Hokusai’s Manga Yurei
This is in response to a reader question about a particular yurei picture, specifically Hokusai’s manga yurei. Katsushika Hokusai is probably Japan’s best-known artist internationally. His print The...
View ArticleMore Hokusai Manga Yurei
Here are three more yurei from Hokusai’s 15-volulme Manga series. Iga no Tsubone– Volume 05 Iga no Tsubone serves double-duty as an actual historical person as well as a folkloric figure. She was the...
View ArticleThe Chrysanthemum Vow
Translated from Nihon no Yurei Ueda Akinari’s “Ugetsu Monogatari” is a nine-story collection of tales of the mysterious and strange. It is a pedantic work, designed by the author largely as a display...
View ArticleInen – The Possessing Japanese Ghost
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara In Saisetan, located on Fukue island in the Goto archipelago of Nagasaki prefecture, there are legends of things that have the power to enter and possess...
View ArticleKyōkotsu – The Crazy Bones Yōkai
Translated and adapted from Hyakiyako Kaitai Shisho and other sources Be careful when you pull up a bucket of water from an ancient, abandoned well. You might get more than you bargained for if a...
View ArticleShōrōkaze – The Ghost Wind
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujara In Goto city in Nagasaki, on the morning of the 15th day of the Obon festival of the dead, it was said that an evil wind blew. Anyone who felt the caress of...
View ArticleYūrei-zu – A Portrait of a Yūrei, a Japanese Ghost
Translated from Mikzuki Shigeru’s Yokai Zukan The moon hangs in the sky like the blade of a sickle, giving off a dim glow. A ghostly air permeates the scene, and from a thicket of bamboo emerges the...
View ArticleUbume-zu – Portrait of an Ubume
Translated from Mikzuki Shigeru’s Yokai Zukan Here we have yet another yurei portrait, but this one gives an impression of sadness instead of fear. The title of this piece is ubume (姑獲鳥), which makes...
View ArticleShichinin Dōgyō – The Seven Pilgrims
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujara This is a legend from Kagawa prefecture, and is one of several legends about someone out for a walk who runs into a mysterious band on the road, and dies as a...
View ArticleShudan Borei – A Group of Ghosts
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujara On July 28th, Showa 30th (1955), in a heartbreaking incident 36 junior high school girls drowned on a beach in Mie prefecture. Of the nine girls who survived...
View ArticleYokai Chat at Obakeforums.com!
Once upon a time the Obakemono Project was the coolest place on the internet to chat with like-minded folks about yurei, yokai, and other Asian and world folklore monsters. Sadly, the owner lost...
View ArticleThe Ghost of Oyuki
Maruyama Ōkyo opened his eyes from a fitful sleep and saw a dead woman. She was young. Beautiful. And pale. Unnaturally drained of color, her bloodless skin peeked from her loose, bone-white burial...
View ArticleHidarugami – The Hunger Gods
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Showa: A History of Japan, Japanese Wikipedia, Kaii Yokai Densho Database, and Other Sources If you are walking through a mountain trail, and find...
View ArticleAizuwakamatsu no Yurei – The Yurei of Aizuwakamatsu
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara Long ago, in the town of Aizuwakamatsu (modern day Fukushima prefecture) lived a man named Iyo lived with his wife. One night the yurei of a woman appeared in...
View ArticleYuigon Yurei – The Last Request Yurei
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Ehon Hyaku Monogatari, Japanese Wikipedia, and Other Sources It is said that people who die with some lingering issue—those who didn’t properly...
View ArticleGoze no Yurei – The Yurei of the Blind Female Musician
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara and Other Sources This story takes place during the Kyoho era (1716-1736). A samurai named Hotsumi Kanji,a minor prefect in Kitakuni province, was...
View ArticleManekute no Yurei – The Inviting Ghost Hand
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara and Other Sources Late at night, when you have to get up to go to the bathroom, a mysterious hand beckons you from a wall. That’s strange enough,...
View Article10 Famous Japanese Ghost Stories
Japan is one of the most haunted places on Earth. In Japanese folk belief, Japan as an island is infused with supernatural powers–The very soil of the land is charged with potential, magical energy....
View ArticleTajima no Sorei – The Poltergeist of Tajima
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Taihei Hyakumonogatari, Japanese Wikipedia, and Other Sources This is a tale of the Edo period, from Tajima province (modern day Hyogo...
View ArticleKonnyaku no Yurei – The Konnyaku Ghost of Tenri
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Legends of Tenri, and Other Sources This peculiar story comes from Tenri city, in Nara prefecture. In the span separating Kabata ward from Inaba...
View Article