Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: 一反木綿, Ittan-momen
Category: Object
The Myth
Ittan Momen is a flying cloth yokai from Takayama in Kimotsuki District, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. It appears at night as a long strip of white fabric, approximately one tan in length, a traditional Japanese measurement of cloth.
The yokai flies towards unsuspecting people and wraps itself around their faces, covering their mouths and noses and suffocating them. Its seemingly ordinary appearance as a piece of cloth conceals a deadly threat, turning a familiar household material into a dangerous supernatural creature.
Sources
“Ittan Momen.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010652579.html