Tonight's story features a common folkloric theme found in tales around the world: animal-human coupling. Japanese folklore is especially rich with this, featuring tales of humans getting it on with birds, carp, clams, octopuses, frogs, dragons... and of course snakes, as today's story shows. My favorite thing about this story is the curse the husband
Oct 7, 2024 • Subscribe
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A-Yokai-A-Day: The Painted Corpse Wife of Bungo Province
Well we've made it. Tonight is Halloween, and thus the final A-Yokai-A-Day post for 2022. I hope you've enjoyed these thirty one stories from Shokoku hyakumonogatari. I saved…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How a Woman’s Obsession Became a Snake in Tōsa Province
Tonight's story deals with a common theme in Shokoku hyakumonogatari: obsession. The Japanese word used in these stories is 執心, and it refers to the kind of improper…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Woman’s Bōrei from Mihogasaki, Suruga Province
Our yōkai tonight is another bōrei, or ghost, although not in the traditional sense of a spooky white dead person who hunts you down and kills you. This…
(My Wife Draws) A-Yokai-A-Day: The Tengu Disguised as a Zatō in Iga Province
My wife is continuing to pull weight for me with her illustrations. Today's yokai is a tengu, and he behaves in a typically tengu way: by punishing those…
(My Wife Draws) A-Yokai-A-Day: The Bakemono of the Outhouse in Kasamari, Ōmi Province
Tonight's story is a tale that pops up time and time again in almost every prefecture. It's the story of kurote, or the hairy hand that reaches up…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Nekomata of Echigo Province
Animal yōkai are always popular with readers, both abroad and in Japan. I found that with the reaction to my latest book, The Fox's Wedding! Tonight's story is…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Bōrei of Tsuruga Province
Today I am in Kyoto attending the Mononoke Ichi flea market and hyakki yagyo night parade. It's been 3 years since the last time this event took place…
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I'm resting my broken arm today to make sure I don't over-stress it, so my wife has kindly taken over for the illustration again. Tonight's story features a…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Woman Who Every Night Visited Usa Hachiman in Buzen Province
Tonight's story depicts a legendary ritual known as "the shrine visit at the hour of the ox." This ritual is famous today for being a curse ritual. It…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Sandayū From Chikuzen Province Slept With a Ghost
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A-Yokai-A-Day: The Ao Oni of Kaga Province
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A-Yokai-A-Day: The Rokurokubi of Fuchū, Echizen Province
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A-Yokai-A-Day: The Man From Saiki Village in Tanba Province Who Became an Oni While Still Living
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(My Wife Draws) A-Yokai-A-Day: The Corpse That Came Back to Life in Echizen Province
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A-Yokai-A-Day: How Unshō, a Monk from Shima Province, Escaped from a Poisonous Serpent
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A-Yokai-A-Day: The Elder of Saikōji in Bungo Province Who Was Attached to Gold
Tonight's story is another example of a problem caused by attachment to material things -- the core sin of Buddhism. That this story takes place at a temple,…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Tanuki Who Transformed into an Old Woman at Nabari, Iga Province
Tonight's story is another one featuring a tanuki, and like the one from last week, it has a bloody ending. This time, though, the yōkai is a lot…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Jealousy of Shibata Shume’s Wife
Jealousy once again rears its ugly head! It's a very common theme in Shokoku hyakumonogatari. In fact, tonight's story contains quite a few repeated themes that we've seen…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Ghost of Shimazu Tōshirō’s Wife
Tonight's story is a classic ghost story. The ghost has all of the standard elements: the white kimono, the disheveled, long hair, blackened teeth; and she visits every…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Ghost of Honnōji Shichibyōe’s Wife
One thing I love about the stories in Shokoku hyakumonogatari is that they are so specific about the locations these stories take place. Some of them go right…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Attachment of Saigō Iyo’s Wife
Tonight's tale takes place in Gōshū, which is another name for Ōmi Province, or what is today Shiga Prefecture. Sawayama is in what is now Hikone City, however…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Onryō of Abe Sōbei’s Wife
Tonight's story features an onryō, the most terrifying of all Japanese monsters. (Yes, even more terrifying than the toilet stroker!) The fear of ghosts that come back from…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Killing Turned a Man’s Hair White
Tonight's story may seem a bit weird to Western readers with its focus on "killing." What may seem to some as simple hunting or fishing, whether for fun…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Bakemono of Iga Province During the Keichō Era
Tonight's story is a short and strange collection of happenings that occurred at the house of "a certain samurai" in Iga Province during the Keichō era. Iga was…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Old Tanuki Disguised as a Samurai’s Wife
Tonight's story features a tanuki, a yokai that is beloved by almost everyone. I have to wonder what the tanuki was thinking when it decided to do what…
(My Wife Draws) A-Yokai-A-Day: The Man Who Had His Bones Pulled Out by a Bakemono
Today's illustration was once again done by my wife, to give my arm a day's rest while it heals. I'll be back to painting again tomorrow though. Tonight's…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Illness of Lord Ikeda Sanzaemon of Harima Province
Tonight's story is based on events that took place in 1611 in one of the most haunted locations in Japan: Himeji Castle. But first, two vocabulary words that…
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: The Tanuki Who Summoned 25 Bodhisattvas
I was at Kyoto Toei Film Studios all day today for the KaiKai Yokai Festival, so tonight's write-up will be brief... Thanks to everyone who came to my…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Wife of Matsumotoya Kyūbei of Wakayama, Kishū
Tonight's story is rather short, but it is one of the more disturbing ones in Shokoku hyakumonogatari. The final sentence is an example of a feature I love…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Nekomata That Changed into Itō Genroku’s Wife
The yokai in tonight's story is a fan favorite: the two-tailed version of a bakeneko, known as a nekomata. In a way it's almost a touching story, about…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Samurai’s Shiryō from Sendai
The creature in tonight's story is referred to as a shiryō. This is essentially identical to the term bōrei, which we've seen several times so far this month.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Incident at Nunobiki Falls, Settsu Province; or, The Pilgrims’ Poems
Tonight's story is another one featuring snakes. This one was a struggle to translate because it contains my least favorite thing to translate: poetry. Poetry is hard to…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Bakemono Who Haunted Matsuura Iyo’s House
This story is about another bakemono. The true form of this yōkai is never explained in the story, so whether it was an animal, or a ghost, or…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Monk Who Met a Bōrei in Shimotsuke
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A-Yokai-A-Day: The Kitsune Who Took Revenge on a Yamabushi
Our story today deals with a yōkai who you are probably already familiar with: a kitsune. Although the word kitsune literally just means fox, I prefer to use…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Sugiyama Hyōbu of Dewa Province’s Double Wife Disaster
Today's story deals wit another henge—a generic term for a yōkai animal that shapeshifts to trick people. Henge are often kitsune or tanuki, but they can also be…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Attachment of a Goze at an Inn in Mitsuke, Tōtōmi Province
The title of this story refers to a goze. Goze were a female counterpart to zatō, who we looked at earlier this month. The women were traveling entertainers…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Zatō Who Met a Bakemono on a Journey
Today's story talks about a monster called a bakemono (pronounced bah-keh-mo-no). Like yesterday's henge, this is not a specific monster's name, but a generic term for any monster.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Farmer in Kumano Whose Wife was Taken by a Henge
Tonight's yōkai is once again referred to by the generic word henge. Essentially it's a shape-shifter, although we don't know what its true form is. However, I find…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Itagaki Saburō Was Killed by a Henge in Suruga Province
Hello yokai lovers! It's that time of the year again: A-Yokai-A-Day is here! In celebration of Halloween season, every day this October I will post a translation and…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Ōishi Matanojō and the Blessing From the Chijin
I've recovered enough movement in my arm to start painting again, which is a much more pleasant way to spend the day than sitting around and doing nothing.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Obsession of the Woman from Peony Hall
Tonight's story is a variation on a folktale that is famous all over the world. The Tale of the Peony Lantern has been featured in A-Yokai-A-Day before, and…
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: 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
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A-Yokai-A-Day: The Maō Who Turned into a Woman to Hinder a Monk’s Passing
Tonight's story talks about a maō. This word is made up of two kanji: 魔 (ma; demon, devil, evil spirit) and 王 (ō; king). It's a generic term…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Learning the Art of War from Yuzuru no Kannon
Tonight's story is from Shimōsa Province, which today covers part of Chiba, Ibaraki, Saitama and Tokyo Prefectures, however, the precise location of Sano nor of the Yuzuru Kannon…
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…