Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Cat
The Myth
The Kasha is a cat-like yokai associated with death and the punishment of wrongdoers. It is said to carry away the corpses of those who committed crimes, and is often depicted grasping a body while connected to a flaming chariot or fire.
The Kasha appears when a person who has committed wrongdoing dies. It takes the corpse and carries it away, acting as an agent of karmic consequence rather than human judgment. It is portrayed as a cat-like being that may stand upright and seize the body, sometimes shown with a chariot of fire. Images of the Kasha appear in works such as death scrolls and mandalas, where it is shown taking the dead away. Its form varies by region, sometimes more monstrous and sometimes more cat-like, but it is consistently associated with the removal of sinful corpses and the inevitability of moral consequence.
Gallery
Sources
TYZ Yokai Blog. (2014). 火車 (Kasha). From https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010655129.html
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive