Tonight's story is another one dealing with attachment. And once again, snakes are used as a symbol for that attachment. One term that might be unfamiliar to some readers is chigo. This term pops up a fair amount of yōkai stories, and while it literally just means a child, it refers to young boys who
Oct 26, 2023 • Subscribe
More like this
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Horikoshi From Tōtomi Province Was Infatuated With His Daughter-in-Law
Today is the first day of October, and that marks the start of A-Yokai-A-Day! I hope you'll join me in sharing yokai on social media/blogs/wherever using the #ayokaiaday…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Kanshaku
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Kanmushi
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Shinshaku
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Munemushi
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Kiya no Sukegorō’s Mother Ate a Dead Man in Her Dream
Today's story is somewhat rare in that it is a morality tale. With a few exceptions (like Dōchin's lesson about pride), most of the stories in Shokoku hyakumonogatari…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Attachment of Shirai Sukesaburō of Gōshū’s Daughter, and How She Became a Daija
Tonight's story is a sad one, with tragedy upon tragedy piling up. The yokai is called a daija, which literally means "giant snake." However, when looking at Edo…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How the Mistress of a Certain Man in Kii Province Died and Obsession Brought Her Back
Tonight's yokai is another ghost. However, while yesterday's was described as a yūrei due to being faint and eerie, this one is much more violent. The story never…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Bakemono in the Outhouse
Tonight's story is very short and, if I'm being honest, doesn't translate too well into English. In Japanese, the language is creepy and evocative, but translated into English…
A-Yokai-A-Day 2020 Lineup
Thanks for reading A-Yokai-A-Day, Pandemic Edition. 2020 has been a rough year, but at least we live in an age where we know more about diseases and cures…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume
October is here, and you know what that means. A-Yokai-A-Day is upon us! Every day of the month, in celebration of Halloween, I will be painting and posting…
A-Yokai-A-Day 2020 Lineup
Thanks for reading A-Yokai-A-Day, Pandemic Edition. 2020 has been a rough year, but at least we live in an age where we know more about diseases and cures…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume
October is here, and you know what that means. A-Yokai-A-Day is upon us! Every day of the month, in celebration of Halloween, I will be painting and posting…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Shōni no mushi
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Ase no mushi
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
Coming Soon: A-Yokai-A-Day 2023!
Hello readers and yokai lovers! It's been nearly a year since I've posted here, as I've been more active on various social media sites, Patreon, and yokai.com these…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Shōni no mushi
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Novice Monk at Eiheiji in Echizen
One thing I love about the stories in Shokoku hyakumonogatari is that they can be so specific about the locations these stories take place. Some of them go…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Bakemono of Onoderamura in Sagami Province
The yōkai in tonight's story is unnamed, but it is referred as both a bakemono and a henge. The assumption, then, is that it is probably a shapeshifted…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Bakemono of Komatsu Castle in Ōshū
Before we get to today's yokai, I'd like to take a moment to point out that both this website and yokai.com are presented ad-free and paywall-free. That's because…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Monk Who Met a Bōrei in Shimotsuke
There are many nuanced ways to describe ghosts in Japanese. The most common words are obake (which means "changed thing"), yūrei ("faint spirit"), and onryō ("grudge spirit"). Tonight's…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How a Tsuchigumo Turned into a Woman in Kaga
Tonight's yōkai is a tsuchigumo: an interesting term with a lot of history. Literally it means "earth spider," and they are depicted in scroll paintings as gigantic monster…
A-Yokai-A-Day 2022 Index: Shokoku hyakumonogatari
Thanks to everyone for reading 2022’s A-Yokai-A-Day selections from Shokoku hyakumonogatari! If you missed a day, or want to go back and read it again, here is an…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume (page 2)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. As I explained earlier, I will be presenting Hakoiri musume menya ningyo one page at a time. However, some…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 6)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Like yesterday’s page, today’s page is full of absurdities. Kyōden’s hyperbolic metaphors for the depth of love between man…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 8)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. This is where our story changes timelines. Everything we’ve read so far has merely been backstory—the main character’s origin…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume (page 1)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Hakoiri musume menya ningyo begins with a single-page foreword by the publisher–or so the author would have us believe.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 20)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. A courtesan’s debut was a very big and costly event. Girls were expected to buy their dresses, beds, etc.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume (page 1)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Hakoiri musume menya ningyo begins with a single-page foreword by the publisher–or so the author would have us believe.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 23)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. It looks like Heiji’s plan is beginning to pay off. People are willing to pay dearly for a chance…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 17)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. One of the cool things about these kind of old books is that they have a rudimentary form of…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 24)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. It seems like Heiji’s scheme was a success! So successful, in fact, that is spawned copycat businesses. Today we’ll…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 29)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. If you thought the story couldn’t get any weirder after yesterday’s scene, you might be surprised by today’s page.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume (page 4)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Pages 4 and 5 of Hakoiri musume are presented with a two-page spread illustration, so I am sharing both…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 14)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Pages 14 and 15 share a double page illustration. The whole spread is posted below. Notice the byōbu in…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 27)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. It seems that Heiji and the mermaid have become rich and successful, but surely you knew the story wouldn’t…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 7)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. If there is anyone left who doesn’t yet think that Urashima Tarō is a jerk for cheating on Otohime…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 25)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today’s page answers yesterday’s question about whether cheap knock-off mermaid licks are as good as the real thing. Heiji…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 30)
If you’ve enjoyed this year’s A-Yokai-A-Day, please support me Patreon and get stories like this all year round! Happy Halloween! All good things must come to an end,…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 21)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today we start the third and final volume of Hakoiri musume menya ningyo. And the mermaid starts a new…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 26)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Wealth and comfort seem to suit our mermaid well. Here she is looking as cool and composed as ever.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 15)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today our little mermaid does the unthinkable! She signs a contract and joins a brothel. Hopefully her new owner…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 10)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Page 10 of Hakoiri musume is a strange one because it contains a mini-story that seems to have little…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 11)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today we officially crack open part 2 of Hakoiri musume. Kibyōshi are often split into 3 or more volumes…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 28)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Just when all seems lost for baby-Heiji and the mermaid, a familiar pair of faces show up to save…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 12)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. If this were a Disney story, you’d expect there to be a song by now. Well, in this scene,…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume (page 3)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today’s post is page 3 of Hakoiri musume. The illustration on pages 2 and 3 forms a double page…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 13)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today’s page is very silly, but without a bit of explanation it makes very little sense. Everything that happens…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 5)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Pages 4 and 5 are depicted below. The illustration shows Urashima Tarō and Orino flirting in an expensive, private,…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 22)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today Heiji comes up with a plan to make money (with the mermaid’s help, of course). From the two-page…