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- Another print depicting the Setsubun bean throwing ritual which is believed to chase away bad luck and welcome good fortune for the year ahead. 🎨‘Young Man Throwing Beans at Setsubun’ - Suzuki Harunobu, 1768. #JapaneseArt #JapaneseFolklore
- This ukiyo-e print titled ‘Inviting Fortune’ by Toyohara Chikanobu (1889) depicts the Setsubun mamemaki (bean-throwing) ritual undertaken to banish misfortune and welcome good luck for the year ahead. #JapaneseArt #JapaneseFolklore
- Yuki onna is a fearful #yokai appearing on snowy winter nights. She glides across the snow with her blue lips and transparent skin. Beware as her icy gaze can be deadly and she will suck the life force out of you and leave you to die in the snow. #LegendaryWednesday #JapaneseFolklore 🎨Shigeru Mizuki
- Tsurube Otoshi are bizarre #yokai that take the form of disembodied heads. They live in treetops waiting for victims. More info below. #WyrdWednesday #JapaneseFolklore
- In #JapaneseFolklore Tsurube Otoshi are a #yokai that live in the tops of trees beside paths through forested areas. They are the disembodied heads of either humans, tengu or oni which can range in size from a regular head up to two metres across. When hungry, these giant heads... #FolkyFriday 1/3
- Another #yokai in #JapaneseFolklore that is said to deliver prophecies is yogen no tori, a two-headed crow. Looking at their image was also said to protect you from harm. The card below is by @yokaiparade.bsky.social (link in comments). #WyrdWednesday
- In #JapaneseFolklore kamikakushi is the concept of being spirited away by the kami, or gods. Sometimes when people disappeared it was blamed on evil #yokai who may have taken the person to the spirit world. The Ghibli film Spirited Away is based on this concept. #LegendaryWednesday
- In #JapaneseFolklore when people vanished without a trace the disappearances were often blamed on evil #yokai. Sometimes victims were never seen again but in some cases missing people returned to the world days, months or years later, sometimes with no memory of their time... #LegendaryWednesday 1/3
- There is a very bizarre tale from #JapaneseFolklore about todaiki, which is when a sorcerer used dark magic to transform their enemy into a human candle in order to keep them trapped, unable to either move or speak. #LegendaryWednesday #yokai
- Many #yokai tales in #JapaneseFolklore involve people visiting strange lands and the mysterious explanations of why they have never returned home. The bizarre story of todaiki involved a government minister who travelled on a mission to China but did not return. The man's... #LegendaryWednesday 1/3
- In #JapaneseFolklore mermaids are known as ningyo and they also have prophetic abilities. More info in thread 👇 #WyrdWednesday #yokai
- In #JapaneseFolklore mermaids are known as ningyo. Unlike European mermaids, they look more like fish than humans and are considered far more monstrous than beautiful. In some cases they are believed to foretell the future. Their flesh is said to give eternal life but... #FolkloreSunday #yokai 1/2
- Dailies with Dustbot! #creatuanary The kappa... It's here for your "butt-pearl"... Yes apparently that's a thing in the mythology that the kappa wants #japanesefolklore #sketchbook #procreate #tonedpaper
- In #JapaneseFolklore there are many tragic love stories where husbands betray or murder their wives, and then the wife returns as a vengeful spirit (or yurei) to get her revenge. One of the most famous is Kasane, an Edo period ghost story. Kasane had a tragic life. She lost... #MythologyMonday 1/3
- In #JapaneseFolklore there is definitely a #yokai for every occasion. When it comes to fruit, I present suika no bakemono, which appears as a watermelon-headed samurai. Very little is known about this strange supernatural creature. It comes from the Buson Yokai Emaki, a... #BookologyThursday 1/2
- In #JapaneseFolklore there is a strange #yokai phenomenon known as ashiarai yashiki where a giant, hairy, bloody, disembodied foot crashes through the roof of a house demanding to be washed by the residents within. If it isn't obeyed it will smash the house to pieces. If it is... #FolkyFriday 1/2
- In #JapaneseFolklore Tsurube Otoshi are a #yokai that live in the tops of trees beside paths through forested areas. They are the disembodied heads of either humans, tengu or oni which can range in size from a regular head up to two metres across. When hungry, these giant heads... #FolkyFriday 1/3
- In #JapaneseFolklore there are many tragic love stories where husbands betray or murder their wives, and then the wife returns as a vengeful spirit (or yurei) to get her revenge. One of the most famous is Kasane, an Edo period ghost story. Kasane had a tragic life. She lost... #MythologyMonday 1/3
- In #JapaneseFolklore there is a #yokai known as fudakaeshi that appears as a typical yurei (or ghost), a semi-transparent woman with long dark hair. This yokai attempts to remove the fuda (protective paper charms) placed at entrances to protect buildings from evil spirits. #MythologyMonday 1/3
- In #JapaneseFolklore when people vanished without a trace the disappearances were often blamed on evil #yokai. Sometimes victims were never seen again but in some cases missing people returned to the world days, months or years later, sometimes with no memory of their time... #LegendaryWednesday 1/3
- In #JapaneseFolklore hime uo are mermaid #yokai with the body of a fish and face of a woman. They have two horns on top of their heads, long black hair and they can grow up to five meters long. Hime uo are servants of the Dragon King Ryujin and they spend most of... #SwampSunday 🎨 Matthew Meyer 1/2
- In #JapaneseFolklore amazake baba is a #yokai from Miyagi and Aomori prefectures. She appears in the form of a haggard old woman and knocks on doors late at night calling for amazake (fermented rice drink) in a child-like voice. Whoever answers her call falls very ill, regardless... #FolkyFriday 1/3
- In #JapaneseFolklore tsurara onna are #yokai also known as icicle women. When lonely single men gaze at icicles during winter, they admire their beauty and wish for a wife just as beautiful. Soon after, this yokai will appear, presenting as an ordinary woman. #FolkyFriday 1/2
- Many #yokai tales in #JapaneseFolklore involve people visiting strange lands and the mysterious explanations of why they have never returned home. The bizarre story of todaiki involved a government minister who travelled on a mission to China but did not return. The man's... #LegendaryWednesday 1/3
- In #JapaneseFolklore kubikajiri is a #yokai that eats the heads of its victims, living or dead. It waits in graveyards for the freshly buried dead, which it then digs up to feast on. Kubikajiri smells of blood and in some accounts it is also headless. Some believe they may... #MythologyMonday 1/2
- Maneki Neko (inviting cat) statues are popular in Japan and around the world. In Japan, the origin of this waving cat is the story of a traveller who was walking home at night and saw a cat waving at him in the dark. On approaching the cat a bolt of lightning hit... #JapaneseFolklore #Caturday 1/2
- In #JapaneseFolklore mermaids are known as ningyo. Unlike European mermaids, they look more like fish than humans and are considered far more monstrous than beautiful. In some cases they are believed to foretell the future. Their flesh is said to give eternal life but... #FolkloreSunday #yokai 1/2
- In #JapaneseFolklore, kudagitsune are magical spirit fox familiars, tiny enough to hide in sleeves or bamboo pipes. They have the power to possess and control humans, and can also serve as magical familiars for sorcerers to assist with divination, prophecies and casting curses. #FolkloreSunday 1/2
