Mountain Man
A Japanese demon who lives in the forests.
Woodcutters describe him as very strong and
resembling a hairy ape. To pacify him they offer him
rice.
Mountain Woman
A Japanese demoness who lives in the
forests. She
flies like an insect but she is bigger and stronger than
a man. It is believed that she can pick up an unwary
traveler and devour him.
Musubi-no-Kami
The Japanese god of love and marriage.
To girls he
appears in the shape of a handsome young man,
leaping suddenly forward from Kanzakura, the
sacred cherry tree in which he lives. He will offer her
a bough of cherry blossom, promising love in the
future. An old shrine of his can be found in Kagami
in the province of Mimasaka.
Ninyo
A kind of mermaid in Japanese folklore.
Oni
Japanese demons who look like humans
except that
they have three eyes, big mouths, horns and sharp
nails. They fly around and seize the souls of wicked
persons on their deathbeds. To expel these demons,
annually the oni-yarabi ceremony is held. Once the
sage Nichiren ("sun-lotus") saw the oni at work in
the scourges of his time: enemy invasions,
earthquakes and eclipses. He attributed the evil to
the sinfulness of his Japanese contemporaries, so he
founded a special school of Buddhism to reform the
people.
Otohime (Toyo-Tama)
"Luminous Jewel". A Japanese
goddess, the
beautiful daughter of the sea-king Ryujin. She
married Hoori and gave birth to a son after which
she turned into a dragon (her father's original shape).
Raicho
The Japanese Thunder-Bird. It looks
like a rook,
but can make a terrible noise. The creature lives in a
pine tree.
Raiden (Kaminari Sama)
The Japanese god of thunder (rai) and
lightning
(den). He prevented the Mongols from invading
Japan in 1274. Sitting on a cloud he sent forth a
shower of lighting arrows upon the invading fleet.
Only three men escaped. Raiden is portrayed as a
red demon with sharp claws, carrying a large drum.
He is fond of eating human navels. The only
protection against him is to hide under a mosquito
net.
Raiju
A Japanese demon whose name means "thunder
animal". It is a demon of lightning in the shape of a
cat, badger or weasel. During thunderstorms it
becomes extremely agitated and leaps from tree to
tree. If a tree shows the marks of lightning, people
say that Raiju's claws have scratched it open. The
demon likes hiding in human navels, so, if afraid, a
person should sleep on his or her belly during
thunderstorms.
Ryo-Wo
The Japanese god of the sea, called
'the Dragon
King'.
Samebito
A black monster with green glowing
eyes and a
spike beard from Japanese mythology. On the Long
Bridge the monster encountered the hero Totaro,
but instead of attacking him, the monster entreated
him to give it food and shelter. It turned out that the
sea-king had expelled it from the ocean.
Totaro took the monster with him and
gave it a lake
near his own palace where he fed it. Some time
later, Totaro fell in love with the beautiful Tamana
and intended to marry her. Tamana's father
however, had set the bride price at 10,000 precious
stones. Unable to come up with such an immense
fortune, Totaro went home and lay ill until he was
dying. When Samebito learned of what happened to
its benefactor, it shed tears of sadness until the
monster discovered that its tears had turned into
pearls, rubies and emeralds. With these precious
stones Totaro was able to pay the bride price and
marry the lovely Tamana.
Shi-Ryo
In Japanese myth, a ghost, a dead man
visiting the
living at night.
Shiko-Me
In Japanese mythology, the Shiko-Me
are female
devils.
Shojo
A kindly creature from Japanese mythology
that
lives on the bottom of the sea. The shojos have red
hair and a pink or red skin and are naked but for a
skirt of green seaweed. They brew a medicinal white
wine called shiroi sake and other medicines. If a
good persons drinks the sake, it will taste delicious.
If a wicked person drink it, the sake will taste like
poison and kill him, unless he repents at once
Tenshi
Japanese angels. They are not only
the messengers
of the gods, but also work for the benefit of people.
They prevented the kobo (priest) Daishi from
sacrificing his life by throwing himself from a high
rock, telling him that a lifetime of teaching the lore of
Buddha is better than propitiation.
Tsuyu
A girl from Japanese legend who fell
in love with a
young samurai. He could not marry her immediately
and was later told that she had died. Tsuyu ("Dew")
waited for him but the samurai, believing the girl
dead, forgot all about her and she died of grief. Her
ghost returned and haunted the samurai's house until
she finally joined him in bed. The next morning he
was found, dead, in tight embrace with a skeleton.
Uga-Jin
The Japanese serpent-god of the waters,
and god of
the fertility of the earth.
Uwibami
A monstrous giant serpent from Japanese
mythology
which can fly in the sky, swoop down and swallow a
man on horseback, whole. The hero
Yegara-no-Heida managed to kill it
Uzume (Ama-no-Uzume)
The Japanese Shinto goddess of joy
and happiness,
called the Daughter of Heaven and Heaven's
Forthright Female. Her name means "whirling". She
is also the goddess of good health, which people
obtain from drinking the blessed water of her
stream. When the sun goddess Amaterasu had
hidden herself in a cave, thus covering the earth in
darkness and infertility, it was Uzume who brought
her back. With her provoking and curlew dances
she managed to make the gods laugh so hard, that
Amaterasu left the cave intrigued. Her emerging
brought light and life back to earth. Her brother
Ninigi married Uzume to the deity who guards the
Floating Bridge to Heaven.
The dances of Uzume (Ama-no-uzume)
are found in
folk rites, such as the one to wake the dead, the
Kagura (dance-mime), and another one which
symbolizes the planting of seeds.
Yama-no-kami
The Japanese goddess of the hunt, forest,
agriculture, and vegetation.
Yasha
A vampire-bat from Japanese mythology.
It is
believed that it is the spirit of a woman whose anger
lowered her status in rebirth.
Yofune-Nushi
A sea-serpent from Japanese mythology.
It lived in
cave under the rocks of the Oki Island's cost. Every
year on the night of June 13, the serpent had to be
offered a fair maiden. If this was refused, the
creature would cause storms and destroy the fishing
fleet. One year, a young girl, called Tokoyo,
volunteered to go as the serpent's next victim. When
the monster approached her, ready to devour her,
she pulled a knife and slashed at its eyes, blinding it.
When the serpent reared back in pain and
confusion, Tokoyo slew it.
Yosei
Japanese fairies. They are most often
seen as birds,
cranes or swans.
Yuki-Onna
The Lady of the Snow, the Snow Queen
or Winter
Ghost in Japanese mythology. Sometimes she
appears as an earthly woman, marries and has
children, but sometimes she will disappear in a white
mist.
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