sileō

The yōkai encyclopedia; Kanibozu Medium: ink pens and watercolor.

A gigantic crab as big as two tatami mats secretly lived disguised as a priest in a temple in Kai domain, present Yamanashi Prefecture. People were in fear of the monster because it ate visiting priests one after another when they came to the temple. One day a nomad priest arrived, drained the water of the pond in the back of the temple and found the crab priest and lots of bones. In the end, the nomad priest defeated the crab.

The yōkai encyclopedia; Jami Medium: ink pens and watercolor.

Jami is a general term for evil spirits. They are a subset of of chimi, or mountain spirit, though they are much more renowned for their nastiness. The term is not a clearly defined one, but in general they are manifestations of the ill will of the mountains and forests, awoken in order to do harm to humans. They are capable of possessing and inhabiting human bodies, infecting sickness and disease upon their human hosts.

The yōkai encyclopedia; Oogumo Medium: ink pens and watercolor.

In the area of ​​Shinano, once lived a mother and son. The latter used to wake up at night screaming "The spider is coming!". The mother, after trying in various ways to alleviate her son's sorrow, finally saw the spider, but it managed to imprison her in its cobwebs. She was rescued by the neighbors before the "big spider" could eat all her life force.

The yōkai encyclopedia; Kashabo Medium: ink pens and watercolor.

In the Kyushu region the kappa is called in many different ways; the kind that appears in the mountains in winter is called Kashabo. It looks like a child about six or seven years old with a big head, dressed in blue. He seems to have a rather fun personality. When the Kashabo visit a villge, they throw stones on the outer walls of the houses. It seems that they leave footprints similar to those of a bird.

The yōkai encyclopedia; Inosasao Medium: ink pens and watercolor.

In the Nara region a hunter was caught by surprise in a forest by a wild boar with the back covered in leaves. A few days later a samurai went to a bathhouse and paid the innkeeper very much to not be disturbed. Out of curiosity, the innkeeper spied the guest and discovered it to be the wild boar, who introduced himself as the ghost of Inosasao, the king of the boars of the bamboo forests.

The yōkai encyclopedia; Kawabotaru Medium: ink pens and watercolor.

Kawabotaru are strange cold fires that appear during the night in the pond of Inba, in the Chiba region. They are visible to only one person at a time, even if there are people around. The name means "fireflies of the river" and according to many they are generated by tanuki or by weasels. It seems that they never appeared close to masons or dealers of stone.

The yōkai encyclopedia; Hakuzosu Medium: ink pens and watercolor.

On Mount Yume lived a fox that gave birth to many cubs, which were however killed by the hunter Yasaku. Near the mountain, lived the monk Hakuzosu, Yasaku’s uncle. The fox then took on the guise of Hakuzosu to convince Yasaku to leave her young alone. One day, since Yasaku was about to meet his real uncle, she was forced to devour the monk and chased the hunter away for good. She stayed at the temple for fifty years disguised as a priest. Because of that the term Hakuzosu came to mean “fox priest”, even though as of now it’s used to refer to priests... that act like foxes.

The yōkai encyclopedia; Akateko Medium: ink pens and watercolor.

An akateko (赤手児, lit. "red handed child") is a yōkai from the folklore of Aomori prefecture, specifically in the city of Hachinohe. The monster is also a legend local to Kagawa and Fukushima prefectures.The monster is described as the red hand of a small child descending from a tree. It is accompanied by the spectre of a young woman at the base of the tree whose beauty lulls unsuspecting passerby into a trance or fever state.

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