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In Japanese mythology, there are many unusual demons, ghosts and various scary monsters.
Such creatures are divided into two types: ghosts (yurei) and other supernatural beings (yokai).
Their appearance and purpose may be unusual and obscure for the inhabitants of Europe.
Below you can find a list of the ten most creepy and unusual monsters from Japanese folklore.
10 Gashadoku
Gashadokuro is a huge skeleton created from the bones of people who died of starvation. He is 15 times taller than a human.
It is believed that these creatures are invisible and invincible. They hunt people at night, grab them with bony hands, completely suck out the blood of the victims and tear off their heads.
To detect such a monster before it appears, you need to listen to the sounds in your ears. If a person hears a bell ringing, it means that gashadokuro will appear soon.
To protect yourself from such a monster, you can use special amulets.
9. Ubume
Ubume is a creature that appears in the form of a pregnant woman, naked to the waist. Below the waist, her clothes are stained with blood. She holds a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes in her arms.
Ubume walks the streets and persuades people she comes across to take the baby in her arms. When someone agrees and takes the child from the woman, she immediately disappears somewhere.
Then the baby begins to rapidly grow heavier until it becomes a rock or a heavy boulder.
It is believed that women who die during childbirth turn into ubume. To prevent the transformation, you need to remove the dead child from the womb and bury the doll with the woman. She will replace the unborn baby.
8. Jeregumo
Jeregumo is a seductive, very attractive woman who has the limbs of a scary spider. She lures men to secluded places and plays a musical instrument called a biwa.
Beautiful music always quickly fascinated any listener, and the monster immobilized him with the help of a web and ate him. He can summon and control other spiders.
While hunting, Jeregumo uses poison. With his help, he makes the victim weaker in order to watch her torment longer.
7. Bake-kujira
This monster looks like a whale skeleton. It is believed to appear near Shimane Prefecture, off the Japanese coast. The monster is accompanied by various sinister fish and birds of unknown species. Bake-kujira embodies the hatred of animals for people who love to hunt.
The ghost whale most often appeared near the coastal villages where whale hunters lived. This usually happened on rainy nights.
Whales used to be hunted very often in poor Japanese villages. The fat and meat of these marine inhabitants brought great wealth to people.
However, you have to pay for everything: “ghost whales” are hungry for revenge. They bring fire, plague and famine.
6. Casa obake
Kasa-obake looks like a one-eyed old umbrella. Distinctive features of this creature are a large tongue and one leg. This mythical ghost is often seen in various video games, movies and comics.
Usually kasa-obake is harmless, good-natured and rather naughty. Such umbrellas love to bounce on one leg, fool around and play tricks on people.
5. Akaname
This is a “dirt-licking” bath spirit that looks like a humanoid frog. In some cases, he is red-skinned, red-faced.
Such a creature personifies the fear that visits superstitious people at night in dark non-residential premises. At night, Akaname cleans unwashed containers, bathrooms and public baths from various contaminants.
You should not take a bath immediately after being licked by this creature, otherwise you can get sick with something. So akaname demonstrates that the rules of hygiene cannot be neglected, otherwise it will greatly affect health.
4. Katakirauwa
This creature appears in the form of a black piglet or an adult black pig. It usually has only one ear, sparkling reddish eyes, and casts no shadow.
It is believed that katakirauwa appears only in large settlements, and this happens only at night.
A terrible black animal runs under people’s feet and takes their souls. A person who falls victim to such a monster turns into a terrible zombie.
In exchange for the stolen soul, the demonic pig leaves its likeness in his body. To save your soul, you need to jump on one leg.
3. Umibozu
Umibozu is a creature that lives in the ocean. It capsizes ships. To avoid this, it is better not to address the spirit when you meet: any conversations with him are perceived as a personal insult.
The head of umibozu is round, large: outwardly, they are somewhat reminiscent of Buddhist monks. It is believed that these are drowned monks.
These spirits may look like they are praying. Umibozu has tentacle-like limbs and a black or gray cloud-like torso.
If this spirit gets angry, it will demand a barrel. When his request is fulfilled, he will fill the tank with sea water, and the ship will sink.
To avoid death, it is better to give the monster a barrel that is bottomless.
2. Rokurokuby
During the day, these monsters look like ordinary people, and at night they stretch their necks very much, which looks absolutely terrifying.
Rokurokubi are very aggressive: they cruelly play tricks on passers-by, scare them to death, in some cases even kill themselves.
Previously, these creatures were ordinary people, but they have changed due to violations of any religious commandments or terrible crimes.
1. Dzyubokko
This is a tree that grows in fields where bloody battles often took place. It grows due to the nearby murders. Jubokko feeds only on blood, and it very quickly begins to crave it.
At first glance, this is a perfectly normal tree. When an unsuspecting person gets too close to it, it grabs it, kills it, and sucks it dry.
It is believed that with the help of the branches of these trees, wounds can be healed.