Yokai Essay

     

I could ask you if you've ever heard of a Kappa (河童), and maybe you'd say yes, and if you said yes, you'd probably “Yeah, it's a turtle monster from Japan.”. That may be true, but not a lot of people know what this “turtle monster” is, and that is is part a massive group of other spirits in Japanese culture called Yokai (妖怪). There are way to many of these creatures to list, and we're not gonna even try to list them, because we would just fail and probably end up looking stupid.

But what is a Yokai exactly? Well it varies. Some are ghosts, some are simply animals with supernatural powers, and some reach extremes of the weird that are just too hard to explain. Such as the Kasa-obake (傘おばけ ), a hoping umbrella with arms and one eye! They take on many strange forms, some stranger than the last we described.

Yokai are also often very malevolent or mischievous, or occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them and are very friendly. Sometimes they'll even befriend people. But others killed and hurt people just for the fun of it. A good example of an evil or mean Yokai is the Oni (鬼 ), a large ogre-type creature with horns, red skin, and wields a massive club. An example of a benevolent is the Abura-Sumashi (, who doesn't have any evil intentions, or really good ones either, but still is a nice Yokai.

Most Yokai have supernatural powers as well, such as shape-shifting, voice mimicking, or flying without wings. Many Yokai are Yokai because of their powers such as the Tanuki (狸), a sentient Raccoon dog with a fondness for alcohol. Many of Yokai are just animals, but powers, and have sentience. But other are spirit with incredibly powerful supernatural abilities.

Magic Japanese creatures that live in forests and villages among people. Legends of Yokai go way back, and are incredibly interesting. These creatures may have never existed, but with all the stories, and the legends, and the myths, they are very much alive, and who knows, maybe your favorite umbrella will get up and leave tonight.