Page 231 - FULL PLAYER EBOOK

Amaterasu- is a part of the Japanese myth cycle and coastline that brings a curse and general misfortune
also a major deity of the Shinto religion. She is the to the area where it is spotted. C
goddess of the sun, but also of the universe. The Em- Bakeneko "monster-cat"- is a cat yokai with super- h a
peror of Japan is said to be a direct descendant of natural abilities akin to those of the Kitsune (fox) or p
Amaterasu. t e
Tanuki (raccoon dog). Bakeneko haunt and menace
r
Aonyobo- is a female ghost who lurks in abandoned their household. Cats that were caught drinking lamp
imperial palaces. oil were considered to turn into Bakeneko. Once
transformed, Bakeneko gain a range of paranormal
Arikura-no-baba "ant-saddle hag"- is a character
from the folklore of Gifu Prefecture, Japan. She was powers used to haunt the household they live in in-
an old woman with supernatural powers who lived in cluding: menacing (even eating) sleeping humans,
Takayama who used prayer to stop the eruption of a walking on its hind legs, flying, talking, creating
mountain after it had been rumbling for seven days, ghostly fireballs, reanimating and controlling a fresh
and turned the hot water of an onsen cold by throw- corpse by leaping over it and shapeshifting into hu-
ing a horse's hoof into it. man form. They use their shapeshifting powers to
live a life as a human would normally take the place
Ashi-magari "Leg Turner"- is a ghostly phenomenon of a member of the household after killing and con-
from the folklore of Kagawa Prefecture on Shikoku, suming them in their sleep.
Japan. It is a soft thing, like a kitten or a wad of cot-
ton, which is felt wrapping itself around a person's Basan- is a fowl-like bird that lives in the mountains
leg at night, impeding the ability to walk. While it is of Ehime Prefecture. It resembles a large chicken and
not generally visible, it is often believed to be the breathes ghost-fire from its mouth. It is described as
trick of a tanuki. having a bright red cockscomb and spits an equally
brilliant-hued fire. The fire is a cold fire, a glow, and
Ashinaga-tenaga "Long Legs, Long Arms"- are a pair it does not burn. It usually lives in the bamboo
of yokai in Japanese folklore said to be found in Kyu- groves of mountain recesses but sometimes material-
shu. One, Ashinaga-jin, has extremely long legs, izes in human villages late at night. When the Basan
while the other, Tenaga-jin, has extremely long arms. flaps its wings, an eerie rustling ("basabasa") sound
Sightings of this yokai always brought bad changes can be heard.
in weather.
Binbogami "Kami of Poverty"- is a kami or god who
Azukiarai "Aazuki Bean Washing"- is a ghostly phe- inhabits a human being or his house to bring misery
nomenon often described as a short-statured man of and poverty. There is an event to send Binbogami
grotesque appearance with a large balding head, away: At the end of each month, merchants baked
crooked teeth, thin moustache, large bulging yellow and plate miso, then a head clerk with the plate-
eyes, wearing ragged clothes and bent over a pail shaped miso in his hands, walked around till the air
washing azuki beans near a river or other body of wa- was filled with its appetizing smell. The miso's smell
ter. Sometimes the creature or spirit responsible makes Binbogamis come out of the houses they in-
amuses itself by singing "azuki togou ka, hito totte habit and trap them in it. The head clerk then dumps
kuou ka? shoki shoki." ("Will I grind my azuki beans, the miso into a river and washes the smell away be-
or will I get a person to eat? shoki shoki."), and any- fore returning.
one who approaches will inevitably fall into the wa-
ter.

-D-

-B- Daidarabotchi "Giant"- a gigantic yokai whose size
was so great that his footprints were said to have cre-
Bake-kujira "ghost whale"- is supposedly a large ated innumerable lakes and ponds. In one legend,
ghostly skeleton whale and is said to be accompanied Daidarabotchi wanted to see which was heavier;
by strange birds and fish from western the Japanese

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