Browse by theme
Six families of yokai — from shapeshifting foxes to the spirits of forgotten objects. Follow a thread through the folklore.
Shapeshifters
16 creatures
Foxes, tanuki, and cats that take human form.
Oni & Demons
22 creatures
Horned ogres, and the monsters warriors and gods slew.
Ghosts & Yūrei
45 creatures
Vengeful spirits and the dangerous women of legend.
Modern Urban Legends
19 creatures
School ghosts, cursed games, and stories that spread by rumor.
Water Spirits
28 creatures
The kappa and the things that pull travelers under.
Tsukumogami
18 creatures
Everyday objects that wake after a hundred years.
Ghost Lights
13 creatures
Cold flames over dark fields, and whatever is holding them.
Mountains & the Wild
60 creatures
Spirits of the peaks, the forests, and the night road.
Find a yokai by what it is like
Female Yokai
Snow women, snake women, a woman with two mouths, a neck that stretches at night. Here are the women of Japanese folklore, sorted by what they do.
Animal Yokai
Foxes that take human shape, cats that walk on two legs, a dog that follows you home. Here are the animals of Japanese folklore, sorted by animal.
Yokai of the House
A child who brings luck, a creature that licks the bath, a face at the toilet window. Here are the yokai of the Japanese house, room by room.
Evil Yokai
One of Japan's three great evil yokai is a real emperor. Several oni chiefs held land the court wanted. Here are the yokai that do real harm, sorted by how.
Good Yokai
A child who brings a house luck, and takes it when it leaves. A beast that eats your nightmares. A mermaid that Japan drew again in 2020. Here are the yokai that help, or do no harm.
Japanese Cryptids
A Japanese town once offered 200 million yen for one snake. A temple still shows a thunder-beast's mummy. Here are the creatures Japan says it has seen, with what each left behind.
Yokai by Body
One eye. No face. A mouth under the hair. A neck that keeps going. Find the yokai by the body you saw.
Child Yokai
A child in the guest room. A boy holding out tofu. A baby a stranger begs you to hold. Here are the yokai shaped like children.