List of legendary creatures from Japan

The following is a list of demons, ghosts, kami, obake, yōkai, yūrei and other legendary creatures that are notable in Japanese folklore and mythology.

A

• Abumi-guchi – A furry creature formed from the stirrup of a mounted military commander who worked for Yamata no Orochi.
• Abura-akago – An infant ghost who licks the oil out of andon lamps.
• Abura-sumashi – A spirit with a large head who lives on a mountain pass in Kumamoto Prefecture.
• Akabeko – A red cow involved in the construction of Enzō-ji in Yanaizu, Fukushima.
• Akamanto - A ghost in red mantle that offers either red or blue toilet paper roll in toilets.
• Akaname – A spirit who licks off filth in untidy bathrooms.
• Akashita – A creature that looms in a black cloud over a floodgate.
• Akateko – A red hand dangling out of a tree.
• Akkorokamui – An Ainu monster resembling a fish or octopus.
• Akurojin-no-hi – A ghostly fire from Mie Prefecture.
• Akubōzu –Akubōzu, live in the ashes of hearths, they are from Akita and Iwate.
• Amabie – A Japanese mermaid yokai.
• Amaburakosagi – A ritual-disciplinary demon from Shikoku.
• Amamehagi – A ritual-disciplinary demon from Hokuriku.
• Amanojaku – A small demon that instigates people into wickedness.
• Amanozako – A monstrous goddess mentioned in the Kujiki.
• Amazake-babaa – An old woman who asks for sweet sake and brings disease.
• Amefurikozō – A little boy spirit who plays in the rain.
• Amemasu – An Ainu creature resembling a fish or whale.
• Ameonna – A rain-making female spirit.
• Amikiri – A net-cutting bird-headed, crustacean-armed, snake-bodied spirit.
• Amorōnagu – A Tennyo from the island of Amami Ōshima.
• Amaterasu – A sun goddess.
• Anmo – A ritual-disciplinary demon from Iwate Prefecture.
• Aoandon – The demonic spirit which arises from an andon lamp at the end of a Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai.
• Aobōzu – The blue monk who kidnaps children.
• Aonyōbō – A female ghost who lurks in an abandoned imperial palace.
• Aosaginohi – A luminescent heron.
• Arikura-no-baba – An old woman with magical powers.
• Ashimagari – A spirit which entangles the legs of travelers.
• Ashinagatenaga – A pair of characters, one with long legs and the other with long arms.
• Ayakashi (yōkai) – A phenomenon considered to be the funayurei.
• Azukiarai (or Azukitogi) – A spirit that washes azuki beans.

B

• Bake-kujira – A ghostly whale skeleton that drifts along the coastline of Shimane Prefecture.
• Bakeneko – A shape-shifting cat.
• Bakezōri – A zōri straw sandal spirit.
• Baku (spirit) – Supernatural beings that devour dreams and nightmares.
• Basan – A large fire-breathing chicken monster.
• Bashōnosei - Banana tree spirit
• Betobeto-san – Invisible spirit which follows people at night, making the sound of footsteps.
• Binbōgami – The spirit of poverty.
• Biwa-bokuboku – Animated biwa lute.
• Buruburu – A spirit which clings to people inducing cowardice and shivers.
• Byakko – Japanese version of the Chinese White Tiger.
• Byōbunozoki - Tsukumogami that emerges from byōbu to peep on people.

C

• Chōchinobake – A possessed chōchin lantern.
• Chōchinbi – Demonic flames which appear in footpaths between rice-fields.

D

• Daidarabotchi – A giant responsible for creating the geographical features of Japan.
• Daitengu – The most powerful tengu, each of whom lives on a separate mountain.
• Danzaburou-danuki – a bake-danuki from Sado Island.
• Datsue-ba – An old woman in the Underworld who removes clothes (or skin if unclothed) of the dead.
• Dodomeki – A hundred-eyed demon.
• Dōnotsura – A headless humanlike yōkai with its face on its torso.

E

• Enenra – A monster made of smoke.
• Enkō – Kappa of Shikoku and western Honshū.

F

• Fūjin – The wind god.
• Fūri – A monkey-like yokai.
• Funayūrei – Ghosts of people who died at sea.
• Furaribi – A creature engulfed in flames that flies aimlessly.
• Furutsubaki-no-rei – A soul-sucking plant.
• Furu-utsubo – A beloved quiver of slain archers.
• Futakuchi-onna – The two-mouthed woman.

G

• Gagoze – A demon who attacked young priests at Gangō-ji temple.
• Gaki – Starving ghosts of especially greedy people.
• Gashadokuro – A giant skeleton that is the spirit of the unburied dead. Also known as Gaikotsu.
• Genbu – Japanese version of the Chinese Black Tortoise.
• Goryō – The vengeful spirits of the dead.
• Gozu and Mezu – Underworld guards.
• Guhin – Another name for tengu.
• Gyūki – Another name for Ushi-oni.

H

• Hakanohi – A fire which lights on graves.
• Hakuja no Myojin – A white serpent God.
• Hachishaku-sama – A woman that is 8 feet tall and famous by kidnapping children.
• Hakutaku – A yak-like beast which handed down knowledge on harmful spirits.
• Hanako-san – A spirit of a young World War II-era girl who inhabits and haunts school restrooms.
• Hannya – A noh mask representing a jealous female demon.
• Haradashi – A creature with a giant face on its stomach.
• Harionago – A woman with a thorn-like barb on the tip of each strand of her hair.
• Hashihime – A woman-turned-spirit associated with the bridge at Uji.
• Heikegani – Crabs with human-faced shells. They are the spirits of the warriors killed in the Battle of Dan-no-ura.
• Hibagon – The Japanese version of the Bigfoot or the Yeti.
• Hiderigami – The spirit of drought.
• Hihi – A baboon-like Chinese yokai.
• Hikeshibaba – An old woman who extinguishes lanterns.
• Hinode – The Sunrise.
• Hitodama – A fireball ghost that appears when someone dies, signifying the dead person's spirit.
• Hitotsume-kozō – A one-eyed child spirit.
• Hitotsume-nyūdō – A one-eyed monk spirit.
• Hiyoribō – The spirit which stops rainfall.
• Hoji – The wicked spirit of Tamamo-no-Mae.
• Hone-onna – The skeleton-woman.
• Hō-ō – The legendary Fenghuang bird of China.
• Hoshi-no-Tama – A ball guarded by a Kitsune (fox) which can give the one who obtains it power to force the Kitsune to help them. It is said to hold some reserves of the Kitsune's power.
• Hōsōshi – A ritual exorcist.
• Hotoke – A deceased person.
• Hyakki Yakō – The demons' night parade.
• Hyōsube – A kind of hair-covered Kappa.

I

• Ibaraki-doji – Offspring of an oni.
• Ichiren-Bozu – Animated prayer beads.
• Ikiryō – Essentially a living ghost, as it is a living person's soul outside of their body.
• Ikuchi – A sea-serpent that travels over boats in an arc while dripping oil.
• Inugami – A dog-spirit created, worshipped, and employed by a family via sorcery.
• Inugami Gyoubu – A type of bake-danuki.
• Isonade – A fish-like sea monster with a barb-covered tail.
• Issie – A lake monster.
• Itsumade – A fire-breathing birdlike monster.
• Ittan-momen – A possessed roll of cotton that attempts to smother people by wrapping itself around their faces.
• Iyaya – A woman whose face is reflected as an old man.

J

• Jami – A wicked mountain spirit.
• Janjanbi – A soul in the form of a ball of fire, named for the sound it makes.
• Jibakurei – A spirit that protects a specific place.
• Jikininki – Ghosts that eat human corpses.
• Jinmenju – A tree with human-faced fruits.
• Jinmenken - A human-faced dog.
• Jishin-namazu – The giant catfish that causes earthquakes and tsunami. It was blamed during the Ansei quake & tsunami.
• Jorōgumo – A spider-woman.
• Jatai – Animated folding screen cloth.
• Jubokko – A vampiric tree.

K

• Kahaku (河伯) – Another name for a Kappa.
• Kakurezato
• Kamaitachi – The slashing sickle-clawed weasel that haunts the mountains.
• Kamikiri - A yokai that secretly cut people's hair.
• Kambarinyūdō – A monk spirit that spies on people using the toilet.
• Kameosa – A possessed sake jar.
• Kanedama – A spirit that carries money.
• Kappa – A famous water monster with a water-filled head and a love of cucumbers.
• Karasu-tengu – Crow demon.
• Karura – Anthropomorphic eagle akin to the Hindu Garuda.
• Kasa-obake – A possessed paper umbrella monster.
• Kasha – A cart-like demon that descends from the sky, or a cat-like demon, which carries away corpses.
• Katawaguruma – A type of Wanyudo, with an anguished woman instead of a monk's head in a burning wheel.
• Kawauso – River otters.
• Kawaakago – A river spirit that pretends to be a crying baby.
• Kechibi – Fireballs with human faces inside.
• Keneō – An old man seated in the underworld who weighs the clothes given to him by Datsue-ba.
• Keukegen – A small dog-like creature covered entirely in long hair.
• Kijimuna – A tree sprite from Okinawa.
• Kirin – The Japanese version of the Qilin of China, which is part dragon and part deer with antlers, fish scales and an ox's tail. Said to be a protective creature and the guardian of the metal element.
• Kitsune – A fox spirit.
• Kitsunebi – Flames created by the Kitsune.
• Kitsune no yomeiri - Ghost lights
• Kiyohime – A woman who transformed into a serpent demon out of the rage of unrequited love.
• Kodama – A spirit that lives in a tree.
• Kokakuchō – The Ubume bird.
• Komainu – The pair of lion-dogs that guard the entrances of temples.
• Konaki-jiji – This yokai disguises itself as an abandoned baby then cries until someone picks it up.
• Konoha-tengu – A bird-like Tengu.
• Koromodako – An octopus-like Yokai that lives in the waters bordering Kyoto and Fukui.
• Koropokkuru – A little person from Ainu folklore.
• Kosenjōbi – Fireballs that float over former battlefields.
• Kosode-no-te – A possessed kosode.
• Kubikajiri – Female corpse-chewing graveyard spirit.
• Kuchisake-onna – The slit-mouthed woman.
• Kuda-gitsune – A small fox-like animal used in sorcery.
• Kudan – A cow with a human face.
• Kyonshī – The Japanese version of the Chinese hopping vampire, known as "jiangshi".
• Kumo Yōkai – A Japanese spider demon.
• Kunekune - A tall, slender strip of paper sheet that wiggles on rice or barley fields during hot summer.
• Kyōkotsu – A skeletal figure that emerges from a well.
• Kyōrinrin – Possessed scrolls or papers.

M

• Mekurabe – The multiplying skulls that menaced Taira no Kiyomori in his courtyard.
• Menreiki - A spirit composed of Gigaku masks.
• Miage-nyūdō – A spirit that grows as fast as you can look up at it.
• Mikaribaba – A one-eyed old woman.
• Mikoshi-nyūdō – A bald goblin with an extending neck.
• Misaki – High-ranking divine spirits.
• Mizuchi – A dangerous water dragon.
• Mokumokuren – A swarm of eyes that appear on a paper sliding door in an old building.
• Momonjī - An old-man who is waiting for travelers at every fork in the road.
• Mononoke – Any mischievous and troublesome creature/entity of uncertain origin.
• Morinji-no-kama – Another name for Bunbuku Chagama, the bake-danuki teakettle.
• Mōryō – A general term for various water demons that eat corpses.
• Mujina – A shapeshifting badger.
• Myōbu – A title sometimes given to a fox.

N

• Namahage – A ritual-disciplinary demon from the Oga Peninsula.
• Namazu – A giant catfish that causes earthquakes.
• Nekomata – A cat yokai.
• Ningen - An enormous white sea creature with humanoid features.
• Ningyo – A fish person or "mermaid".
• Nobusuma – A flying squirrel-like monster (possibly inspired by the Indian giant flying squirrel).
• Noderabō – Strange creatures that stand near a temple bell.
• Noppera-bō – A faceless ghost.
• Nozuchi – A fat snake-like creature.
• Nogitsune – A dangerous kitsune.
• Nue – A monster with the head of a monkey, the body of a raccoon dog, the legs of a tiger, and a snake-headed tail. It plagued the emperor with nightmares in the Heike Monogatari.
• Nukekubi – A vicious humanlike monster whose head detaches from its body, often confused with the Rokurokubi.
• Nuppeppo – An animated lump of decaying human flesh.
• Nure-onna – A female snake-like monster who appears on the shore.
• Nuribotoke – An animated corpse with blackened flesh and dangling eyeballs.
• Nurikabe – A ghostly wall that traps a traveler at night.
• Nurarihyon – A strange character who sneaks into houses on busy evenings.
• Nyūdō-bōzu – A yokai that grows larger the further one looks up.
• Nyūnaisuzume- Sparrows that flew from the mouth of exiled poet Fujiwara-no Sanekata.

O

• Obake (or Bakemono) – Shapeshifting spirits.
• Obariyon – Yōkai which rides piggyback on a human victim and becomes unbearably heavy.
• Oboroguruma – An oxen cart with a face in its carriage.
• Oiwa – The ghost of a woman with a distorted face who was murdered by her husband. One of the most famous onryō.
• Ōkaburo - Cross-dressing yōkai
• Ōgama – A giant toad which breathes rainbow-like smoke and wields a giant spear against whoever attacks it.
• Ōkami – A powerful wolf spirit that either takes your life or protects it depending on the actions one does in his or her life.
• Okiku – The plate-counting ghost of a servant girl.
• Ōkubi – The huge face of a woman which appears in the sky.
• Okuri-inu – A spectral dog which follows lone travelers, attacking them if they trip. Similar to the Black dog of English folklore.
• Ōmagatoki – Dusk.
• Ōmukade – A giant, human-eating centipede that lives in the mountains.
• Oni – The classic Japanese demon. It is an ogre-like creature which often has horns.
  • Oni of Rashomon
• Onibaba – The demonic hag of Adachigahara.
• Onibi – A demonic flame which can suck out life if people come too near.
• Onihitokuchi – One-eyed oni that kills and eat humans.
• Onikuma – Bear yōkai.
• Onmoraki – A bird-demon created from the spirits of freshly dead corpses.
• Ōnyūdō – Wastebasket taxon for all 'priestly' demons.
• Onryō – A vengeful ghost formed from powerful feelings like rage or sorrow.
• Otoroshi – A hairy creature that perches on the torii gates to shrines and temples.
• Onmyōji – A human who has powers like a yōkai's.
• Osakabe – An old woman yōkai which resides in Himeji Castle and who can read and manipulate hearts.

R

• Raijin – The God of Thunder.
• Raijū – A beast that falls to earth in a lightning bolt.
• Rōjinbi – A ghostly fire that appears with an old person.
• Rokurokubi – A person, usually female, whose neck can stretch indefinitely.
• Ryuu – The Japanese dragon.

S

• Sa Gojō – The water-monster Sha Wujing from Journey to the West, often interpreted in Japan as a kappa.
• Samebito – A shark-man from the undersea Dragon Palace.
• Sankai – An amorphous afterbirth spirit.
• Sansei – A humanoid with a single leg twisted backwards.
• Sarakazoe - A type of onibi that appears as a counting plate.
• Satori – An ape-like creature that can read one's thoughts.
• Sazae-oni – A turban snail that turns into a woman.
• Sesshō-seki – The poisonous "killing stones" which Tamamo-no-Mae transformed into.
• Seiryū – Japanese version of the Chinese Azure Dragon.
• Shachihoko – A tiger-headed fish whose image is often used in architecture.
• Shibaemon-tanuki – A bake-danuki from Awaji Island.
• Shichinin misaki – A group of seven ghosts who sicken the living.
• Shidaidaka – A humanoid yokai that appears above roads.
• Shikigami – A spirit summoned to do the bidding of an Onmyōji.
• Shikome – Wild women sent by Izanami to harm Izanagi.
• Shinigami – The Japanese Grim Reaper.
• Shiranui – A mysterious flame seen over the seas in Kumamoto Prefecture.
• Shirime (尻目) – An apparition in the shape of a man having an eye in the place of his anus.
• Shirōneri – Possessed mosquito nettings or dust clothes.
• Shiryō – The souls of the dead, the opposite of ikiryo.
• Shisa – The Okinawan version of the Shishi.
• Shishi – The paired lion-dogs that guard the entrances of temples.
• Shōjō – Red-haired sea sprites who love alcohol.
• Shōkera – A creature which peeks in through the skylight of an old house.
• Sōjōbō – The famous Daitengu of Mount Kurama.
• Suiko – Another name for the kappa.
• Son Gokū – The monkey king Sun Wukong from Journey to the West.
• Sunakake Baba – A witch who uses sand.
• Sunekosuri – A dog-like yokai that rubs up against people's legs when it is raining.
• Shuten-doji – Oni
• Suzaku – The Japanese version of the Chinese Vermilion Bird.
• Suzuri-no-tamashii - Inkstone spirit.

T

• Taka-onna – A female monster that can stretch its waist to peer inside buildings.
• Tamamo-no-Mae – A wicked nine-tailed fox who appeared as a courtesan.
• Tanuki – Japanese raccoon dog. In folklore, "tanuki" has the ability to shape-shift.
• Teke Teke – A vengeful spirit of a school girl, with a half upper torso body, who goes around killing people by slicing them in half with a scythe, mimicking her own disfigurement.
• Ten – A shapeshifting mischievous weasel.
• Tengu – A wise demon with two variants: a red man with a long nose, or a bird-like demon.
• Tenjōkudari - A female yokai that crawls on the ceiling.
• Tenka (kaika) - Ghost lights
• Tenko (fox) - Divine beast
• Tennin – A heavenly being.
• Te-no-me – A ghost of a blind man with his eyes on his hands.
• Teratsutsuki - The onryō of a man who lived in the 6th century CE.
• Tesso – A priest who was snubbed by the emperor and became a swarm of rats which laid waste to a rival temple.
• Tōfu-kozō – A yokai that appears as a young boy carrying a plate of tofu.
• Tsuchigumo – A clan of spider-like yokai.
• Tsuchinoko – A legendary serpentine monster. It is now a cryptid resembling a fat snake.
• Tsukinowaguma – A legendary bear.
• Tsukuyomi – A moon god.
• Tsukumogami – An animated tea caddy that Matsunaga Hisahide used to bargain a peace with Oda Nobunaga. It is now understood to mean any 100-year-old inanimate object that has come to life.
• Tsurube-otoshi – A monster that drops out of the tops of trees.

U

• Ubume – The spirit of a woman who died in childbirth.
• Uma-no-ashi – A horse's leg which dangles from a tree and kicks passersby.
• Umibōzu – A giant monster appearing on the surface of the sea.
• Umi-nyōbō – A female sea monster who steals fish.
• Ungaikyō – A possessed mirror.
• Ushi-no-tokimairi – A curse done at the ox hour (between 1 and 3 in the morning) by a black magic user, with various effects.
• Ushi-oni – A name given to an assortment of ox-headed monsters.
• Ushi-onna – A kimono-clad woman with a cow head.
• Ushirogami - A one-eyed, footless spirit.
• Uwan – A spirit named for the sound it shouts when surprising people.

W

• Waira – A large beast that lurks in the mountains, about which little is known.
• Wani – A water monster comparable to an alligator or crocodile. A related word has been applied to the saltwater crocodile.
• Wanyūdō – A flaming wheel with a man's head in the center, that sucks out the soul of anyone who sees it.

Y

• Yadōkai – Monks who have turned to mischief.
• Yama-biko – Small creatures that create echoes.
• Yamajijii – An old man with one eye and one leg.
• Yamako – An apelike occasionally cannibalistic creature that can read minds.
• Yamaoroshi – A possessed vegetable grater, almost porcupine-like in appearance.
• Yamata no Orochi – The eight-headed dragon/serpent monster slain by the god Susanoo.
• Yama-inu – A dog-like mountain spirit, that may appear to travelers on mountain roads; may be friendly, or may attack and kill the traveler, depending on the tale (also see the Japanese wolf).
• Yama-uba – A crone-like yōkai.
• Yashima no Hage-tanuki – A bake-danuki that protects the Taira clan.
• Yatagarasu – The three-legged crow of Amaterasu.
• Yato-no-kami – Deadly Snake gods which infested a field.
• Yobuko – A mountain-dwelling spirit.
• Yōkai/Youkai – A class of supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons in Japanese folklore. They can also be called ayakashi (妖?), mononoke (物の怪?), or mamono (魔物?).
• Yomotsu-shikome – The hags of the underworld.
• Yonakinoishi
• Yōsei – The Japanese word for "fairy".
• Yosuzume – A mysterious bird that sings at night, sometimes indicating that the okuri-inu is near.
• Yubaba - A witch who can shapeshift and use telekinesis.
• Yuki-onna – The snow woman.
• Yurei – Ghosts in a more Western sense.

Z

• Zashiki-warashi – A protective childlike house spirit.
• Zennyo Ryūō – A rain-making dragon.
• Zorigami – An animated clock.
• Zuijin – A tutelary spirit.
• Zunbera-bō – Another name for the Noppera-bō.

See also

• Japanese mythology
• Kaidan

External links

• Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist and Shinto Deities
• 百物語怪談会 Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai | Translated Japanese Ghost Stories and Tales of the Weird and the Strange, a blog by Mizuki Shigeru
• 133 Yokai Statues on Mizuki Shigeru Road