Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Akao Nyudo
Category: Ghost

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The Myth

Akaō Nyūdō was a legendary ruler who lived in the Akaō area of Ōba, in present-day Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture. He was said to have possessed vast lands and employed numerous farmers, making him a powerful figure in the region. His origins remain mysterious, and some traditions claim he was the younger brother of Hachisuka Koroku, a warrior who served Toyotomi Hideyoshi. According to local legend, Akaō Nyūdō’s downfall began when a feudal lord preparing to cross Hakone for his required alternate attendance journey attempted to conscript the local farmers as labourers. Akaō Nyūdō intervened, offering the farmers generous wages to work for him instead. Enraged by this interference, the lord ordered an arson attack on Akaō Nyūdō’s residence. His lands and possessions were burned, and his entire family was destroyed, leaving behind a legacy of resentment and tragedy.

Many years later, during the Tenpō era, a man reclaiming land in the Abara area unearthed a large, unglazed earthenware jar. Inside was vermilion ink used for seals. When the man attempted to wash it away, the ink seemed inexhaustible, with more continually appearing no matter how much he removed. Troubled by this strange occurrence, he eventually took the jar home and used it as a water container. However, every night at around three o’clock in the morning, a ladle would mysteriously fall into the jar and rattle around by itself. The unsettling phenomenon continued until the frightened family dedicated the jar to Mishima Taisha Shrine. Because the jar had been found in the very area where Akaō Nyūdō’s residence had supposedly burned, people began to suspect that the vengeful spirits of his family were responsible for the strange events.

The curse was said to persist through subsequent generations. During the Meiji era, a fire broke out at the home of a descendant of the man who had discovered the jar. The flames spread to a distant property belonging to the same family, and one of its members fell to their death from the second floor while attempting to extinguish the blaze. Even more strangely, enormous pumpkins grew in the burned area, frightening the local inhabitants. During the Shōwa era, further misfortunes struck Akaō, including an outbreak of dysentery, strengthening local fears that the spirits had not been appeased. To calm the restless dead, the villagers eventually erected a tomb for Akaō Nyūdō and began holding annual prayers for his soul on September 1st, hoping to bring an end to the disasters associated with his name.

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Sources

“阿古入道 (Ako Nyūdō).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1066794960.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Seigen, Seigen Ajari, Jikyūbō
Category: Ghost

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The Myth

Seigen was a Buddhist monk whose forbidden love and tragic death made him a restless spirit who relentlessly haunted Sakurahime, a beautiful princess. In the tale Sakurahime Azuma Bunshō, Seigen was originally known as Jikyūbō, a monk at Hase-dera Temple. In his former life, he had fallen in love with a young acolyte named Shiragikumaru. The two attempted to die together by throwing themselves into the sea at Chigogafuchi on Enoshima Island. However, when Shiragikumaru leapt into the swirling waters, Seigen hesitated and became too frightened to follow. He alone survived, carrying the memory of their tragic love for seventeen years.

Seigen eventually became a high-ranking priest at Shin-Kiyomizu Hase-dera Temple. There he met Sakurahime, a seventeen-year-old woman who had come seeking ordination after the murder of her father and younger brother. She had been born with a left hand that could not open, a deformity that had prevented her from marrying. When Seigen prayed for her, her fingers finally opened, revealing a small incense-box lid inscribed with his name. It was the very object Shiragikumaru had clutched when he drowned, and its appearance revealed that Sakurahime was the young acolyte reborn. Their connection was therefore bound to a love that had crossed the boundary between life and death.

Sakurahime soon abandoned her plans to become a nun after encountering Tsurigane Gonsuke, the man who had assaulted her in the past. She chose to marry him, while Seigen became consumed by his renewed feelings for her. Accused of violating his vows, he was expelled from the temple and punished with a hundred lashes. His suffering drove him into madness and obsession. He began confusing Sakurahime with Shiragikumaru and resolved to marry her, even though she rejected him. When Sakurahime’s child was kidnapped and abandoned during a violent confrontation, Seigen rescued the infant and pursued her while dressed in ragged clothing, carrying the child with him.

Seigen later fell ill and took refuge in a hermitage, where a jealous priest named Zangetsu attempted to poison him. Seigen struggled with his attacker and was drenched in the poison, turning half his face purple before he was beaten unconscious. A sudden storm and lightning strike eventually revived him. When Sakurahime tried to flee, Seigen confronted her and revealed the truth about their previous lives. Desperate to unite with her in death, he pursued her with a knife, but accidentally fell into a grave and stabbed himself in the throat. He died at last, yet his vengeful ghost immediately rose behind Sakurahime and continued to follow her.

Even after Sakurahime became a courtesan known as Furin-hime, Seigen’s ghost haunted her bedside night after night, frightening away her customers and ruining her livelihood. He appeared and vanished like a shadow, glaring at her with resentment and refusing to leave her alone. Sakurahime eventually learned from the spirit that the child she had been separated from was her own, and that Gonsuke was involved in a conspiracy against her family. The revelation set in motion a final chain of violence in which Sakurahime killed Gonsuke and her own child before reclaiming her former status. Seigen’s tale became one of Japanese theatre’s enduring stories of passion, reincarnation, forbidden love, and a dead man’s spirit unable to release its hold on the woman he believed was destined to be his.

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Sources

“清玄 (Seigen).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1067067896.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Miyagi
Category: Ghost

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The Myth

Miyagino was a beautiful courtesan who lived in Suruga Province during Japan’s Sengoku period. She was admired not only for her beauty but also for her skill in calligraphy, her knowledge of waka poetry, and her compassionate nature. At a gathering held on a full-moon night in August, Miyagino joined a group of young men composing poems about the moon. Her verses expressed the sorrow and longing of a woman whose life as a courtesan had brought her many painful separations. Among those listening was Fujii Seiroku, the unmarried heir to a wealthy family. Captivated by her beauty and character, he paid a large sum to secure her freedom and married her. Although Seiroku’s mother initially disapproved of the marriage, Miyagino’s kindness and devotion soon won her affection, and she came to treat her daughter-in-law with great love.

When Seiroku’s uncle in Kyoto became gravely ill, Seiroku travelled to the capital to visit him. Miyagino encouraged him to go, believing it was his duty to care for his family, and the couple exchanged sorrowful poems before his departure. After his uncle died, Seiroku distributed his inheritance among the widow and children and attempted to return home. However, warfare spread throughout the provinces, and military checkpoints prevented him from reaching Suruga for an entire year. With communication almost impossible, he could not discover whether his wife and mother were still alive. Meanwhile, Seiroku’s elderly mother grew increasingly ill from grief and longing. Miyagino cared for her day and night, praying that she might take her mother-in-law’s suffering upon herself, but the old woman eventually died. Miyagino was devastated by the loss and became so thin and sorrowful that those around her pitied her.

In the eleventh year of the Eiroku era, Takeda Shingen’s army invaded Suruga. Soldiers entered the homes of ordinary people, committing acts of violence and brutality. When they discovered Miyagino, they pursued her, intending to violate her. Rather than submit to them, she fled into a back room and hanged herself. The soldiers were moved by her tragic fate and buried her beneath a persimmon tree behind her house. By the time Seiroku finally returned, his home lay in ruins, overgrown with weeds, and his mother and wife were nowhere to be found. A servant eventually told him what had happened. Seiroku dug beneath the persimmon tree and uncovered Miyagino’s body. Astonishingly, her skin had not lost its colour, and she appeared as beautiful as if she were still alive. Overcome with grief, Seiroku buried her alongside his mother and spent about twenty days visiting their grave each morning and returning home at dusk.

One night, as Seiroku sat alone beneath a starry sky, Miyagino appeared before him like a shadow. She explained that she had received permission to return after bidding farewell to the deity who recorded the sins of the dead. Weeping, she told him of her suffering and how their marriage had allowed her to abandon her former life and follow a virtuous path. She believed her violent death was retribution for her previous existence, but her filial devotion had earned her a remarkable reward: permission from the heavenly and earthly authorities to be reborn as a boy. She instructed Seiroku to visit the wealthy Takakura family near the Kamakura Pass, where she would be born the following day. When he met the child, she promised, the boy would smile as proof of her return. Seven days later, Seiroku visited the family and met their infant, who had remained in the womb for twenty months and cried constantly after birth. The moment the baby saw Seiroku, he stopped crying, smiled brightly, and began making joyful sounds. Recognizing this as the sign Miyagino had promised, Seiroku revealed their story to the family and thereafter maintained a close relationship with them, treating them as his own relatives.

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Sources

“宮城野 (Miyakino).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1060375378.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Kantsume, Kantsumi, Kanetomu
Category: Ghost

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The Myth

Kanteme was a beautiful young woman who lived in Nagara on Amami Ōshima. She was held as a servant by a wealthy master and was renowned throughout the village for her beauty and singing. Her life changed when she met Iwakana, a young man who worked as a scribe at the local administrative office but was celebrated for his extraordinary skill with the shamisen. When Iwakana visited her master’s mansion on official business, he played the shamisen at a banquet, and Kanteme sang along to his music. The two fell deeply in love.

From then on, Iwakana crossed the mountains between his village and Nagara every night to see Kanteme, carrying his shamisen with him. Young men and women gathered in her room to enjoy his music and her singing, while Kanteme sometimes slipped away to meet her beloved beneath the trees on the grassy slopes of Mount Nagara. Their romance became widely known, inspiring admiration and envy among the villagers. However, Kanteme’s master had grown lonely after his wife’s death and desired the beautiful young woman for himself. He repeatedly attempted to win her affection, but Kanteme remained devoted to Iwakana and rejected him.

Consumed by jealousy and resentment, her master tried to separate the lovers. He forbade Kanteme from leaving the mansion and eventually confined her to a barn, where he subjected her to abuse. When he discovered that Iwakana had managed to take her away, his anger grew even greater. He imprisoned Kanteme once more and inflicted a final humiliation upon her. Heartbroken and unable to endure her suffering, Kanteme took her own life by hanging herself that night.

Unaware of her death, Iwakana set out across the mountains as usual, carrying his shamisen. Along the way, he met Kanteme, who appeared at the foot of the mountain. Believing her to be alive, he took her hands, and the two spent time together on the grass as they had so many times before. As dawn approached, Kanteme reluctantly descended into the shadows of the trees. Troubled by a growing sense of dread, Iwakana hurried to Nagara, where he discovered that his beloved had already died. It was said that Kanteme’s spirit continued to appear to him afterward. Her tragic love story became the subject of the island song known as Kantsume-bushi, which spread throughout the region and preserved the memory of the beautiful woman whose devotion to her lover endured even after death.

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Sources

“カンテメ (Kanteme).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1059858029.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Yain-nyudo
Category: Ghost

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The Myth

Yain-nyūdō is a mysterious supernatural creature described in the Japanese tale Shin Otogihishi. Its true appearance and identity remain unknown, but it manifests as a terrifying apparition featuring black, hairy legs and three enormous monk’s heads. The heads appear together in a strange triangular arrangement above the eaves of a temple, creating a grotesque sight in the darkness.

The haunting took place at a Hachiman Shrine in Yachi, where a monk named Jōrinbō of Enpuku-ji Temple was responsible for the shrine’s rituals. A wide moat separated the temple from the shrine, its surface covered with water lilies while carp and turtles swam through the water. One moonless, drizzly night, a visiting monk named Shūtatsu stepped onto the veranda and noticed a pair of black, hairy legs protruding from the opposite bank. Looking upward, he saw three enormous monk’s heads arranged in a triangle along the temple’s e

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Sources

“夜陰 (Yain).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1014127303.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Gyuwan-zaka, Gyoan-zaka, Gyoan-yama
Category: Ghost

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The Myth

Gyuwan-zaka is a haunted mountain path in Takahagi, Hidaka, Saitama Prefecture. In the past, it was a steep, winding slope overgrown with dense trees, creating a dark and frightening passage for anyone who travelled along it. The path became associated with the restless ghost of a Buddhist monk named Gyoan, whose tragic fate left a lasting supernatural presence on the mountain.

During the reign of Emperor Go-Daigo, Gyoan was a monk at Miroku-ji Temple in Takahagi who became involved in a plot to overthrow the shogunate. When the conspiracy was exposed, Gyoan and his companions were killed in battle in the mountains before they could achieve their goal. After his death, Gyoan’s ghost began appearing along the mountain path, terrifying travellers who passed through the area.

To appease his restless spirit, the villagers built a mound where Gyoan could be enshrined and named the mountain Gyoan-yama. Despite these efforts, the story of the haunting endured, and Gyuwan-zaka became associated with fear and ghostly apparitions. The monk’s frightening reputation was so well known that, in later times, parents were said to threaten crying children by telling them they would take them to Gyuwan, a warning that could make the children stop crying.

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Sources

“牛碗坂 (Gyuwanzaka).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010655069.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Northern Ghost, Hokkoku, 北国
Category: Ghost

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The Myth

The Northern Ghost is a bizarre yokai depicted as a monstrous woman assembled from the people and objects associated with the Yoshiwara pleasure district. Its body takes the form of a courtesan, but its features are made from an assortment of unusual items. Cups form its eyes and mouth, sake bottles make up its nose, and its hair consists of tiny figures representing geisha and jesters. Shamisen instruments, shamisen boxes, hair ornaments, and toothpicks complete its strange appearance, creating a grotesque figure in which women, customers, and everyday objects merge into a single supernatural being.

The Northern Ghost is said to live in a strange place known as Oiranda or the Land of Arinsu. Each night, it emerges from muddy water and approaches any man it encounters. It calls out to its victims in a pleading voice, saying, “You look familiar, please, please.” Its sudden appearance from the mud gives it an uncanny, ghostly quality, as though the strange creature has risen from the depths to seek out unsuspecting passersby.

The Northern Ghost embodies the strange and unsettling world of Yoshiwara, transforming its courtesans, customers, and objects into a single monstrous apparition. Its bizarre construction makes it unlike an ordinary ghost or animal yokai, presenting a supernatural woman whose body is an entire collection of figures and objects brought together into one eerie form.

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Sources

“北国の幽霊 (Ghosts of the North Country).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654443.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: お岩, O-Iwa
Category: Ghost

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The Myth

Oiwa is one of the most famous vengeful ghosts in Japanese mythology and the central female figure of Tōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidan. She was the wife of Tamiya Iemon, a man who betrayed her and conspired with others against her. Oiwa was given poison disguised as medicine intended to help her recover after childbirth. The poison horribly disfigured her face, leaving her with long hair and a swollen, damaged eye. Her suffering and betrayal filled her with resentment, and she died bearing a terrible grudge against Iemon and his accomplices.

After her death, Oiwa returned as a terrifying ghost to torment those responsible for her suffering. Her apparition haunted Iemon and his companions, driving them toward madness and gruesome deaths. She also caused the deaths of Iemon’s mother and other people around him. In his isolated dwelling on Hebiyama, Iemon was tormented by Oiwa’s ghost and swarms of rats, unable to escape the horror that followed him. His torment eventually ended when Sato Yomoshichi, the husband of Oiwa’s sister Osode, killed him.

Oiwa’s ghost is remembered for her horrifying yet sometimes sorrowful appearance, particularly her long, disheveled hair and swollen eye. Her story has become one of Japan’s best-known ghost tales, and her image has shaped the familiar depiction of the vengeful female spirit. Legends surrounding her curse persist, with performers and theatrical productions traditionally seeking her blessing before retelling her story, fearing the misfortune that might follow those who disrespect her memory.

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Sources

“お岩 (Oiwa).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654415.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Omak, Oneki
Category: Ghost

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The Myth

Omaku is a mysterious supernatural phenomenon from Tōno, Iwate Prefecture, in which the thoughts and feelings of the living and the dead become entangled and wander between places. It is also known as Oneki. Rather than appearing as a clearly defined creature, Omaku manifests through strange apparitions in which a person’s presence seems to travel beyond the limits of their physical body.

One story tells of Jintarō, a soldier from Tsuchibuchi Village who served in the Imperial Guard Regiment. One summer morning, he attempted his usual handstand on a wooden block when he suddenly fell headfirst and lost consciousness. Later, he recalled that he had somehow left the barracks and flown through the air toward his distant hometown, several feet above the ground. There, he saw his wife and sister-in-law washing their feet in a stream, entered his family home, and sat beside his mother near the hearth. Dissatisfied with his visit, he then flew back to Tokyo and returned to his room in the barracks.

At that very moment, Jintarō awoke from his unconsciousness, surrounded by a military doctor, nurses, and fellow soldiers. He initially wondered whether the journey had been a prank, but a letter from his family confirmed the strange experience. His wife and sister-in-law had indeed seen him dressed in white rush into the house, sit beside his mother, and suddenly vanish. The incident was said to have occurred around the time of the Russo-Japanese War.

Another account describes a beautiful girl of sixteen or seventeen who appeared at a temple construction site while suffering from typhoid fever. Although she was too ill to be there, she entered through the back door while dozens of carpenters were taking their lunch break. The master carpenter, Keijirō, recognized her as the daughter of his neighbor and realized that she was close to death. She died the following day. The story presents Omaku as a mysterious encounter involving the presence of someone whose body and spirit may no longer be together.

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Sources

“おまく (Omaku).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654387.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: ボロ
Category: Ghost

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The Myth

Bolo is a mysterious yokai from Kaibe Village in Oita Prefecture, Japan. It emerges from a bamboo thicket growing beneath a hackberry tree in the center of the village. When it appears, Bolo suddenly rises up and stands tall, presenting itself as a strange and imposing supernatural presence.

Bolo possesses an unusual ability: anyone who looks at it from below will see it disappear. Even more strangely, it cannot be cut, no matter how hard someone tries. Its supernatural nature makes it difficult to approach or interact with, as it vanishes from view and resists attempts to damage it.

The exact appearance and nature of Bolo remain uncertain. Its sudden emergence and towering form resemble other Japanese yokai that grow unnaturally tall, but its defining characteristics are its mysterious disappearance when viewed from below and its resistance to being cut.

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Sources

“ボロ (Bolo).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654373.html

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