List of legendary creatures from Japan

The following is a list of demons, ghosts, yōkai, obake, yūrei, and other legendary creatures, which 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 who lives on a mountain pass in Kumamoto Prefecture.
• Akabeko - A red cow involved in the construction of Enzō-ji in Yanaizu, Fukushima.
• 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.
• 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 zori straw sandal spirit.
• Baku - An auspicious beast who can devour nightmares.
• Basan - A large fire-breathing chicken monster.
• Bashōnosei
• 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
• Byakko - Japanese version of the Chinese White Tiger.
• Byōbunozoki

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 tanuki 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.

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 - An animated jar.
• 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 Ushioni.

H

• Hakanohi
• Hakuja no Myojin - A White Serpent God.
• Hakutaku - A beast which handed down knowledge on harmful spirits.
• Hanako-san - A spirit of a young World War II–era girl who haunts school restrooms
• Hannya - A noh mask representing a jealous female demon.
• 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
• 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 - A skeleton-woman.
• Hō-ō - The legendary Fenghuang bird of China.
• Hoshi-no-Tama - A ball guarded by a Kitsune 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 - 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 tanuki.
• Isonade - A fish-like sea monster with a barb-covered tail.
• Issie - A lake monster.
• Itsumade - A fire-breathing bird-like 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
• 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 eats human corpses.
• Jinmenju - A tree with human-faced fruits.
• 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.
• Kambarinyōdō - 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 cat-like demon that descends from the sky and 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
• 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.
• 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.
• Kyonshī - The Japanese version of the Chinese hopping vampire, known as "jiangshi".
• Kumo Yōkai - A Japanese spider demon.
• 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.
• 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
• Mononoke - Any mischievous and troublesome creature/entity of uncertain origin.
• Morinji-no-kama - Another name for Bunbuku Chagama, the tanuki teakettle.
• Mōryō
• Mujina - A shapeshifting badger.
• Mu-onna - The nothing woman.
• 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.
• Ningyo - A fish person or "mermaid".
• Nobusuma - A flying squirrel-like monster.
• 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 human-like 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

O

• Obake - Shapeshifting spirits.
• Obariyon - Yokai 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
• 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 travellers, attacking them if they trip. Similar to the Black dog of English folklore.
• Ōmagatoki - Dusk.
• Ōmukade - 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 they come too near.
• Onihitokuchi - One-eyed oni that kill and eat humans.
• Onmoraki - 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.
• Onmyoji - A human who has powers like a yokai's.
• Osakabe

R

• Raijin - The God of Thunder.
• Raijū - A beast that falls to earth in a lightning bolt.
• 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 - Amorphous afterbirth spirit.
• Sansei
• Sarakazoe
• Satori - An ape-like creature that can read minds.
• 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 tanuki from Awaji Island.
• Shichinin misaki - A group of 7 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 - Is a creature which peeks in through the skylight of an old house.
• Sōjōbō - The famous Daitengu of Mount Kurama.
• Suiko - Another name for 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
• Suzaku - Japanese version of the Chinese Vermilion Bird.
• Suzuri-no-tamashii

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 - A shape-shifting raccoon dog.
• 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
• Tengu - A wise bird-like demon.
• Tenjōkudari
• Tenka (kaika)
• Tenko (fox)
• Tennin - A heavenly being.
• Te-no-me - A ghost of a blind man with his eyes on his hands.
• Teratsutsuki
• 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.
• Ungaikyo - A possessed mirror.
• Ushi-no-tokimairi
• Ushi-oni - A name given to an assortment of ox-headed monsters.
• Ushirogami
• 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
• 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 - 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 Honshu wolf & Hokkaido wolf).
• Yama-uba - A Crone-like yōkai.
• Yashima no Hage-tanuki - A tanuki 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.
• 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.
• 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