About a year ago, I did a piece on creepy creatures from around Britain. I said at the time that I wanted to take time to visit other parts of the world and I meant it. Well, it's time to take another journey into the dark places of the globe. Here are the best and creepiest from Japan. Enjoy.
Hoichi
Hoichi was a blind priest who was tricked into playing music before the ghost of an infant emperor and his host. When the other priests in Hoichi's temple learned what was happening they had Hoichi's body covered with sacred texts so he would be invisible to spirits. Unfortunately, the priests failed to cover Hoichi's ears. When the dead emperor's servant came to get Hoichi, he saw only the ears, which he ripped off to give to his master. After that Hoichi was known as Mimi-nashi-Hoichi, "Hoichi who has no ears."
Jikinink
The Jikininki is a man eating goblin from Japan. One legend says that he was originally a gold loving priest who was forced to eat the bodies of the dead after he himself died. In that legend his soul was released when another priest realized Jikininki's plight.
Jikininki is also the point at which my computer froze up while my spell checker had a heart attack and died.
Kappa
The Kappa is a Japanese vampire, who looks like a turtle and sneaks up on people while they swim, sucking their blood without their knowledge, dragging them under before they know they are in danger.
The Kappa will also sometimes challenge people to duels. While he is a fierce warrior, he does have a downfall. There is a fluid in a sort of bowl on the top of his head. If you bow to him before combat, he will bow back, spilling the fluid and ruining his strength.
Kimi
After a really confusing story where dad told so and so to marry so and so who was already married to so and so, Kimi got distraught and stabbed herself in the throat. Her true love, the artist Sawara saw her stab herself and, looking at her corpse, decided he'd never seen anything so beautiful, so he painted a picture. It was very lovely but Kimi's ghost climbed out of the thing every night and made a pest of itself, eventually the painting was given to a temple where it was prayed over till the spirit went away.
Maiden of the Grave
In this legend a maiden promises to marry whoever passes her test. After leaving many suitors pale and shaking a young man comes to her and offers to try her test. She leads him to a grave, digs up the body of a young boy and begins eating. The suitor's challenge is to eat what she eats. When he takes a bite, he discovers the child is made of cake. The maiden is happy she finally met someone brave and they marry.
Why I never meet chicks like this, I'll never know.
Midzu-ame
Midzu-ame is a malt based syrup given to Japanese children in place of mother's milk. One legend tells of a ghost woman who would buy Midzu-ame every night before returning to her crypt. When the crypt was opened, it was found to have a live child inside, born to the ghost woman who had died in childbirth and was buried with a live child still inside her.
This is so freaky! Someone write a story about this!
Raiju
Raiju is a monkey headed, cat sized monster with mirror eyes. He is said to have fallen out of a thundercloud one day. He is gentle during calm weather but flies into furies where there are storms about.
Sai-no-Kawara
This literally means, "The Dry Bed of the River of Souls." This is the place in Japanese tradition where the souls of children go if they die while still young. The place is rather bleak with dry hills and a dry riverbed as the only real ornaments. The children are happy though. They live under the protective care of Jizo, the god of children and spend their time building towers out of the small stones in the riverbed. The grieving parents build similar towers and it is considered that prayers pass back and forth this way.
Shutendoji
Shutendoji was the king of the Goblins living on Mount Oye in Japan. He and his followers stole children from the city of Kyoto. He was beheaded in his sleep and fire poured out of his nose burning his slayer.
The Mountain Spider
The mountain spider was one of enemies overcome by the Japanese hero Raiko. It appeared to Raiko as a beautiful woman but tried to ensnare him with cobwebs while he was overcome by her beauty. When he fought back, she vanished into the floor but was mortally injured. Raiko and his aide behead her and dragged her corpse into the light where they found nineteen hundred and ninety skulls, spiders as large as children and many human corpses in her gut.
Yomi, Land of
Hell in Japanese mythology. This in one of those cases where the translation isn't quite right. It doesn't really mean hell like Europeans think of it. This is a dark realm present from very early in creation. It's inhabited by creatures like, The Eight Varieties of Thunder God and The Eight Ugly Females. Aunts of mine, I assume.
Yuki-Onna
Called "The Lady of The Snow," Yuki-Onna is a winter spirit of Japanese tradition. She kills with her frosty breath. Anyone who dies of the cold may become a snow spirit associated with Yuki-Onna. She is not pretty. She is often envisioned as death itself. By tradition, she appears only when it is snowing.
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