The strange world of Japanese vampires

Vampires are a staple of Halloween, but there aren’t many of them. You can turn them into sad Frenchmen, dress them in tight leather suits, or move them to New Zealand – but they’re still creatures that drink human blood, sunburn easily, can’t eat Italian food, and sometimes turn into bats . That’s basically it – at least in the West. In Japan, though, you get a bit more variety thanks to the presence of blood-sucking monsters, like this:

1. Suiko: Water Tiger Vampire

Live in and around areas such as lakes and rivers, water son (literally “water tiger”) got its name from the claw-like hooks that sprout from its knees. They support small imp-like bodies that are covered in impenetrable scales (in case anyone tries to attack them with stakes). Like Dracula, aquatics feed on human blood, which they obtain by drowning swimmers and sucking them dry like juice boxes. In the process, they will also consume the souls of their victims. The more souls they collect, the uglier their boss, the Dragon King, will become, who will bring various benefits, such as career promotions, etc.

Worst of all, giving up swimming doesn’t help: Suiko can easily survive on land. Given that Mizuko can also use hypnosis, become invisible, and survive sunlight, your chances of surviving a land tiger attack are probably better than a water tiger attack.

2. Nukekubi: Dissociated Vampire

Sometimes in movies, a vampire can be killed by chopping off its head. Sadly this doesn’t work nukkubi “Detachable head” vampire. The reason is in the name. During the day, the creatures are normal human women, unaware that they are under the Nukkubi curse, which at night causes their heads to separate from their bodies, fly away Entering the night and feeding on blood.

In most versions of the myth, the afflicted women have no memory of their nightly slayings, leading them to start families and essentially live in blissful ignorance. This is unfortunate because the curse is passed from mother to daughter. Legend in Ibaraki Prefecture claims that some Nukakubi can be cured by eating the livers of white dogs, but in most cases the only cure is to prevent the flying vampire heads from reattaching to the body before sunrise – so , basically, death.

3. Iso Girl: The vampire-haired woman on the beach

Native to the coast of Kyushu, the beautiful Isolated womanor “Coast Women,” are vampires who love to rob lunch of goodwill and blood. The Aesop girl who was wandering on the coastline, dripping wet, looked like a victim of a shipwreck at first glance, and people passing by rushed to help. Once they get close enough, Isoona paralyzes them with a piercing scream and drags them into the sea. There, they use their curlable hair to pierce their victims’ bodies and suck out their blood.

As there are many versions of the xenomythology, these alluring vampires also come in many forms. Some people’s voices have a hypnotic effect that makes men irresistible. In other cases, they are translucent and look a bit like Western cartoon ghosts from the waist down. Some other myths say that iso onna is actually monsterLarge enough to destroy ships with bare hands.

According to Kitakyushu’s story, Iso-me is actually a crab spirit and therefore cannot swim. You can avoid them at sea, as long as you don’t throw any ropes into the water, they will use them to climb onto the boat and use your blood to make shampoo.

4. Nobuma and Nodbo: Vampire Momonga

Not only are there two vampire flying squirrels in Japan, but they also help explain the invention of Pokémon, as both blood-squirrels display behavior that completely disregards the principles of evolution.

legend and kindness It is said that when a bat reaches an extremely old age, it transforms into the magical Japanese giant flying squirrel, a real but skittish herbivore that uses the skin between its limbs to glide between trees. Shinuma can do the same thing, but when they spot a person, they slide up to the person’s face and grab it like the Facehuggers in Facehugger. alien and begins sucking out the victim’s blood. they are ok eat Fire, plus the fact that it’s small and cute, Xinma is a bit like a reverse dragon.

Nordpo They are very similar to nobusuma except for two key differences. They evolved from raccoon dogWhile it still pisses Darwin off, it’s not as big a deal as going from bat to squirrel. Additionally, they shoot bats out of their mouths. The sentence doesn’t make much sense, but there’s no other way to put it. These vampires shoot bats. Come out of their mouths. Like a gun. If only there was a gun that shot bats instead of bullets. Therefore, their name is translated as “wild gun”.

5. Vampire Tree

Legend has it that the cherry blossoms bloom pink because the blood of the corpses buried beneath them nourishes them. This is of course nonsense. When a tree sucks blood through its roots, it does not turn into a beautiful cherry; it does not turn into a beautiful cherry. it became ten blessings (“Tree Child”), a vampire tree. Obviously.

Appearing mainly on bloody battlefields – and Japan has had no shortage of such battlefields for centuries – these once common trees gradually became bloodthirsty and turned into heavy trees. These bloodthirsty trees don’t just wait for someone to die easily within the confines of their root systems – oh no. Instead, the behemoths use their branches, which suddenly resemble human limbs, to grab passers-by, pierce their bodies, and suck out their blood through the hollow, tube-like branches. The bled corpse will then slowly rot under the tree, joining the pile of skeletons already there, it’s not the victim’s responsibility or any other reason, the nearest tree snack should be found and as far away from them as possible. That’s why they put cross bones on poison bottles – the bones are a universal sign for “Keep Out”.

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