Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Koro Koro
Category: Marten
The Myth
Korokoro is the name given to a mysterious dog spirit, or inugami, associated with a family in Toyooka, Hayami District, Ōita Prefecture. The family was known locally as a lineage that possessed an inugami. Although they worked as farmers and stonemasons, generations of the family were said to suffer from mental illness, and eventually their descendants died out.
An elderly woman from the family was known as an inugami keeper. According to local accounts, she retrieved an inugami living beneath a bridge over one of the rivers bordering the village and brought it home, where she kept it beneath the floor of her house. She affectionately called the spirit Korokoro and supposedly raised it alongside numerous others. However, these spirits were considered dangerous even to their owners: when their numbers grew too large, they could turn on their keeper and devour them. The woman therefore periodically culled them to prevent their population from becoming unmanageable.
The inugami of this region were described as weasel-like animals with black-and-white markings. Ordinary people could not see them, and they were believed to move through the air without touching the ground, making no sound as they travelled. Their hidden presence made them feared as supernatural familiars that could be kept and controlled by certain families.
Sources
“Korokoro.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010655104.html