Yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The kanji representation of the word yōkai comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply the Japanese transliteration or pronunciation of the Chinese term yaoguai, some Japanese commentators argue that the word yōkai has taken on multiple different meanings particular to a Japanese context, including referring to a large number of uniquely Japanese creatures.
Yūrei are figures in Japanese folklore analogous to the Western concept of ghosts. The name consists of two kanji, 幽 (yū), meaning "faint" or "dim" and 霊 (rei), meaning "soul" or "spirit". Alternative names include Bōrei (亡霊), meaning ruined or departed spirit, Shiryō (死霊), meaning dead spirit, or the more encompassing Yōkai (妖怪) or Obake (お化け). Like their Western counterparts, they are thought to be spirits barred from a peaceful afterlife.
Haunted Junction is a comedy anime and manga series created by Nemu Mukudori. The manga was serialized in the monthly manga magazine Dengeki Comic Gao! by MediaWorks from 1996 to 2001. The anime, produced by Bandai Visual and Studio Deen, aired between 2 April 1997 and 25 June 1997.
Kuchisake-onna is a malevolent figure in Japanese urban legends and folklore. Described as the malicious spirit, or onryō, of a woman, she partially covers her face with a mask or other item and carries a pair of scissors, a knife, or some other sharp object. She is most often described as a tall woman of about 175-180cm, however, some people believe she is up to 8 feet tall, having long, straight black hair, white hands, pale skin, and otherwise being considered beautiful . She has been described as a contemporary yōkai.
Chōchin'obake or chōchin-obake is a Japanese yōkai of chōchin, "[the] lantern-spook ... a stock character in the pantheon of ghouls and earned mention in the definitive demonology of 1784". They can also be called simply chōchin, bake-chōchin, obake-chōchin, and chōchin-kozō.
The akaname is a Japanese yōkai depicted in Toriyama Sekien's 1776 book Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, with its precursor or equivalent akaneburi documented earlier in 1686.
Akashita is a Japanese yōkai that appears in yōkai emaki in the Edo Period, among other places. They are depicted as a beast with clawed hands and a very hairy face covered with dark clouds, but its full body appearance is unknown. In its opened mouth is a big tongue. Sekien did not attach an explanatory note about this yōkai, but its origins are identifiable as Akaguchi which appears in older Edo period yōkai scrolls such as Bakemono no e. This yōkai is known interchangeably as Akaguchi and Akashita.
Ubume are Japanese yōkai of pregnant women. They can also be written as 憂婦女鳥. Throughout folk stories and literature the identity and appearance of ubume varies. However, she is most commonly depicted as the spirit of a woman who has died during childbirth. Passersby will see her as a normal-looking woman carrying a baby. She will typically try to give the passerby her child then disappear. When the person goes to look at the child in their arms, they discover it is only a bundle of leaves or large rock. The idea that pregnant women who die and get buried become "ubume" has existed since ancient times; which is why it has been said that when a pregnant woman dies prepartum, one ought to cut the fetus out the abdomen and put it on the mother in a hug as they are buried. In some regions, if the fetus cannot be cut out, a doll would be put beside her.
Aobōzu is a Japanese yōkai (spirit) found in a number of Japanese legends. Stories about aobōzu, in particular the exact details of the spirit, vary widely.
Mikoshi-nyūdō is a type of bald-headed yōkai "goblin" with an ever-extending neck. In Japanese folklore and Edo period (1603–1868) kaidan "ghost story" texts, mikoshi-nyūdō will frighten people who look over the top of things such as byōbu folding screens. The name combines mikoshi見越し "looking over the top ; anticipation; expectation" and nyūdō入道 "a (Buddhist) priest; a bonze; a tonsured monster".
A Japanese urban legend is a story in Japanese folklore which is circulated as true. These urban legends are characterized by originating in or being popularized throughout the country of Japan. These urban legends commonly involve paranormal entities or creatures who encounter and attack humans, but the term can also encompass widespread, non-supernatural rumors in popular culture. Urban legends in the former category rarely include the folklore yōkai, instead of being primarily based on contemporary examples of yūrei. Modern Japanese urban legends tend to occur in schools or urban settings, and some can be considered cautionary tales.
Teke Teke (テケテケ), also spelled Teke-Teke, Teketeke, or Teke teke, is a Japanese urban legend about the ghost of a schoolgirl, where her body was split in half by a train after she had become stuck. She is an onryō, or a vengeful spirit, who lurks in urban areas and roams train stations at night. Since she no longer has a lower body, she travels on her hands, dragging her upper torso and making a scratching or "teke teke"-like sound, produced either by her elbows or the end of her bisected body scraping the ground. If she encounters an individual, she will chase them and slice them in half at the waist, killing them in such a way that mimics her own disfigurement.
Hanako-san, or Toire no Hanako-san, is a Japanese urban legend about the spirit of a young girl named Hanako who haunts lavatories. Like many urban legends, the details of the origins of the legend vary depending on the account; different versions of the story include that Hanako-san is the ghost of a World War II–era girl who was killed while playing hide-and-seek during an air raid, that she was murdered by a parent or stranger, or that she committed suicide in a school toilet due to bullying.
Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni, subtitled The Unforgiving Flowers Blossom in the Dead of Night, is a Japanese manga written by Ryukishi07 of 07th Expansion and illustrated by Ichirō Tsunohazu. It was serialized between the May 2010 and November 2012 issues of Fujimi Shobo's Monthly Dragon Age magazine. 07th Expansion adapted the manga into a dōjin visual novel series, with the first game released on August 13, 2011 at Comiket 80 and the second on December 31, 2011 at Comiket 81.
Bakemono no e, also known by its alternate title Bakemonozukushie, is a Japanese handscroll of the Edo period depicting 35 bakemono from Japanese folklore. The figures are hand-painted on paper in vivid pigments with accents in gold pigment. Each bakemono is labeled with its name in hand-brushed ink. There is no other writing on the scroll, no colophon, and no artist's signature or seal.
Madam Koi Koi is a Nigerian urban legend featuring a vengeful ghost who haunts dormitories, hallways and toilets in boarding schools at night. While in day schools, she haunts toilets and students who come to school too early or leave school late. She is often depicted wearing a pair of red heels or wearing a single heel. She is one of the most popular boarding school ghosts in Nigeria.
