Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Kemogen, Kemo Ken, 毛毛現
Category: Object
The Myth
Kege is a strange, hair-covered yokai associated with an encounter described by the Japanese manga artist and yokai researcher Shigeru Mizuki. It appears as nothing more than a lump of fur, with no visible head, legs, or tail. When Mizuki and his family visited a mountain hut on Mount Fuji, they discovered a mysterious mass of hair curled up in the bathhouse. Unable to identify it, the family became frightened and caused a commotion.
Mizuki eventually approached the strange creature and lifted it with a pair of fire tongs. To his surprise, the mass of fur was extremely light and seemed to have no body or stomach beneath its hair. The account suggests that it might have been the remains of an animal that had been eaten, leaving only its fur behind. Its true nature remains uncertain, and it is unclear whether the encounter involved an actual supernatural creature.
Kege has also been listed as a yokai associated with Shizuoka Prefecture in a modern children’s encyclopedia of Japanese supernatural beings. However, the connection appears to derive from Mizuki’s unusual encounter rather than from an established regional tradition. Beyond its peculiar appearance as a creature consisting almost entirely of hair, little is known about Kege’s origins or supernatural abilities.
Sources
“Ke-fu-ke-gen.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1079864645.html