Artwork by Mr. Luis Mendoza IG Account: @leetoonz Ippon-Datara is a shy yokai with one trunk-like leg, single eye, hops and goes tumbling around the deep mountains of Japan where it inhabits. A very special thanks to Mr. Luis Mendoza for sending us this amazing yokai art!
When a woman dies giving birth to her child she becomes a yokai called the Ubume. The Ubume are usually harmless. They wander near rivers while it’s raining in their white dress soaked in blood caused by the birthing. Sometimes they are seen pregnant, sometimes carrying a living baby or a dead one. The Ubume… Continue reading Ubume
Hyakume is impossible to tell apart from the Nuppeppo. They both look like giant fleshy fat blobs. However, the Hyakume is covered with hundreds of blinking eyes. Underneath those fat blobs are human-like bodies. The Hyakume commonly lives on graveyards and can be seen at night. They guard the graveyard from thieves. Their eyes can… Continue reading Hyakume
Hitodama appears like colored glowing fire orbs, sometimes blueish, sometimes greenish or sometimes reddish, sometimes yellowish, with long glowing tails and is believed to be the souls of persons recently deceased. They can be seen on houses where people recently died, funeral homes and graveyards. They are visible to the human eyes and they are harmless.… Continue reading Hitodama
Hainu are dogs that possesses a massive pair of wings. According to the legends, there are two types of Hainu. The evil one and the good one. The evil ones are vicious, swift and are violent and dangerous to the humans while the good ones are tamed, benevolent and exists to protect humans specially the… Continue reading Hainu
This mysterious creature inhabits deep in the sea. They are divine and only surfaces when they foretell events, to deliver warnings for pandemics, terrible disasters, etc. They appear to be young women with scales, sometimes they have scaly torso of a dragon and the rest of the half of their body is inside a massive… Continue reading Umidebito
Literally means eight span crow. Yatagarasu is a holy creature serving a deity, Amaterasu Oomikami and is a three legged crow that inhabits the sun. The legends says that the yokai Yatagarasu was sent down by the goddess Amatersu from the heaven to guide Emperor Jimmu to conquer his quest. It was also said that… Continue reading Yatagarasu
Ippondatara is a shy yokai that has one leg, one foot, creepy arms and one eye at the center of its face. Tumbling and hopping around the deep mountains where it inhabits. Although this yokai is mostly harmless, it was said that once per year, on the 20th day of December, Ippondatara kills using its… Continue reading Ippon-Datara
This yokai literally means disembodied red hand of a child. Although this yokai is not known for causing any harm, they like to scare people underneath their habitat which is the Japanese Locust tree. They hang from the tree and drops down to scare people. Sometimes people sees a girl underneath the Aketeko’s tree wearing… Continue reading Akateko
Literally means “painted wall”. Nurikabe is an invisible wall. Nurikabe’s real appearance is unknown, but as time went by, artist has a way to illustrate this yokai. When you bump into something invisible, you might be encountering the Nurikabe. When you try to go left the wall extends to the left. When you go right,… Continue reading Nurikabe
