Japanese Mythology

Tonzo

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative names: –
Category: Cow

The Myth

Tonzo is a mysterious yokai from Iwaizumi in Iwate Prefecture. It is described as a pitch-black, bull-like flying monster with enough supernatural strength to shake the ground and destroy trees.

One evening, an experienced hunter named Sahei-dono went hunting in Miyanosawa. For some reason, no deer appeared that night. As dawn approached, he was preparing to leave when a pitch-black creature resembling a bull suddenly jumped out before him.

The creature spoke in a human voice and declared that it was Tonzo, challenging Sahei to strike it and threatening to crush him if he did. Sahei had his hand on the knife at his waist, but he was so frightened that he fled.

Some time later, Sahei went to Yokonaga-mine. Near a chestnut tree, Tonzo appeared again. The ground trembled as the creature leaped onto the tree. It shook the tree violently and snapped its branches.

Tonzo then reminded Sahei of their previous encounter and threatened to seize and kill him if he returned. Terrified, Sahei begged for forgiveness and fled.

About ten days later, Sahei fell ill and died.

The true nature of Tonzo is unknown. The only description preserved in the tradition is that it was a flying monster resembling a bull.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “トンゾウ (Tonzo).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). December 3, 2011. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654094.html

Gaibyō-ki

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative names: The Coughing Disease Oni
Category: Demon

The Myth

Gaibyō-ki are small oni associated with an outbreak of coughing sickness. They are depicted as three small demons riding on clouds and attempting to enter a household, where they spread the disease.

The story appears in Ehon Sayoshigure under the title Okina Ekijin o Fusegu.

Around the Eishō era (1504–1521), coughing sickness spread through four or five villages in Echizen Province. Many villagers became seriously ill and were confined to their beds.

A rōnin lived in one of the affected villages, but strangely, nobody in his household became sick.

One night, an old man appeared at the rōnin’s house and told him that he lived beneath the southeastern corner of the house. He explained that oni carrying the coughing disease had recently been entering people’s homes and causing them to suffer. Because he recognized the rōnin’s virtuous conduct, the old man had been standing guard outside the house each night to keep the oni away.

After the old man departed, the rōnin dug beneath the southeastern corner of the house. There he discovered a box buried in the ground.

Believing that the box represented the old man who had protected his household, the rōnin built a shrine and worshipped him.

The accompanying illustration shows three small oni riding through the clouds as they attempt to enter the rōnin’s home, while the old man stands before the gate and glares at them, preventing their entry.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “咳病の鬼 [がいびょう‐き] (Gaibyō-ki).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). July 19, 2020. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1077741576.html

Kigyō-yubi

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative names: Oni-shaped Finger
Category: Demon

The Myth

Kigyō-yubi is a severed human finger that appears to transform into the head of a small oni. The transformed finger is described as having a red complexion, two curled horns, and bright, star-like eyes, resembling the traditional Japanese depiction of an oni.

The story appears in the second volume of Kaishū Yakōkon, in a tale concerning a courtesan named Tatsuta.

Tatsuta was born in Kyoto and became a shirabyōshi, a female entertainer who performed songs and dances. After moving to Naniwa, she became highly sought after because of her beauty and skill at singing. She eventually fell deeply in love with a young merchant named Yamamoto Matashuke, and remained devoted to him even while continuing her work as a courtesan.

Matashuke, however, eventually abandoned her and married another woman. Tatsuta was devastated by his change of heart. She repeatedly sent him letters and, as proof of her devotion, even cut off her hair and one of her fingers and sent them to him. Matashuke regarded these gifts as troublesome and returned them.

Consumed by grief, jealousy, and resentment, Tatsuta became increasingly distraught. The severed finger remained in a container in her possession.

One day, when Tatsuta looked at the finger, she saw that it had transformed into the head of a tiny oni. It was red, had two curled horns, and possessed eyes that shone like stars. Terrified, Tatsuta covered the container and believed that her intense jealousy had caused her severed finger to become an oni.

She went to a reclusive monk named Ryōfū and confessed what had happened. When Ryōfū opened the container, however, he saw nothing unusual. The object was simply a human finger.

When he asked Tatsuta whether she still saw an oni, she insisted that she did. Ryōfū concluded that the oni was a manifestation of the demon within her own jealous mind, projected onto the severed finger.

Ryōfū taught her Buddhist teachings and gave her the ten recitations of the Buddha’s name. Three days later, Tatsuta returned and happily explained that she could no longer see the finger as an oni. She wished to shave her head and become Ryōfū’s disciple.

Ryōfū initially refused, explaining that she could not simply abandon her life as a courtesan. Instead, he taught her that she could turn her heart toward Buddhism even while remaining outwardly in her existing circumstances.

Tatsuta continued as a courtesan for some time, but eventually fulfilled her wish and became Ryōfū’s disciple. She shaved her head, took the name Eirin Bikuni, and established a hermitage at Sonezaki.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “鬼形の指 [きぎょう‐ゆび] (Kigyo-yubi).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). September 22, 2018. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1072385607.html

Gagoze

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative names: Gagojin, Gagoji, Gangoji, Gangōji, Gagoze
Category: Demon

The Myth

Gagoze is a Japanese yokai associated with the ancient Gangōji temple in Nara. In later yokai picture scrolls, it is depicted as an ogre-like figure with a cloth covering its head. These depictions are thought to have been inspired by the vengeful spirit said to have appeared in the temple’s bell tower.

During the reign of Emperor Bidatsu, a farmer from Katawa in Aichi District, Owari Province, encountered a small thunder deity that had fallen from the sky. After helping the deity return to heaven, the farmer was rewarded with a child.

The child was born with a snake wrapped around his head and grew into a person of extraordinary strength. He eventually became a temple servant at Gangōji.

At that time, a demon appeared every night in the temple’s bell tower and killed people. The exceptionally strong youth volunteered to defeat it. At midnight, he confronted the demon and fought with it. The demon eventually escaped, but the youth succeeded in tearing out some of its hair.

The following day, the monks followed the trail of blood left by the fleeing demon. It led them to a place where people who had committed evil deeds at the temple had been buried. The demon was therefore revealed to be the vengeful spirit of a wicked person who had died.

The demon’s hair was preserved at Gangōji as a temple treasure. The youth later became known as Dōjō Hōshi and became a Buddhist monk.

The names Gagoze, Gagoji, Gagojin, and Gangoji later became associated with words for monsters or bogeymen in children’s speech. During the Edo period, these names were understood as corruptions of Gangōji and were connected with the legend of the temple’s demon.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “元興寺 [がごぜ] (Gagoze).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). December 6, 2010. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010653554.html

Ō-gyūnikukai

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative names: Ō-gyūnikukai
Category: Cow

The Myth

During the Meiji era, an inn in Hirakawa-chō, Kojimachi Ward, Tokyo, became notorious for strange occurrences in its eight-mat room on the second floor. According to an 1898 report in the Miyako Shimbun, anyone who stayed there was said to experience terrifying nightmares in a state somewhere between dreaming and waking.

One guest dreamed that a giant was strangling him. Another experienced a beautiful young woman tormenting him. Two explorers who had returned from overseas decided to stay in the room themselves in order to discover the truth behind the phenomenon.

During the night, one of the explorers awoke from a nightmare in which a giant was strangling him. When he asked his companion what was happening, the other revealed that he too had experienced a strange dream.

His nightmare, however, concerned something much stranger: beef.

In the dream, an enormous piece of beef suddenly descended from the ceiling beams. As someone who considered himself a great eater of beef and horse meat, he initially believed that disposing of it should have been easy, whether by boiling or roasting it. Yet within the dream he found himself completely unable to get rid of the enormous mass of meat.

He tried various methods, but nothing worked. Eventually he became overwhelmed and helpless, suffering so intensely that he awoke covered in sweat.

At the same time, his companion was also suffering from his own nightmare about the giant monster.

The report offered several possible explanations for the strange experiences. Some suggested that animals such as martens living in the attic might emit a form of “animal electricity” that caused the disturbing dreams. Another explanation was more psychological: the first person to experience a nightmare in the room may have told others about it, causing subsequent guests to enter the room already frightened and consequently experience similar nightmares.

The Ō-gyūnikukai is therefore less a conventional monster than a strange Meiji-era account of a supernatural nightmare, in which an enormous piece of beef itself becomes the source of terror.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “大いなる牛肉塊 (Ō-gyūnikukai).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). April 29, 2021. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1078437884.html

Nunohikiushi

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative names: Nunohiki-ushi
Category: Cow

The Myth

Long ago, in Shinano Province, there lived a wicked and unfaithful old woman in Chiisagata District.

One day, while she was drying a hand towel beneath the eaves of her house, a mysterious cow suddenly appeared. The animal caught the towel upon its horns and immediately ran away.

The old woman chased after it, determined to retrieve her towel. However, the cow continued running until she eventually found herself at the dining hall of Zenkoji Temple. By the time she arrived, the sun had set and darkness had fallen. The mysterious cow had disappeared.

Then something miraculous happened.

The Buddha of Zenkoji Temple suddenly emitted a radiant light, illuminating the trail of drool that the cow had left behind. When the old woman looked closely, she saw that the shining trail formed words. The message told her not to think of the incident as merely the work of a cow, but to understand that her own heart had guided her toward the path.

The old woman was deeply moved by the revelation. She immediately became devoted to Buddhism and spent the night before the Buddha chanting sutras.

When she returned home the following day, she visited a nearby Kannon hall. There, beside the statue of Kannon, she discovered the hand towel that the mysterious cow had taken.

She realized that the cow had actually been an incarnation of Kannon.

Her faith in the Buddha of Zenkoji consequently became even stronger, and she eventually attained rebirth in paradise.

According to the tradition, the Kannon who appeared in the form of the cow was the Nunobiki Kannon, whose statue is preserved at Nunobikiyama Shakusonji Temple in Komoro.

The story became the origin of the Japanese expression meaning to be “led to Zenkoji Temple by a cow”—being unexpectedly guided toward something good by an event whose purpose was not initially understood.

From the Edo period through the Meiji period, prints depicting the miraculous cow leading the old woman to Zenkoji Temple were repeatedly produced and sold around the temple.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “布引牛 (Nunohikiushi).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). June 27, 2021. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1078437882.html

Namedara-ushi

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative names: Namedara-ushi, Namedarouun
Category: Cow

The Myth

Namedara-ushi is said to be the master of Aoike Pond in Gunmura, Masuzu County, in present-day Fujieda City, Shizuoka Prefecture. The legend is recorded in the Suruga no Kuni Zasshi (Miscellaneous Records of Suruga Province).

It was said that whenever Namedara-ushi howled, rain would soon follow. At the bottom of Aoike Pond were believed to be seven water holes from which clear water continually gushed forth. Even during severe droughts, the water level of the pond was said never to decrease.

During times of drought, local farmers performed a rain-making ritual centered around the creature. They constructed a large cow from straw and placed it into the water holes while beating gongs and drums and dancing. According to the tradition, rain would always arrive within three days of performing the ritual.

The connection between the name and the ritual suggests that the “ushi” in Namedara-ushi means “cow.” The creature itself is therefore closely associated with the sacred waters of Aoike Pond and the ritual practices used to bring rain.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “なめだら牛 (Namedara Ushi).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). March 15, 2021. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1078437873.html

Namatonkanashi

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative names: Namatonukanashi, Namatonganashi, Namatouga Nashi
Category: Cow, Deity

The Myth

Namatonkanashi is an agricultural god from Amami Oshima, recorded in Nagoshi Sagenta’s Nanto Zatsuwa. The name is thought to be a phonetic transcription, while Kanashi or Ganashi is an honorific title used in Amami and the Ryukyu Islands for gods and nobles.

The deity is described as a bizarre and enormous cow, larger than an ordinary cow, with eight horns, eight tails, and sixteen legs—eight at the front and eight at the back. White star-like spots are said to cover its belly and thighs.

Namatonkanashi is a living god worshipped by the islanders. Its cry is compared to the sound of a chaumera, while another account describes its voice as so loud that it could deafen those who heard it.

During festivals, Namatonkanashi is said to wander through areas illuminated by bonfires. In particular, it appears during ceremonies in the Nishi-Magiri and Higashi-Magiri districts. The deity is said to strongly dislike people from mainland Japan approaching it.

When Namatonkanashi appears, the islanders traditionally bow with their heads touching the ground, meaning that they cannot actually see the deity’s complete form. Nagoshi Sagenta, a Satsuma samurai who had been exiled to Amami, did not follow this custom. He observed the supposed visiting deity and concluded that its strange appearance was entirely fabricated.

According to this interpretation, Namatonkanashi was not an actual monstrous cow but part of a ritual performance representing the arrival of a god. The islanders’ hostility toward mainland Japanese observers was therefore connected to their resentment of outsiders reducing their religious ceremonies to their superficial physical details.

A later account in Tonari Nanpo’s Amami Shidan (1933) describes Namatonkanashi as a gigantic ox with eight horns, eight legs, and eight tails. It appears during the welcoming festival on the second day of the second month and the sending-off festival on the fourth day of the fourth month, ceremonies associated with welcoming and sending away the gods of the sea and mountains. Its form can only be seen when illuminated by the festival bonfires.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “ナマトンカナシ (Namatonkanashi).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). July 25, 2021. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1078437910.html

Mōnen

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative names: —
Category: Cow

The Myth

Mōnen is a yokai depicted in Kikuya Kinji’s Shinshin Obake Nobanashi (New Ghost Tales), published in 1886.

It appears as a cow that has transformed into a ghost. The creature wears a kimono decorated with a wheel pattern and holds its hooves out in front of its body in the manner of a traditional Japanese ghost.

The name Mōnen is a wordplay on mōnen, meaning “delusion,” and mō, the sound associated with a cow’s moo.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “もうねん (Mōnen).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). April 5, 2021. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1078437875.html

Kudan

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative names: Kutabe, Kudabe, Kutahe, Gudabe, Gutabe, Dodaku, Dotaku
Category: Cow

The Myth

The Kudan is a strange human-faced, bovine-bodied creature said to appear in Japan during times of great uncertainty. It is a prophecy beast, possessing the ability to speak and foretell events that will soon affect humanity.

According to traditions recorded from the Edo period onward, a Kudan could be born from a cow. After its birth, it would speak in human language and reveal a prophecy concerning coming disasters, epidemics, famine, drought, or war. Having delivered its message, the creature would die only a few days later.

One famous account places the Kudan’s appearance at Mount Kurahashi in 1836. This particular Kudan foretold abundant harvests and prosperity rather than disaster. People were instructed to display an image of the creature in their homes, where it would function as a protective charm against misfortune and disease and bring prosperity and a plentiful harvest.

A related creature, the Kutabe, was associated with Mount Tate and was more ominous. It warned of an approaching epidemic and instructed people to look upon an image of itself to escape the coming calamity. Some traditions even prescribed eating mochi made from seven-colored herbs after viewing its image.

The Kudan therefore occupies an unusual place among Japanese monsters: its appearance is terrifying, but its purpose can be protective. It appears briefly, reveals the fate awaiting humanity, gives people a means of surviving it, and then disappears through death.

Sources

“Kudan (yōkai).” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed August 21, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudan_(y%C5%8Dkai)