The illustrated collection
Twenty-four creatures from Japanese folklore, drawn as one set. Strange, worn, and a little sad — the same world, one creature at a time.
狐
Kitsune
A shapeshifting fox spirit that gains tails and wisdom with age.
傘化け
Kasa-obake
A one-eyed, one-legged umbrella come to life—an icon of tool-spirits.
天狗
Tengu
A proud mountain spirit with a red face and long nose, master of martial arts.
座敷童
Zashiki-warashi
A childlike house spirit whose presence brings a family fortune.
滑瓢
Nurarihyon
A gourd-headed old yokai who slips into homes and acts like the master.
狸
Bake-danuki
A jolly shapeshifting raccoon dog, rival prankster to the fox.
面霊気
Menreiki
A stack of retired Noh masks that begins, at night, to work through its whole repertoire.
瀬戸大将
Seto-taisho
A little general armored in cast-off cups and plates who marshals the household crockery.
茂林寺釜
Morinji no Kama
The temple tea kettle that sprouted a tanuki's head, tail and legs—and would not stop boiling.
鬼火
Onibi
Cold blue 'demon-fires' that flicker in graveyards and wetlands, said to be born of the dead.
河童
Kappa
A mischievous, turtle-like river imp with a water-filled dish on its head.
青行燈
Ao-andon
A blue-lit specter that appears when the hundredth ghost story is told by lantern light.
鉄鼠
Tesso
The vengeful monk Raigo reborn as a swarm of iron-toothed rats that devour scriptures.
化鯨
Bake-kujira
A whale of bare bones surfacing off Shimane in the rain, followed by fish and birds nobody can put a name to.
鵺
Nue
A chimeric night beast: monkey's face, tiger's limbs, snake for a tail.
鬼
Oni
Horned, fanged ogres of immense strength, often red or blue.
がしゃどくろ
Gashadokuro
A colossal skeleton assembled from the bones of the unburied dead that roams to crush the living.
アマビエ
Amabie
A three-legged, beaked mermaid-like being that rises from the sea to foretell and ward off epidemics.
狐火
Kitsunebi
Mysterious floating fox-fires that lead travelers astray at night.
煙々羅
En-enra
Hearth smoke that drifts into the shape of a woman—seen only by those pure enough to see it.
船幽霊
Funayurei
Ghosts of the drowned who beg for a ladle, then use it to swamp and sink your boat.
玉藻前
Tamamo-no-Mae
A nine-tailed fox disguised as a beautiful court lady who bewitches an emperor.
絡新婦
Jorogumo
A giant spider that takes the form of a seductive woman to ensnare men.
送り犬
Okuri-inu
A dog that walks the mountain path behind you: stay on your feet and it sees you home, stumble and it is on you.
These illustrations are original work made for YOKAI LORE. They are not the pictures used in the articles — each creature's article keeps its own image, and the folklore there is the source these drawings answer to.