend of the Nine Bijuu

ButterflyDemise · (#8 (**permalink**))

Woot~ I love Japaense ghost, spirit, and demon stories! Though I haven't been able to read about many in the last year ^^;;

My favorite is one of the ones Aota mentioned: Kuchisake-onna. Didn't they make a movie for that one? >.> If yes, can someone tell me the title?

Shaelyn · (#9 (**permalink**))

heh, a lot of monsters in Ragnarok Online are based on japanese legend.

I like the karakasa - which is basically an undead umbrella ~laughs~

Kasa-obake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aota · (#10 (**permalink**))

I'm getting a lot of my info from Wikipedia, and from some urban legend sites. There's one that circulates in a lot of Japanese kindergartens. I think her name is Hanako-san? I think it's a version of Bloody Mary, except only from inside stalls. And only in schools.

Well, earlier this morning, I took a test on this site called okCupid, don't ask, on what demon I was. I answered according to how tricky, evil towards adults, and caring towards children, and came out to be a kitsune.

I just read something in a Japanese superstitions forum about if you whistle at night, a snake will come for you.

I've been reading up a bit on the futakuchi-onna, or two-mouthed woman

Oh. There are many version of the tengu. Rather it be one with a really long nose, like Shiningmonkey pointed out, it can also have the bill of a bird, or be the leader of it's domain, a daitengu.. Or the one surrounded in flames, the taimatsumaru.

Also, I have reason to believe that the idea behind Orochimaru, from Naruto, in fact came from the eight-headed Yamata-no-Orochi snake.

Yes, the kasa-obake is funny. xD The battle system being made for Gaia online will feature the kasa-obake, as well as the paper lantern spirit. xD

I'd say my favorite demon is the kirin. It's part dragon/part hoofed animal.