Japan has many scary creature Myths and legends. Some even survive centuries and are reborn as A new symbol of fear and terror For modern times. This article is about their antithesis: the Japanese “monsters” who appear out of nowhere in the proverbial night and leave it at that, content to merely give us humans the occasional scare. But there’s no reason to be afraid of them, as these silly supernatural ghosts will never harm a fly. So if you encounter any of these, remember this and stay calm.
1. Shirime: The “moon-faced” prankster
Sherry A subcategory, distant cousin, or evolutionary offshoot of the humanoid Nopperabo spirits, the Nopperabo spirits have terrorized the Japanese for centuries with their featureless, blank faces. Shirime is also a potential poker prodigy, but his supernatural nature gives him another way of perceiving the world: an eye in the middle of his butt where the anus should be. Hence, it has a name that literally means “butt eyes”.
In fact, we don’t entirely know if the eye was functional, but what we do know is that it was bright, apparently emitting as much light as a modern flashlight. Luckily, Shirime only seems interested in playing pranks, jumping in to give them the worst stink eye. But there’s no denying it’s hard not to be scared, because even before it blinks at you from the worst possible angles, it looks like a normal person running around naked, or suddenly taking off their clothes in front of you. This is the price of two fears.
2. Mamedanuki: A shapeshifter with many balls
The “Bean Civet” is a very technical version of the ancient myth about the magical raccoon dog, for which the magical raccoon dog is famous. Shapeshifting prankster. The same goes for mamedanuki, except it’s also very dedicated to its brand. Unfortunately, its brand is balls. The reason tanukis are often depicted in Japanese art as having huge scrotums is a bit complicatedunlike Mamedanuki, who lives by a simple rule: “I have a magic bag, so I’m going to use it.”
So when Doudou wants to transform into a human, instead of snapping his animal fingers and suddenly turning into a puff of smoke, he stretches out his scrotum and covers himself with it, magically shaping his face into that. human. The most famous story about Mamedanuki involves a 17th-century poet named Rozan who met a stranger on a trip and was invited to spend the night at their home. When he accidentally dropped the cigarette ashes on the floor, the floor and walls suddenly creaked and disappeared. It turns out that this kind stranger is Beanie Man, and his “house” is actually his carefully carved rubber nut bag. While he was physically unharmed, we can assume Rozan never felt clean again for the rest of his life.
3. Iyaya: Lessons on not chatting up strangers
Many women living in Japan end up having to deal with Nampa, Complete strangers on the street ask for dates. This has apparently been an issue for a long time, given the existence of the legend of Iyaya, whose name comes from a Japanese exclamation of disgust and reluctance, roughly translated as “no, no” or “I don’t want it.” Only Aiyaya did the men scream.
Legend has it that when viewed from the back, Iyaya looks like a beautiful woman wearing a delicate and elegant kimono. But when you approach her at night, she turns around and reveals a wrinkled, ugly face, like an old plum on the sole of a shoe. As the man screams and runs away, the ghost cackles before moving on to find its next victim. This may sound a little mean (literally and figuratively), but in most Japanese mythology, the ghost world apparently operates by the rules of the opposite day. So, Iyaya is probably considered a great beauty among her monster peers, and her self-esteem must be very high.
4. Tang Li Xiaosan: Soaked Ghost Umbrella
There is a belief in traditional Japanese culture that, given enough time, inanimate objects can acquire their own personalities and even souls. One such example is the Karakasa Kozo, which according to legend is a paper umbrella that came to life through years of use or neglect. This spirit is often described as hopping around on two legs, has only one eye, and can also be identified by another appendage: its extremely long tongue.
Perhaps because umbrellas spent so many years protecting us from the rain, Kozo Karasa’s main goal in life is to flip objects and get people wet… by crawling on them and licking them. The licking doesn’t paralyze the person or have any supernatural effects, other than making them super uncomfortable and unable to look the umbrella spirit in the eyes the next day. Thankfully, the eye isn’t between the soul’s butts.
5. Yanari: Worst roommate ever
Japanese them (Devil, demon, ogre) is not always as scary as the English translation of its name suggests. In some parts of Japan, they are revered as gods. However, in other countries, people hate it when they run around your house at night and make noise with the sole purpose of keeping you from sleeping. Yanari is the name of these ghosts and they don’t even feed on your unspent dream energy or anything complicated like that. They’re just little bastards. semi-literally. Their origin is unknown, but they are small; about the size of a rat.
This myth is most likely an attempt to explain the various noises associated with new or cheaply built log homes, which do make a certain amount of noise as the building settles. The Japanese choose to believe that your house hides a society of little nocturnal monsters, and they craft elaborate tales of these ghosts, who, to their credit, are often described as being very diligent and hard-working in trying to take you away of sleep. Because in Japan, it doesn’t matter what you do. What matters is that you do it right.