Yokai Data: When Each Yokai Was First Recorded
We looked for the oldest written record of each creature on this site. So far we have checked 91. The oldest is Fujin, in 712. The newest is Hasshaku-sama, in 2008.
Updated 2026-11-07. 91 of 234 published articles are checked; 143 are not yet. The numbers change each time we publish or check an article.
What the count shows so far
- Fujin is one of the oldest: 712, in Kojiki.
- Raijin is one of the oldest: 712, in Kojiki.
- Sarutahiko is one of the oldest: 712, in Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720).
- 23 of the 91 we have checked were first recorded in 1945 or later. Many began as rumours, magazine stories or forum posts.
- 3 of the 91 name the Edo painter Toriyama Sekien in their earliest source.
- 2 have no date in any source we found. We count them apart instead of guessing.
These are counts of the 91 articles checked so far, not of all yokai. The articles checked first lean toward modern urban legends, so the older eras will grow as we check more.
By era (checked so far)
| First recorded | Creatures | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Before 794 (ancient) | 6 | 7% |
| 794–1184 (Heian) | 6 | 7% |
| 1185–1602 (medieval) | 9 | 10% |
| 1603–1867 (Edo) | 27 | 30% |
| 1868–1944 (Meiji to wartime) | 18 | 20% |
| 1945 and after | 23 | 25% |
| No date given | 2 | 2% |
Every checked creature, oldest first
“c.” and an era name mean the source gives no exact year.
| First record | Creature | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 712 | Fujin 風神(kami) | Kojiki — 712 |
| 712 | Raijin 雷神(kami) | Kojiki — 712 |
| 712 | Sarutahiko 猿田彦(kami) | Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720) — 712 / 720 |
| 712 | Suijin 水神(kami) | Kojiki — 712 |
| 720 | Mujina 狢 | Nihon Shoki (日本書紀), finished 720the entry is for the year 627: a mujina in Mutsu turned into a person and sang |
| 720 | Ryomen Sukuna 両面宿儺 | Nihon Shoki — 720 CE, Book 11, entry for the 65th year of Emperor Nintoku |
| 797 | Hachiman 八幡(kami) | Shoku Nihongi (続日本紀), finished 797the entry that uses the characters 八幡 is for the year 737 |
| 797 | Onryo 怨霊 | Shoku Nihongi (続日本紀, completed 797) — 797 |
| Kōnin era (810–824) | Enma 閻魔 | Nihon Ryōiki (日本霊異記), compiled from 787, enlarged in the Kōnin era (810–824)several tales name 閻羅王, King Enma |
| 905 | Shide no Taosa 死出の田長 | Kokin Wakashū — compiled 905-914 |
| 930s | Dosojin 道祖神 | Wamyō Ruijushō (和名類聚抄), compiled 931–938 |
| c. 1060 | Hihi 狒々 | Honchō Monzui (本朝文粋), c. 1060, naming it as a Chinese beastfirst described at length in Japan in the Wakan Sansai Zue (1712) |
| 13th century | Hakutaku 白沢 | Daikaku Zenji Goroku, sayings of Lanxi Daolong (died 1278)in China it is far older, in the 4th-century Baopuzi |
| c. 1300 | Kamikakushi 神隠し | Azuma Kagami (吾妻鏡), compiled about 1300 |
| 14th century | Omukade 大百足 | Taiheiki, vol. 15 (太平記, 十五巻) — 14th century |
| Medieval period | Kojin 荒神(kami) | Zeami's Fushi Kaden (begun about 1400) names a 荒 god |
| By 1485 | Tsukumogami 付喪神 | Tsukumogami Emaki, named in Sanetaka-kō ki, Bunmei 17 (1485)the oldest surviving copy is 16th century; whether the 1485 scroll is the same work is unclear |
| c. 1488 | Ushi no Toki Mairi 丑の刻参り | Noh play Kanawa (鉄輪), c. 1488 (date given by the Nihon Kokugo Daijiten)as a prayer visit, the word is older (Daijōin Jisha Zōjiki, 1457); an earlier form of the curse is the Hashihime of Uji in the Heike Monogatari 'Tsurugi no maki' |
| 1525 | Oshirasama オシラサマ(kami) | The oldest dated Oshirasama figure, inscribed Daiei 5 (1525), Taneichi, Iwatethe oldest book cited here is Tōno Monogatari (1910) |
| 1573 (hall built) | Kompira 金毘羅(kami) | Konpira Hall built at Matsuo-ji by Yūga, 1573 (Genki 4); no dated document of that year confirmed |
| Early Edo period | Ōtakemaru 大武丸 | Mutsu-shū Iwate-gun Ganjusan engi (in Iwate-san-ki), probably copied after 1596 from an older shrine recordthe ritual it describes is dated 1190 |
| 1633 | Tengu-tsubute 天狗礫 | Enokoshū (犬子集), a haikai collection, 1633 |
| 1650 | Kanayago-kami 金屋子神(kami) | A 1650 rebuilding ridge tag at Kanayago Shrinethe legend's earliest dated text we found is Tetsuzan Hisho (1784) |
| 1679 | Amanozako 天逆毎 | Sendai Kuji Hongi Taiseikyō, 'Jingi Hongi' (Enpō edition, 1679) |
| 1686 | Tall Bōzu 高坊主 | Kokon Hyakumonogatari Hyōban — 1686 |
| Genroku era (1688–1704) | Gedō 外道 | Honchō Koji Innen Shū — Genroku era (1688-1704) |
| Edo period | Old Woodsman 古杣 | Kinsei Tosa Yōkai Shiryō, entry 'Tsuetsuki Furusoma'; its original Edo source is not namedthe earliest dated record found is Takaya Shigeo, 1941 |
| Edo period | Storehouse Child 倉ぼっこ | An Edo-period account of a storehouse spirit in Honjo, Edo, retold by Sasaki Kizen (before 1933)Tōno Monogatari Shūi (1935) writes the name as 'Okura-bokko' |
| Mid-to-late Edo period | Horse Bone 馬骨 | Tosa Obake Zōshi — hand-painted manuscript scroll, not printed; Edo period. Privately held copy: undated, judged mid-to-late Edo. Sakawa Town Board of Education copy: its end note dates its making to Ansei 6 (1859). (Kan'en 2, 1749, in the private copy's colophon is when the owner family's service began, not a date of the scroll; that colophon was written after WWII.)the dated copy of the scroll is from 1859 |
| Mid-to-late Edo period | Kechibi けち火 | Tosa Obake Zōshi — Edo period, exact year unknownthe dated copy of the scroll is from 1859 |
| 1765 | Raiju 雷獣 | A painting of a raijū dated Meiwa 2 (1765), Ōyama, Sagami |
| 1781 | Gangi-kozo 岸涯小僧 | Toriyama Sekien 'Konjaku Hyakki Shui' (1781) — 1781 (An'ei 10), middle volume 'Kiri' (Mist) |
| 1781 | Keukegen 毛羽毛現 | Toriyama Sekien, Konjaku Hyakki Shūi — 1781 (An'ei 10) |
| 1781 | Mokumokuren 目目連 | Toriyama Sekien, Konjaku Hyakki Shūi — 1781 (An'ei 10) |
| Kansei era (1789–1801) | Hair of the Hemp Tub 麻桶の毛 | Ashū Kiji Zatsuwa, by Yokoi Kijun, whom the NDL dates to around the Kansei era |
| Kansei era (1789–1801) | Ox-Striking Priest 牛打ち坊 | Ashū Kiji Zatsuwa — Kansei era (1789-1801) |
| 1793 | Licking Woman 嘗女 | Kokon Bakemono Hyōban (古今化物評判), a kibyōshi, 1793 |
| 1796 | Tall Priest 高入道 | Kaidan Tabi no Akebono (怪談旅之曙) — 1796 (Kansei 8) |
| 1799 | Tsuchinoko 槌の子 | Seijō Kaidan-roku — 1799as 'nozuchi-hebi', a snake later identified with it is in the Wakan Sansai Zue (1712) |
| Bunka era (1804–18) | Laughing Woman 笑い女 | Nanroshi (南路志), a Tosa gazetteer: the same story, as 'Warai-otoko' (laughing man), where the creature is a teenage boythe name Warai-onna comes from the later Tosa Bakemono Ehon |
| Late Edo period | Jan of Harami 孕のジャン | A passage under Kamochi Masazumi's name in Tosa Konjaku Monogatari (late Edo), as quoted in Terada Torahiko's 'Kaii-kō'Terada's essay first appeared in 1927 |
| Late Edo period | Kinchō 金長狸 | Three late-Edo manuscripts (undated): 'Chikagoro Furudanuki Chinsetsu', 'Furudanuki Kinchō Giyū Chinsetsu', and 'Kinchō Isshōki'; first printed as a three-volume kōdan book in 1910 (Meiji 43) — late Edo period (three manuscripts, written/undated); 1910 (Meiji 43) for the first print, a 3-volume kōdan book — written and printed dates must not be conflated |
| Late Edo period | Red Head 赤頭 | Tosa Bakemono Ehon — late Edo–early Meijian 'Akagashira' also appears in the Matsui Bunko Hyakki Yagyō Emaki; whether it is the same creature is uncertain |
| Tenpō era (1830–44) | Mat Beater 畳叩き | Kii Zoku Fudoki — Tenpō era (1830-1844) |
| 1836 or later | Enko 猿猴 | Ehon Atsumegusa: its caption dates the attack to Tenpō 7 (1836); the scroll itself is undated |
| 1841 | Isonade 磯撫 | Ehon Hyaku Monogatari (絵本百物語), illustrated by Takehara Shunsensai (竹原春泉斎) — 1841 (Tenpō 12) — the publication (刊行) date conventionally given; the work's own Wikipedia article states this but also notes the true first edition may predate 1841 |
| 1841 | Yamachichi 山地乳 | Ehon Hyaku Monogatari — 1841 (Tenpō 12); the first printing may be earlier (a same-content edition, Ehon Kaidan Zoroe, may predate it) |
| By 1860 (late Edo) | Jinmenken 人面犬 | Gaidan Bunbun Shūyō — Edo-period manuscript recording an event of 1810 (completion year not given in the sources read; printed 1993)it records an event of 1810 |
| Meiji era (attributed) | Snow Hag 雪婆 | Bakemono Emaki, a picture scroll said to be from the Meiji era, shows a 雪姥the first dated text is Tabi to Densetsu (1928) |
| 1887 | Kokkuri-san 狐狗狸 | Yōkai Gendan — 1887 |
| 1910 | Futtachi 経立 | Tōno Monogatari — 1910 |
| 1922 | Red Shaguma 赤シャグマ | Minzoku to Rekishi (folklore journal): 'Iyo no Aka-shaguma', vol.8 no.1 — July 1922 |
| 1927 | Great Pipe 大煙管 | Kasai Shin'ya, 'Awa no Tanuki no Hanashi' (Tanuki Tales of Awa) — Earliest traceable print is 1927 (Kyōdo Kenkyūsha); the specific citation jawiki gives is a 1974 reprint/anthology |
| 1929 | Inenbi 遺念火 | Shimabukuro Genshichi, 'Yanbaru no Dozoku' (1929), as cited in Yanagita Kunio, 'Yōkai Meii (6)', Minkan Denshō vol.4 no.6 — 1929-02 (cited in a print of 1939-03-01) |
| 1929 | Kijimuna キジムナー | Oral Ryukyuan folk belief. Earliest written record found is Shimabukuro Genshichi's chapter 'Yanbaru no Dozoku,' first published 1929 (Kyodo Kenkyusha), later reprinted in Nihon Minzokushi Taikei vol. 1 (Kadokawa Shoten, 1974) — 1929 (first published); 1974 reprint is the edition cited by jawiki |
| 1929 | Majimun マジムン | Shimabukuro Genshichi, book Yamahara no Dozoku (山原の土俗) — 1929, originally published by Kyōdo Kenkyū-sha as part of the Robasō Sōsho series |
| 1929 | Milk Parent 乳の親 | Yanbaru no Dozoku (Shimabukuro Genshichi) — 1929 |
| 1929 | Noma 野馬 | Takemoto, 'Iwami yori (1)', Minzokugaku vol.1 no.4 (1929) — 10 October 1929 |
| 1931 | Mishigē 飯笥 | Kinjō Chōei, 'Ryūkyū Yōkai Henge Shumoku (2)', Kyōdo Kenkyū vol. 5 no. 3 (1931) |
| 1935 | Norikoshi 乗越入道 | Tono Monogatari Shui (遠野物語拾遺) — The shūi material was first compiled into the 1935 expanded edition of Tono Monogatari (遠野物語増補版, confirmed on 遠野物語's own Wikipedia page); the specific printing jawiki cites for pp.196-197 is the later 1948 Bungeishunju Shinsha (文藝春秋新社) edition. The oral tradition it records predates both dates. |
| 1936 | Shibaten シバテン | Kōchi and Tokushima folk belief — undated oral tradition; earliest located written record is Takamura Nichiyō's 1936 article in Minkan Denshō issue 12, followed by Hosen Junko's 1955 Kinki Minzoku report and Hotta Yoshio's 1959 Ise Minzoku article, later catalogued in Murakami Kenji's Yōkai Jiten (2000), Kusano Taku's Genso Dōbutsu Jiten (1997), and Tada Katsumi's Genso Sekai no Jūnintachi IV (1990)it quotes the Kokufu village gazetteer (Kōchi, 1930) |
| 1937 | Yagyō-san 夜行さん | Oral folk tradition of Awa Province (Tokushima); earliest written record found is Takeda Akira's 1937 field survey 'Setsubun' — undated oral tradition; first ethnographic record 1937 |
| 1938 | Betobeto-san べとべとさん | Yanagita Kunio, Yōkai Dangi — 1956 (book); its "Yōkai Meii" glossary, which lists Betobeto-san, first ran in the journal Minkan Denshō, 1938–39 |
| 1938 | Oppasho Stone オッパショ石 | Yanagita Kunio, 'Yōkai Meii (4)', Minkan Denshō vol. 4 no. 1 (1938) |
| 1938 | Shidai-daka 次第高 | Yanagita Kunio 'Yōkai Meii' (Minkan Denshō, vol.4 no.1, 1938) — September 1938 |
| 1942 | Yosuzume 夜雀 | Katsurai Kazuo, 'Tosa no sanson no "yōbutsu to kaii"' (Tabi to Densetsu) — 1942 |
| 1950s | Kesaran-pasaran | Minkan Denshō (民間伝承) folklore journal, 1950s reports naming it Tensarabasara — 1950s |
| 1951 | Zan ザン | Shimabukuro, 'Okinawa ni okeru yorimono,' Minkan Denshō journal, vol. 15, no. 11 — November 1951 |
| 1954 | Three Eyes, Eight Faces 三目八面 | Katsurai Kazuo's Tosa no Densetsu (2) — 1954 |
| 1955 | Ash Priest 灰坊主 | Sōgō Nihon Minzoku Goi (1955) — 1955 |
| 1955 | Thread-Spinning Girl 糸引き娘 | Sōgō Nihon Minzoku Goi — 1955 |
| 1959 | Notsugo ノツゴ | Ōshima Takehiko, 'Yama no Kemono no Hanashi', Saikō Minzoku no. 8 (1959) |
| 1962 | Okiku Doll お菊人形 | Josei Jishin — issue of 6 August 1962 — the first printed telling according to Koike Takehiko (1998), as reported by Narumi (2021) and Nihon Denshō Taikan |
| 1970 | Eighth-Day Fire 八日火 | 'Katsuren-son Haebaru chōsa hōkoku', Okinawa Minzoku no. 18 (1970), as 'Yōkabī asobi'fireballs said to be seen in many villages before the war |
| 1975 | Akagantā アカガンター | Hino Iwao, Nihon Yōkai Henge Goi (1975), as 'Akagantā warabā' |
| 1983 | Wet Girl 濡女子 | Ehime Kenshi, Minzoku vol. 1 (1983) |
| 1987 | Akai Manto 赤いマント | Matsutani Miyoko, Gendai Minwa Kō, 2nd series vol. II (1987)Japanese Wikipedia says, without a source, that it was told in 1930s Nara |
| 1987 | Hanako-san of the Toilet 花子さん | Matsutani Miyoko, Gendai Minwa Kō, 2nd series vol. II (1987)a rumour said to date from about 1950 |
| 1990 | Jinmengyo 人面魚 | Friday magazine (a reader's photo), spring 1990; Tokyo Sports front page, 12 June 1990 |
| 1991 | Shirami シラミ | Mizuki Shigeru, Nihon Yōkai Taizen (1991): 'shirami-yūren', which Murakami Kenji (2005) links to shiramia record of an older oral tradition |
| 1995 | Kashima-san カシマさん | Watanabe Setsuko (ed.), Majo no Dengonban: Nihon no Gendai Densetsu (1995) — earliest dated book citing the legend found on jawiki; the oral rumor itself is said to have spread as a 'rehash' after the kuchisake-onna rumor went nationwide among schoolchildren in 1978 — no source gives Kashima-san's own first year |
| 1990s | Teke-teke テケテケ | Jigoku Sensei Nūbē (manga, 1993–1999): an episode based on Teke-teke, issue date unknownthe first dated book is Matsuyama Hiroshi, 2003 |
| 1996 | Turbo Granny ターボババア | Watanabe Setsuko and Iwakura Chiharu (eds.), Yume de Tanaka ni Furimuku na (1996) |
| 2001 | Hikiko-san ひきこさん | First posted to the website 'Alpha-web Kowai Hanashi' (アルファ-webこわい話) — 2001-07-24 |
| 2003 | Satoru-kun さとるくん | Matsuyama Hiroshi's 'Sanbon-ashi no Rika-chan Ningyo: Mayonaka no Toshi Densetsu' — 2003 |
| 2004 | Kisaragi Station きさらぎ駅 | Mi no mawari de hen na koto ga okottara jikkyō suru sure 26 — 2004-01-08 23:14 JST (post 98) to 2004-01-09 early morning (post 635) |
| 2005 | Kotoribako 子取り箱 | Shinu hodo share ni naranai kowai hanashi o atsumete minai? 99 — 2005-06-06 |
| 2007 | Hitori Kakurenbo 一人かくれんぼ | Kenshō Jikkyō Sure Honkan — 2007-04-18 (thread opened 13:16 JST, name only, written 一人り隠れんぼ); detailed method first posted 2007-04-21 02:04-02:34 JST by tripcode ◆iwr.CbaKEE |
| 2008 | Hasshaku-sama 八尺様 | Posted to the occult board of the 2channel forum, thread "Shinu hodo share ni naranai kowai hanashi wo atsumete minai? 196" — 2008-08-26 |
| No date given | Arahabaki 荒脛巾(kami) | No dated early record found. It is not in the Kojiki (712) or Nihon Shoki (720). |
| No date given | Seven Misaki 七人ミサキ | Rōho Kidan and Shin'i Kaii Kidan (old books) — undated in source |
How we counted
- For every article, we write down the oldest written record we can find: a book, a scroll, a newspaper, a dated inscription or a forum post. Before a creature joins this table, a separate check looks again for anything older and confirms the date.
- The year is when the text was written or compiled, not the year of the events it tells. The Nihon Shoki was finished in 720, so a story it sets in 627 counts as 720, and we note the 627.
- When a record names an era but no year, we show the era and count it in that era.
- “First recorded” is not “first told”. Many of these stories were spoken long before anyone wrote them down.
- Found an older record? Tell us, and we will fix it and list the change on the corrections page.
Citing this page
You are welcome to use these dates. Please credit Yokai Almanac and link to this page:
Yokai Almanac, “Yokai Data: When Each Yokai Was First Recorded”, https://www.yokailore.com/data (updated 2026-11-07).