Excuse my hijacking, I just need a moment to talk about how amazingly on point these are.
zashiki warashi: secretly lives in people’s houses, plays tricks on them but brings them prosperity; when the owners start to take the zashiki warashi for granted, it leaves, taking fortune with it.
Zashiki warashi are considered guardian spirits of the house, and gods of luck. It is said that a house with a Zashiki warashi will prosper and grow rich, and a house that drives away such a spirit will fall into decline and ruin. (source)
karasu tengu: bird spirit who punishes the arrogant and willful, usually by showing them what’s what
The patron of martial arts, the bird-like Tengu is a skilled warrior and mischief maker, especially prone to playing tricks on arrogant and vainglorious Buddhist priests, and to punishing those who willfully misuse knowledge and authority to gain fame or position. In bygone days, they also inflicted their punishments on vain and arrogant samurai warriors. They dislike braggarts, and those who corrupt the Dharma. (source)
kitsune: beguiling shapeshifter skilled at imitating other people’s likeness
Kitsune are extremely intelligent and very powerful shape-shifters. They frequently harass humans […] sometimes just for pranks, and sometimes for other nefarious purposes. They are skilled enough to even transform into exact likenesses of individual people, often appearing in the guise of beautiful human women in order to play tricks on young men. (source)
kappa: usually solitary, prideful water spirit (if you ignore the darker legends wtf Japan); loves shogi
Kappa are proud and stubborn, but also fiercely honorable; they never break any promises that they make. Kappa possess keen intelligence and they are one of the few yokai able to learn human languages. They are also highly knowledgeable about medicine and the art of setting bones; according to legend, these skills were first taught to humans by friendly kappa. (source)
oni: generally ill-mannered ogre, extremely threatening and powerful
This image leads to the expression “oni with an iron club” (鬼に金棒 oni-ni-kanabō?), that is, to be invincible or undefeatable. It can also be used in the sense of “strong beyond strong”, or having one’s natural quality enhanced or supplemented by the use of some tool. In addition to this, it can mean to go overboard, or be unnecessarily strong or powerful. (source)
nurikabe: literally a rock that stands around and refuses to let you pass by extending its size indefinitely. if you hit its bottom left side, it’ll disappear, though
As a traveler is walking, right before his or her eyes, an enormous, invisible wall materializes and blocks the way. There is no way to slip around this yokai; it extends itself as far as to the left and right as one might try to go. There is no way over it either, nor can it be knocked down. (source)
nurarihyon: old af luxury-loving yokai who acts like he owns everything, will come into your house and take over until you forget you ever owned it
He is known as “the Supreme Commander of All Monsters,” and every yokai listens to his words and pays him respect […] Nurarihyon shows up on evenings when a household is extremely busy. He arrives at homes unexpectedly in his splendid palanquin and slips into the house, unnoticed by anyone. He helps himself to the family’s tea, tobacco, and other luxuries, acting in all respects as if he were the master of the house. His power is so great that even the real owners of the house, when they finally notice his presence, can do nothing to stop him. In fact, while he is there, the owners actually believe the nurarihyon to be the rightful master of the house. (source)
