Japanese Mythology

Kijimunā

by

Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Kijimunā, Sēma, Bunagaya
Category: Fairy

The Myth

Kijimunā are small elfin beings that live among the banyan trees of the Okinawan and wider Ryukyu Islands. They are about the height of a human child and have wild, thick, bright red hair and reddish skin. They wear skirts made from grass and move by hopping rather than walking. Although they retain a youthful, childlike appearance throughout their lives, adult males are described as having notably large testicles. Kijimunā live in family groups much like humans, marry, raise children, and sometimes even marry into human families.

They are skilled fishermen who live almost entirely on seafood. Kijimunā fish along the shores and are particularly talented divers, using their abilities to catch their favorite food: fish heads, especially those of the double-lined fusilier. They have an unusual fondness for fish eyes, with a preference for the left eye over the right, and Okinawans traditionally attribute fish washed ashore without their eyes to hungry Kijimunā. They have several strange dislikes as well. They hate chickens and cooking pots, are disgusted by people passing gas, and above all fear and despise octopuses, avoiding them whenever possible.

Kijimunā can be helpful toward humans, especially fishermen. They may help people catch fish or perform other useful services in exchange for a cooked meal. A friendship with one can last for an entire lifetime, with the Kijimunā returning repeatedly to visit its human friend and even spending holidays with the family. But their kindness can quickly turn to hatred if they are mistreated. Cutting down a banyan tree inhabited by a Kijimunā is one of the surest ways to provoke it. An angered Kijimunā may kill livestock, sabotage a fishing boat so that it sinks far out at sea, trap people inside hollow trees, press down upon sleeping people’s chests, or extinguish lights during the night. Once a Kijimunā has been made an enemy, its hatred is said to be impossible to overcome.

Sources

“Kijimunaa.” Yokai.com: The Japanese Yokai Encyclopedia. Accessed October 4, 2026. https://yokai.com/kijimunaa/

Abura Sumashi

by

Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: 油すまし (Abura Sumashi)
Category: Yōkai, Dwarf

The Myth

The Abura Sumashi is a strange, squat figure said to haunt the remote mountain paths of Kumamoto. Its most striking feature is its enormous head, rough and misshapen like a stone or a large potato. Beneath it is a short humanoid body dressed in a coat woven from straw, giving the creature the appearance of a bizarre mountain traveler.

It is rarely seen. The Abura Sumashi is said to remain deep in the mountains, particularly around the secluded passes of southern Japan where wild tea grows. Travelers may sometimes encounter one without warning, appearing seemingly from nowhere before disappearing back into the wilderness.

The most famous Abura Sumashi is associated with the Kusazumigoe Pass. The creature has a peculiar habit of making its presence known without necessarily revealing itself. An elderly woman might walk along the pass with her grandchildren and mention that an Abura Sumashi once lived there. A voice from the mountains can then suddenly answer that it still lives there. Only on rare occasions does the creature actually step out before those who have heard it.

The name Abura Sumashi means “oil presser,” connecting the yōkai to the traditional production of oil from tea seeds. Producing the oil was difficult and time-consuming, making it a valuable commodity. According to the legend surrounding the creature, thieves who stole oil and escaped into the mountains could avoid punishment during their lifetime, but they could not escape it forever. Their spirits were believed to return as Abura Sumashi, condemned to haunt the mountains as punishment for their crimes.

Sources

“Aburasumashi.” Yokai.com: The Japanese Yokai Encyclopedia. Accessed October 4, 2026.
https://yokai.com/aburasumashi/

Rohai

by

Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Robai, Lojay
Category: Dragon

The Myth

Rohai is a dragon depicted on the traditional Japanese card game Unsun Karuta. The creature appears as a dragon entwined around or holding a symbol, sometimes with wing-like forms or flames rising from its body like wings. It is a distinctly dragon-like figure, separate from the numbered cards and from the other human and divine figures represented in the deck.

Unsun Karuta developed from Portuguese playing cards introduced to Japan during the late 16th century. The Portuguese cards originally had four suits, but the Japanese game developed five suits and a much larger collection of cards, including figures such as Daikoku, Daruma, Hotei, Ebisu, Fukurokuju, a Chinese man, a queen, a king, and a mounted warrior. Rohai represented the dragon among these figures.

Rohai was also called an insect, and was described as being like a flying dragon. Its origins are connected to the dragon cards found in early Portuguese playing cards, where dragons were traditionally used for the aces of the suits. As the cards spread through Portuguese trading ports and settlements, dragon imagery travelled with them and eventually became part of the Japanese card tradition.

In Unsun Karuta, however, Rohai was not simply the ace card. It became its own distinct dragon figure. Some surviving depictions preserve the appearance of a Western dragon, particularly through the wing-like shapes and flames rising from the creature’s body.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “鷺龍 [ろうりゅう] (Rōryū).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). October 21, 2024. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1083031467.html

Okami

by

Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Ōkami, Kuraokami-no-kami, Takaokami-no-kami, Okagami
Category: Dragon

The Myth

Okami is a powerful dragon god associated with water. It is imagined as a great supernatural dragon dwelling in mountain valleys, deep ravines, hills, and springs. Different traditions distinguish between forms of Okami, with Takaokami associated with the mountains and Kuraokami with the dark valleys.

Okami controls rain and snow and has power over springs and other waters. Because of this, people prayed to the deity for rain during droughts and for protection from destructive floods.

In the Kojiki, Kuraokami-no-kami was born from the blood of Kagutsuchi, the fire god, after Izanagi killed him with his sword. The Nihon Shoki gives different accounts of the birth of Kuraokami and other water-related gods, including a tradition in which Kuraokami, Kurayamatsumi, and Kuramitsuha emerged from Kagutsuchi’s blood.

Okami was worshipped at shrines throughout Japan. At Kifune Shrine in Kyoto, Takaokami is revered as the principal deity. Other shrines dedicated to Okami were established beside rivers and in agricultural areas, reflecting the dragon god’s power over water.

One legend tells of Horyo Myojin, a practitioner of Shugendo who sacrificed himself to save people suffering from drought. After his death, he became a dragon and brought rain to the people.

Okami could also appear in the form of a serpent. The Bungo Province Fudoki tells of a spring inhabited by a snake deity. When Emperor Keikō visited the area, the deity prevented the people from safely drawing water from the spring.

Okagami is also invoked as a deity capable of controlling snowfall. A poem in the Man’yōshū describes snow that had been requested from Okagami on a mountain, showing the dragon god’s power over the falling snow as well as rain.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “龗 [おかみ] (Okami).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). January 27, 2024. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1083024550.html

Wani

by

Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Wani
Category: Dragon

The Myth

Wani are enormous sea monsters said to dwell in the depths of oceans, seas, and lakes. They possess long, serpentine bodies and fins and can breathe both air and water. Although monstrous in their natural form, wani are capable of transforming themselves into humans, and stories even tell of wani and human beings falling in love.

Wani are regarded as rulers of the oceans and gods of the sea. Far beneath the surface they dwell in magnificent coral palaces, where they maintain a society that mirrors the political world of humans. Their underwater kingdoms contain kings and queens, princes and princesses, courtiers, servants, and other ranks. Among them, Watatsumi, also known as Ryūjin, is the greatest of the sea dragons. He rules the ocean from the magnificent Ryūgū-jō and possesses the tide jewels kanju and manju, with which he controls the ebb and flow of the sea.

The wani appear in some of Japan’s earliest written mythology, particularly the Kojiki and Nihon shoki, although their stories are believed to preserve traditions considerably older than these texts. Their ultimate origins are uncertain, and similarities have been noted between the wani and other great aquatic beings such as the Chinese long and the Indian naga.

The word wani originally appeared in the Kojiki written phonetically using man’yōgana. It was later written with the character 鰐. The word came to encompass sharks and other dangerous sea creatures encountered by sailors and fishermen, perhaps reflecting the way real marine predators could become identified with the enormous serpents of mythology. Over time its meaning expanded to include crocodiles and eventually became associated specifically with crocodiles. Today, wani and the kanji 鰐 normally mean “crocodile,” even though the older mythology describes a very different kind of creature.

One of the greatest stories involving the wani concerns Toyotama-hime, the daughter of Watatsumi. She encountered Hoori, a human hero and grandson of Amaterasu, after he descended into the realm beneath the sea. Hoori had accidentally lost his brother Hoderi’s fishing hook and, unable to find it, eventually discovered the palace of the Dragon King. There he asked Watatsumi for help recovering the lost hook.

With the Dragon King’s assistance, Hoori eventually found the hook. During his stay in the underwater palace, however, he fell in love with Watatsumi’s daughter, Toyotama-hime. The two married and lived together beneath the sea for three years.

Eventually Hoori grew homesick and longed to return to the world above. He and Toyotama-hime therefore returned to the surface together, bringing Hoderi’s lost hook with them. Once back on land, Toyotama-hime became pregnant and prepared to give birth.

She warned Hoori not to look upon her during childbirth. In order to bear the child, she explained, she had to abandon her human appearance and assume her true form. But Hoori could not overcome his curiosity. He secretly looked at his wife as she gave birth and was horrified to discover that the woman he loved had become an enormous wani, cradling their newborn son.

Toyotama-hime was devastated by his betrayal and ashamed that he had witnessed her true nature. Unable to forgive him, she fled back into the sea and never again saw Hoori or the child she had given birth to.

Her sister Tamayori took responsibility for raising the abandoned child. He grew to adulthood and eventually married Tamayori. Their son was Jimmu, who became the first emperor of Japan. Through Toyotama-hime and her wani lineage, the ancient sea-dragon tradition thus became intertwined with the legendary ancestry of Japan’s imperial line.

Sources

“Wani.” Yokai.com: The Japanese Yokai Encyclopedia. Accessed October 3, 2026. https://yokai.com/wani/

Yinglong

by

Tradition: Japanese mythology, Chinese mythology
Alternative Names: Yinglong, Winged Dragon, Flying Dragon
Category: Dragon

The Myth

Yinglong is a winged dragon, distinguished from other dragons by its great wings. It is generally depicted with a dragon’s body and wings, although some representations give it the head of a dragon and the body of a bird. Its wings and tail feathers may even resemble the fins of a fish, giving the creature an unusual combination of dragon, bird, and aquatic features.

According to the Sancai Tuhui, Yinglong dwells on Gongqiu Mountain. The winged dragon also appears in several great stories of ancient Chinese mythology, where it becomes involved with the Yellow Emperor, Chiyou, Nuwa, and Yu.

During the great war between the Yellow Emperor and Chiyou, the Yellow Emperor commanded Yinglong to attack the fields of Ganyi. The dragon’s powers were therefore brought directly into the struggles of the ancient divine rulers.

Yinglong was later subdued by Nuwa, who made the powerful dragon serve as the beast that pulled her vehicle. Yu, meanwhile, encountered Yinglong during his legendary efforts to control the great floods. As Yu worked to bring the waters under control, Yinglong used its tail to draw characters upon the ground, marking out the paths by which the waters could be guided. In this role the dragon became a guardian of the waters and an aid in one of the greatest acts of flood control in Chinese mythology. This account was later transmitted directly into Japan through the Wakan Sansai Zue.

The Shanhaijing, in its Dadong Huangjing, places Yinglong at the southern end of the world. There the dragon is said to have become unable to return to Heaven because it had killed Chiyou and Kuafu. Its presence upon the earth was consequently associated with drought, and Yinglong was said to bring drought across the land. Yet the dragon also possessed a strange connection with rain: if people imitated the form of Yinglong, heavy rain was said to follow.

The Huainanzi presents Yinglong within a different kind of cosmic lesson. It describes the soaring serpent moving through mist and Yinglong rising upon clouds, alongside other creatures whose abilities become effective when they encounter the environment suited to them. The passage emphasizes that every being has its own particular strengths and must fulfill its proper role.

The image of Yinglong continued into the artistic traditions of China and Japan. Dragons possessing the same characteristic wings are sometimes called “Flying Dragons” in paintings and decorative sculpture. At Nikkō Tōshōgū Shrine, for example, two such Flying Dragons are carved soaring above waves in the Water Pavilion.

These winged dragons are frequently shown together with waves and flowing water. Their imagery came to be associated with protection against fire, while their connection with water gave them an auspicious character. The tradition also became linked with the legend of the carp climbing the Dragon Gate waterfall and transforming into a dragon, making the dragon and the Dragon Gate motif symbols of transformation and good fortune.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “応竜 [おうりゅう] (Yìnglóng).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). October 21, 2024. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1082948842.html

Enryū

by

Tradition: Japanese mythology, Chinese mythology
Alternative Names: Yanlong, Salt Dragon, Shio Ryū
Category: Dragon

The Myth

Enryū, the Salt Dragon, was a strange little dragon believed to produce a valuable substance used in tonics. Unlike the enormous dragons of storms and rivers, the Salt Dragon was described as a creature only about one foot long. Its body was covered in scales from which salt could mysteriously emerge.

According to the Compendium of Materia Medica, quoting the Records of Spring Shore, the creature was obtained during the Northern Song dynasty in the reign of Emperor Huizong. Xiao Zhu encountered a Salt Dragon while defeating the Nanman and brought the strange creature into his possession.

The dragon was kept in a silver tub with a jade bowl inside. It was fed salt taken from seawater, and after consuming the salt, more salt would seep from between its scales. The substance produced by the living dragon was regarded as medicinal. Taken together with warm wine, it was believed to increase yang energy and strengthen vitality.

Cai Jing, also called Cai Yuandu in the Records of Spring Shore, was said to have possessed one of these dragons. His Salt Dragon eventually died, however, in a rather peculiar manner. Cai attempted to obtain salt directly by licking the creature’s body. The dragon’s carcass was subsequently preserved by salting it. Even in death it retained value, since a tonic could still be extracted from the preserved body, although its effectiveness was believed to gradually diminish.

The Japanese commentary Bencao Gangmu Keimō repeated the account of the Salt Dragon but admitted that its nature was “not detailed,” offering little additional information about the creature.

The Salt Dragon later appeared in Japanese writings as well. Yanagi Rikyo’s Hitori Ne retold the story of Cai Yuanqing and his Salt Dragon from the Harunogi Kibun. The author remarked that such creatures were rarely discussed because the country in which they were supposedly found was no longer frequently visited, and therefore recorded the strange story for posterity. The same account was subsequently quoted in Keisai Eisen’s Makura Bunko.

The creature also became a subject for Japanese artists. The Illustrated Compendium of Chinese Characters depicts a Salt Dragon peering from a silver jar while reaching toward salt offered to it on a spoon by a boy. Uoya Hokkei created another well-known image of the creature, showing a Salt Dragon receiving salt from a woman. The accompanying humorous poem compares the salt caught between the dragon’s scales to light snow resting upon the swaying branches of a willow.

Thus the Salt Dragon was imagined as a peculiar living source of salt: a tiny dragon that consumed seawater salt, produced more through its scales, and could itself become an ingredient in mysterious medicines even after death.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “延竜 [えんりゅう] (Enryū).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). October 21, 2024. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1083002104.html

Seiryū

by

Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Seiryū, Seiryō, Shōryū, Sōryū, Azure Dragon
Category: Dragon

The Myth

Seiryū, the Azure Dragon, is a great blue dragon who guards the eastern direction of the heavens. He is one of the Four Symbols, four mythical beasts associated with the four directions and the cosmic order. Seiryū represents the east and is connected with the element of wood, spring, and the planet Jupiter.

The tradition of the Four Symbols originated and became established in China during the Han dynasty through ideas concerning Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. Each direction was associated with a particular celestial beast, and these beings became important not only in cosmology but also in ritual practices and the planning of cities.

The Azure Dragon appears alongside the Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and White Tiger as part of this cosmic arrangement. The Book of Rites describes military banners bearing the Four Symbols: the Vermilion Bird was placed at the front, the Black Tortoise at the rear, the Azure Dragon on the left, and the White Tiger on the right. These sacred beasts therefore accompanied armies as symbols representing the ordered directions of the heavens.

The Huainanzi further associates the east with wood, Taihao and Jumang with the governance of spring, Jupiter with the corresponding celestial body, and the Azure Dragon with the beast of the eastern direction.

The image of Seiryū later became deeply established in Japan. One of the most important surviving representations can be found in the murals of the Takamatsuzuka and Kitora Tumuli in Asuka, Nara Prefecture. The tombs were constructed around the seventh and eighth centuries, and their chambers contain representations of the Four Symbols. The artistic tradition was transmitted from the continent through China and Korea, with comparable representations appearing in Chinese tombs from the Han through the Six Dynasties and in the tombs of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Goryeo.

The Four Symbols also became part of Japanese court ritual. The Shoku Nihongi records that during the New Year’s ceremony held in the Daigokuden in 701, seven banners decorated with the Four Symbols together with crows, the sun, and the moon were erected and displayed. This ceremonial arrangement was modeled on the culture of Tang China.

Thus Seiryū is not simply a dragon of the eastern sky, but one of the four great beings through which the heavens, directions, seasons, elements, and earthly ritual were understood as part of a single cosmic order.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “青竜 [せいりゅう] (Seiryū).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). October 21, 2024. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1082920496.html

Santōryū

by

Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Three-Headed Dragon, Three-Headed Dragon Mummy
Category: Dragon

The Myth

Santōryū is described as a strange three-headed dragon with a reptilian body and three long, slender necks extending from it, each ending in a head. The creature’s appearance resembles an artificial specimen made by combining the body of a small crocodile with three snakes.

Two objects described as “Three-Headed Dragon Mummies” are preserved among the yokai materials at the Japan Yokai Museum in Miyoshi, Hiroshima Prefecture. They were reportedly displayed as sideshow curiosities during the Shōwa period and later exhibited at various yokai exhibitions.

A sideshow flyer known as the “Great Yokai Exhibition” describes the creature as a “Gunma Prefecture Specialty Three-Headed Dragon,” presenting it alongside other supposed regional curiosities such as the “Tochigi Prefecture Specialty Cat Mermaid” and the “Ibaraki Prefecture Specialty Fox-Raccoon Dog.”

The true nature of the Santōryū, however, remains uncertain. There are no other documents or testimonies that objectively establish whether the sideshow described by the flyer actually took place, or whether the mummy and its associated materials were genuinely produced during the Shōwa period. The history of the Three-Headed Dragon therefore remains open to further investigation.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “三頭竜 [さんとうりゅう] (Santōryū).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). October 21, 2024. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1082925945.html

Sekiryū

by

Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Red Dragon
Category: Dragon

The Myth

Sekiryū is a dragon with a brilliant red body, appearing in Japanese legends and tales as a supernatural being associated with extraordinary births and immense martial power.

In the Zen Taiheiki, the Red Dragon is said to have played a part in the birth of Sakata Kintoki, better known as Kintarō, who later became one of Minamoto no Yorimitsu’s Four Heavenly Kings. In the fourth year of Ten’en, 976, Yorimitsu visited Mount Ashigara. As he approached the red clouds hanging over the mountain, he encountered an old woman of about sixty and a young man of about twenty who was still dressed like a child. Despite the rugged rocks and steep terrain, the pair moved across the mountain as effortlessly as though they were walking on level ground.

The old woman was the young man’s mother. She described her son as one who had been “conceived between heaven and earth” and had received the command of Heaven. He had neither a surname nor a known father. She then revealed the strange circumstances surrounding his birth.

Before becoming pregnant, the woman had been sleeping upon the mountaintop when she dreamed that she united with a Red Dragon. She awoke to the sound of violent thunder. From this mysterious encounter the extraordinary child was conceived.

As the boy grew, his supernatural nature became increasingly apparent. He could cross mountains with ease, moving over the wild terrain as though it were nothing, and possessed immense strength. He was even capable of lifting enormous rocky cliffs with his bare hands.

When Yorimitsu learned of the young man’s remarkable martial abilities, he recognized his extraordinary potential. The two exchanged cups of sake in a formal bond between lord and retainer, and Yorimitsu bestowed upon him the name Sakata Kintoki. Thus the Red Dragon became the supernatural father of a warrior whose immense strength and martial prowess would make him one of Yorimitsu’s legendary Four Heavenly Kings.

The tale also recalls an older Chinese tradition concerning Liu Bang, the founder and first emperor of the Former Han Dynasty. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, Liu Bang’s mother once dreamed that she had mated with a dragon before becoming pregnant with him. The dragon was identified as a red dragon. The connection between the two stories was recognized within the Japanese tradition, and the Chronicles of Great Peace has Yorimitsu invoke the example when recognizing Kintoki’s extraordinary martial ability.

The strange birth of Kintoki was not universally accepted as a literal encounter with a dragon. The Commentary on the Mountains offers a much more skeptical interpretation, suggesting that the mountain woman may have had relations with several men and, not knowing the true father of her child, claimed that she had conceived him through a dream involving the Red Dragon in order to avoid accusations. The text compares this explanation with stories such as that of Yang Guozhong’s wife in the Tianbao Yishi, where women are said to have concealed questionable pregnancies by claiming that they had conceived through the influence of the sun, moon, or a supernatural dream.

Sekiryū therefore stands at the boundary between divine dragon mythology and the legendary origins of extraordinary heroes: a red dragon appearing in a dream, accompanied by thunder, becomes the mysterious father of a child whose superhuman strength marks him as destined for greatness.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “赤竜 [せきりゅう] (Sekiryū).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). October 21, 2024. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1082924042.html