membahas tentang bahasa jepang dan juga budaya jepang / talk about japan and japanese culture


Apr 11, 2022

8 types of yokai in Japan

 

Yamata no Orochi from the Nihon-ryakushi - Susanoo by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Yokai are a wide category of monsters, ghosts and other supernatural beings of Japanese myth. They are as diverse as Japan's historical imagination and could be fearsome or tame, powerful or weak, villainous or good.


Most well known yokai are stock characters who show up in countless old myths. In many cases, they are described in contradictory terms from one myth to another without much consistency. Some yokai are based on very old stories that have been recounted in every village in a slightly different way for hundreds of years. Others were invented in the Edo-era by ukiyo-e artists and writers of fiction, noh theatre or kabuki plays.


The following are a few prominent examples of yokai.

 

1. Obake


Obake is a general term for any creature that can shapeshift into human form. Japanese mythology typically shows much respect for the intelligence of animals and they are often portrayed as having supernatural powers including the ability to shapeshift. The purpose in shapeshifting is inevitably to play some trick on humans. Animals that were historically thought to shapeshift include foxes, raccoon dogs, badgers and cats. Kami, demons and plants were also thought to shapeshift. In many Obake stories, a demon shapeshifts to a beautiful woman.

 

2. Yurei


Yurei is a wide category of Yokai that are essentially ghosts although in most cases they are technically kami. They are spirits who are kept from a peaceful afterlife due to revenge, love, jealousy, hatred or sorrow. Historically, Yurei were taken very seriously as it was believed that they could cause disasters, famine and tragedy. In some cases, vast amounts of money were spent to build temples and shrines to appease angry ghosts. Where yokai stories are often half comical, yurei stories tend to be more intense. They are usually sad, terrifying or both.

 

3. Rokurokubi


Rokurokubi are much like regular humans during the day but at night their necks become very long or their heads pop off their bodies and float around.

 

4. Tengu


Tengu are Japanese bird monsters that often take on human form. As humans, they have huge noses. In the old days, they were feared as terrible creatures that corrupted people. In modern times, Tengu are increasingly viewed as complex characters with a good side. They are fierce protectors of sacred Japanese forests and mountains. As such, they are sometimes venerated at Japanese temples or shrines and may perform rituals at matsuri.

 

5. Kappa


Kappa are river monsters that may have originally been based on Japanese giant salamanders. They are depicted in myth as drowning people and causing terrible problems. However, they also have some good qualities. They can speak Japanese and are thought to always keep their word. Kappa also enjoy a good sumo wrestling match. The myth of Kappa served a practical purpose as preventing children from drowning in rivers. Parents would tell their kids that if they swim in the river alone, a kappa will get them. On family picnics by the river, people would throw cucumbers into the river as this was said to satisfy the kappa. Many dangerous sections of Japanese rivers are still marked with kappa warning signs today.

 

6. Kintaro


Kintaro, literally "golden boy", is amongst Japan's most famous traditional heroes. He is a child of superhuman strength who is raised in the wilds and is able to communicate with animals who are his partners on his adventures. There are countless variations of the Kintaro myth with some saying he was raised by a Yamauba and others claiming he was raised by a princess.

 

7. Yamauba


Yamauba are a category of character in Japanese myth described as monstrous old women with an unkept appearance who live deep in the mountains. They are occasionally ascribed hideous features such as a mouth on top of their head. They typically pretend to be kindly old women in order to trick people and do terrible things. Yamauba are portrayed as having a ghost-like existence.

 

8. Tsukumogami


Tsukumogami are formerly inanimate objects who become animate and self-aware on their 100th birthday. It is traditionally said that any regular household items such as umbrellas, sandals, futon beds, kitchen utensils become tsukumogami if they survive to 100 years of age. Tsukumogami are thought to have a ghost-like existence and can shapeshift into human form

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