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are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. Yōkai are a vast range of beings, including shapeshifters, ghosts, demons, and tricksters. They can be mischievous, helpful, or malevolent, often appearing as animal-like figures, possessed objects, or humanoids. They embody the mysterious and uncanny aspects of nature and human emotions.
are also referred to as ''ayakashi'', ''[[mononoke]]'' or ''mamono''. Some academics and [[Shinto]] practitioners acknowledge similarities within the seeming dichotomy between the natures of ''yōkai'' and most ''[[kami]]'', which are generally regarded as relatively beneficent in comparison, and class the two as ultimately the same type of spirits of nature or of a mythological realm.Their behavior can range from malevolent or mischievous to benevolent to humans.
often have animal-like features (such as the , depicted as appearing similar to a turtle, and the , commonly depicted with wings), but may also appear humanoid in appearance, such as the (口裂け女). Some resemble inanimate objects (such as the ), while others have no discernible shape. are typically described as having spiritual or supernatural abilities, with [[shapeshifting]] being the most common trait associated with them. that shapeshift are known as bakemono or [[obake]].
Japanese folkloristics and historians explain as personifications of "supernatural or unaccountable phenomena to their informants". In the Edo period (1603 to 1868), many artists, such as Toriyama Sekien (1712-1788), invented new by taking inspiration from folktales or purely from their own imagination. Today, several such (such as the ) are mistakenly thought to originate in more traditional folklore.
The kanji representation of the word comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply the Japanese transliteration or pronunciation of the Chinese term yaoguai (which designates similarly strange creatures), some Japanese commentators argue that the word yōkai has taken on many different meanings in Japanese culture, including referring to a large number of uniquely Japanese creatures.
One's ancestors and particularly respected departed elders could also be deemed to be , accruing status as protective spirits who brought fortune to those who worshiped them. Animals, objects and natural features or phenomena were also venerated as or propitiated as depending on the area.
Rituals for converting into were performed, aiming to quell malevolent spirits, prevent misfortune and alleviate the fear arising from phenomena and events that otherwise had no explanation. The ritual for converting into was known as the . rituals for that failed to achieve deification as benevolent spirits, whether through a lack of sufficient veneration or through losing worshippers and thus their divinity, became .
Over time, phenomena and events thought to be supernatural became fewer and fewer, with the depictions of in emakimono and paintings beginning to standardize, evolving more into caricatures than fearsome spiritual entities. Elements of the tales and legends surrounding began to be depicted in public entertainment, beginning as early as the Middle Ages in Japan. During and following the Edo period, the mythology and lore of became more defined and formalized.
In other folkloristics categorizations, are classified, similarly to the of Greek mythology, by their location or the phenomena associated with their manifestation. are indexed in the book as follows:
The ancient times were a period abundant in literature and folktales mentioning and explaining . Literature such as the , the , and various expositioned on legends from the ancient past, and mentions of , , among other kinds of mysterious phenomena can already be seen in them. In the Heian period, collections of stories about and other supernatural phenomena were published in multiple volumes, starting with publications such as the and the , and in these publications, mentions of phenomena such as can be seen.
The that appear in this literature were passed on to later generations. Despite the literature mentioning and explaining these , they were never given any visual depictions. In Buddhist paintings such as the Hell Scroll (Nara National Museum), which came from the later Heian period, there are visual expressions of the idea of , but actual visual depictions would only come later in the Middle Ages, from the Kamakura period and beyond.
Yamata no Orochi was originally a local god but turned into a who was slain by Susanoo. Yasaburo was originally a bandit whose vengeful spirit () turned into a poisonous snake upon death and plagued the water in a paddy, but eventually became deified as the "wisdom god of the well". and are sometimes treated as gods in one area and in other areas. From these examples, it can be seen that among Japanese gods, there are some beings that can go from god to and vice versa.
The next major change in came after the period of warring states, in the Edo period.
It was in this era that the technology of the printing press and publication was first started to be widely used, that a publishing culture developed, and was frequently a subject of and other publications.
As a result, shops that handled such books spread and became widely used, making the general public's impression of each fixed, spreading throughout Japan. For example, before the Edo period, there were plenty of interpretations about what the were that were classified as , but because of books and publishing, the notion of became anchored to what is now the modern notion of .
Also, including other kinds of publications, other than born from folk legend, there were also many invented that were created through puns or word plays; the by Toriyama Sekien is one example. When the became popular in the Edo period, it is thought that one reason for the appearance of new was a demand for entertaining ghost stories about no one has ever heard of before, resulting in some that were simply made up for the purpose of telling an entertaining story. The and the are known examples of these.
They are also frequently depicted in ukiyo-e, and there are artists that have drawn famous like Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Yoshitoshi, Kawanabe Kyōsai, and Hokusai, and there are also books made by artists of the Kanō school.
In this period, toys and games like and , frequently used as characters. Thus, with the development of a publishing culture, depictions that were treasured in temples and shrines were able to become something more familiar to people, and it is thought that this is the reason that even though were originally things to be feared, they have then become characters that people feel close to.
With the Meiji Restoration, Western ideas and translated western publications began to make an impact, and western tales were particularly sought after. Things like , , and were talked about, and were even depicted in classical . Although the were misunderstood as a kind of Japanese or , they actually became well known among the populace through a called by San'yūtei Enchō, which were adoptions of European tales such as the Grimm fairy tale "Godfather Death" and the Italian opera Crispino e la comare (1850). Also, in 1908, Kyōka Izumi and jointedly translated Gerhart Hauptmann's play The Sunken Bell. Later works of Kyōka such as were influenced by The Sunken Bell, and so it can be seen that folktales that come from the West became adapted into Japanese tales of .
In this way, are spoken about in legends in various forms, but traditional oral storytelling by the elders and the older people is rare, and regionally unique situations and background in oral storytelling are not easily conveyed. For example, the classical represented by can only be felt as something realistic by living close to nature, such as with (Japanese raccoon dogs), and . Furthermore, in the suburbs, and other regions, even when living in a primary-sector environment, there are tools that are no longer seen, such as the inkstone, the (a large cooking pot), or the (a bucket used for getting water from a well), and there exist that are reminiscent of old lifestyles such as the and the .
As a result, even for those born in the first decade of the Shōwa period (1925–1935), except for some who were evacuated to the countryside, they would feel that those things that become are "not familiar" and "not very understandable". For example, in classical , even though people understand the words and what they refer to, they are not able to imagine it as something that could be realistic. Thus, the modernization of society has had a negative effect on the place of in classical Japanese culture.
On the other hand, the introduced through mass media are not limited to only those that come from classical sources like folklore, and just as in the Edo period, new fictional continue to be invented, such as scary school stories and other like and , giving birth to new . From 1975 onwards, starting with the popularity of , these urban legends began to be referred to in mass media as "modern ". This terminology was also used in recent publications dealing with urban legends, and the researcher on , , used this especially frequently.
During the 1970s, many books were published that introduced through encyclopedias, illustrated reference books, and dictionaries as a part of children's horror books, but along with the that come from classics like folklore, , and essays, it has been pointed out by modern research that there are some mixed in that do not come from classics, but were newly created. Some well-known examples of these are the and the . For example, Arifumi Sato is known to be a creator of modern , and Shigeru Mizuki, a manga artist of , in writings concerning research about , pointed out that newly created do exist, and Mizuki himself, through , created about 30 new .
There has been much criticism that this mixing of classical with newly created is making light of tradition and legends. However, since there have already been those from the Edo period like Sekien Toriyama who created many new , there is also the opinion that it is unreasonable to criticize modern creations without doing the same for classical creations too. Furthermore, there is a favorable view that says that introducing various characters through these books nurtured creativity and emotional development of young readers of the time.
Some creatures appear as both Chinese yaoguai and Japanese yōkai, such as the scaly "water tiger" 水虎 (shuihu, ), the wilderness demons 魑魅魍魎 (, ), and the 九尾狐 (, ; also called 九尾の狐 () in Japanese).
Some yōkai, such as the nekomata (cat yōkai) and bake-danuki (raccoon yōkai), resemble Chinese yaoguai, which encompass any number of shapeshifting animals and plants who have learnt to cultivate human form and other supernatural arts. For example, the nekomata resembles the Chinese (仙狸, ; Japanese: ).
Yet others are uniquely Japanese, such as the kappa, ambivalent and occasionally cute, the haradashi, with its belly on its face, and the mumashika, a comical-looking yokai with a horse head and a deer body.
are often referred to as Japanese spirits or East Asian ghosts, like the legend or the story of the "Slit-mouthed girl", both of which hail from Japanese legend. The term can also be interpreted as something strange or unusual.
Lafcadio Hearn's collection of Japanese kwaidan entitled includes stories of yurei and yōkai such as Yuki-onna, and is one of the first Western publications of its kind.
Yōkai remain prevalent in modern works of fiction. Shigeru Mizuki, the manga creator of such series as GeGeGe no Kitaro and Kappa no Sanpei, keeps yōkai in the popular imagination. Other popular works focusing on yōkai include the Nurarihyon no Mago series, Yu Yu Hakusho, , Yo-kai Watch and the 1960s Yokai Monsters film series, which was loosely remade in 2005 as Takashi Miike's The Great Yokai War and more recently Yukinobu Tatsu's Dandadan and the video games Genshin Impact and Phasmophobia.
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