Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Tottori Futon, The Futon That Talks, The Futon of God
Category: Object

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The Myth

The Talking Futon is a haunted Japanese futon associated with a tragic story from Tottori. The tale tells of a travelling merchant who spends the night at a newly opened inn. As he begins to fall asleep, he hears two children speaking to each other in the darkness. They repeatedly exchange the words, “Brother, it’s cold,” and “You’re cold, aren’t you?” Believing that children from another room have entered by mistake, the merchant calls out to them. The voices briefly stop but soon return. When he lights a lantern and searches the room, he finds nobody. Eventually, he realizes that the voices are coming from the futon itself. Terrified, he gathers his belongings and flees the inn.

When another guest experiences the same phenomenon the following night, the innkeeper investigates and hears the mysterious voices himself. He traces the futon’s history through several antique shops and discovers that it once belonged to a desperately poor family. The father earned very little, while his bedridden wife and their six children struggled to pay the rent. After the father died, the mother also succumbed to illness, leaving the children to survive alone. They gradually sold their possessions until only their futon remained. During a bitter winter, the brothers huddled together beneath it, repeatedly comforting one another with the words, “Brother, it’s cold,” and “You’re cold, aren’t you?”

Their landlord eventually seized the futon because the family could no longer pay the rent and drove the children out into the freezing cold. Wearing only thin clothing, the brothers huddled together outside, but the snow and cold overcame them. Their bodies were discovered several days later, and people built a resting place for them in a nearby Kannon hall, where prayers could be offered for their souls.

Upon learning the truth, the innkeeper took the haunted futon to the temple and arranged for Buddhist sutras to be recited so that the brothers’ spirits might find peace. Afterward, the voices ceased. The story presents the Talking Futon as an object that preserves the suffering and final words of two children, transforming an ordinary household possession into a haunting reminder of poverty, cruelty, and the need to honor the dead.

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Sources

“Speaking Futon.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1072878051.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Dobukara Hebi, 溝から蛇, Straw Snake
Category: Object

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The Myth

Dobukara-ja is a strange supernatural creature depicted in the Japanese illustrated work Bakemono Wahonso. It appears as a snake made of golden-yellow straw, resembling wheat straw in color. The creatures come in various sizes, make plenty of noise, and wrap themselves around people, but they are described as entirely harmless and not frightening.

According to the account, these straw snakes emerge from the sides of roads every year after the festival held on the first day of the sixth month. One depiction shows them appearing behind people walking with umbrellas in the rain, calling out, “Young lady, come along with me! It’s me, it’s me!” Their appearance closely resembles the straw snakes used in traditional Japanese insect-repelling processions, in which straw figures are carried as part of rituals intended to drive pests away from crops.

The creature’s name comes from the expression dobu kara hebi, meaning “a snake from a ditch.” The saying describes something unexpected appearing from an unlikely place. The Dobukara-ja embodies this idea through its sudden appearance beside the road, turning an ordinary straw object into a peculiar but harmless supernatural being.

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Sources

“Dust-Covered Snake.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654364.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Watahoshi, 綿ほうし, Cotton Spirit
Category: Object

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The Myth

Wata Hōshi is a mysterious yokai depicted in an illustrated collection of supernatural creatures whose author and date of creation are unknown. As its name suggests, it appears as a white, cotton-like being, resembling a soft mass of cotton rather than a clearly defined animal or humanoid figure.

Little is known about the Wata Hōshi beyond its unusual appearance. It has been suggested that it might be related to the Nuppeppō, another strange Japanese yokai, but no comparable depictions or established traditions have been identified. Its origins, behaviour, and supernatural abilities therefore remain unknown.

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Sources

“Wataboushi.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1025560341.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Ja-tai, Snake Sash, 蛇帯
Category: Object

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The Myth

Jatai is a supernatural apparition depicted in Toriyama Sekien’s 今昔百鬼拾遺 (Konjaku Hyakki Shūi). It appears as a sash draped over a folding screen, its shape resembling a snake extending its tongue. A pillow and a comb lie beneath the screen, completing the eerie scene. Rather than describing a creature with a clearly established body or behaviour, the image presents an ordinary clothing accessory taking on the threatening form of a serpent.

The accompanying text connects the Jatai with jealousy and a traditional belief that sleeping with a sash across the body causes dreams of snakes. It suggests that the three-layered sash of a jealous woman may become a venomous serpent winding around her seven times. The image plays on the similarity between the Japanese words for a snake’s body and a sash, linking the ideas of jealousy, serpentine transformation, and poisonous resentment.

The Jatai is generally understood as an artistic creation inspired by this wordplay and by older imagery of snakes emerging from clothing or accessories. Similar motifs appear in depictions of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, including a snake-like sash hanging from a clothing rack. The Jatai therefore transforms an everyday object into a symbol of jealousy and the dangerous emotions associated with it.

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Sources

“Jatai.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654355.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Suzuri no Tamashii, Inkstone Spirit, 硯の魂
Category: Object

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The Myth

The Suzuri no Tamashii is a supernatural spirit associated with an inkstone that has been used for generations to copy the same manuscript repeatedly. Over time, the inkstone begins to absorb aspects of the story it has helped preserve. It can then produce phantom sounds and illusory figures drawn from the manuscript, causing supernatural disturbances across the writing desk.

The spirit is particularly associated with the brutal destruction of the Taira clan during the final naval battle of the Genpei War. When the inkstone is used, it produces eerie sounds resembling the roar of the sea, the clash of armies, and the screams of dying warriors. The ink inside begins to ripple and swell like ocean waves, from which tiny boats and soldiers emerge as though the battle were being reenacted within the ink itself.

The Suzuri no Tamashii is connected to the vengeful spirits of the Taira warriors who perished in the conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans. According to the legend, many of the slain warriors became onryō, spirits driven by resentment and vengeance. Their lingering curse infects inkstones repeatedly used to reproduce the story of their downfall, allowing the tragedy to manifest whenever the ink is disturbed.

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Sources

“Suzuri no tamashii.” Yokai.com. https://yokai.com/suzurinotamashii/

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Koto Furunushi, Old Koto Master, 琴古主
Category: Object

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The Myth

The Koto Furunushi is a supernatural yōkai resembling a koto, a long, harp-like Japanese musical instrument, transformed into a wild beast. It originates from the belief that objects neglected by their owners can develop supernatural life after being used for many years.

A koto that was once played frequently but later forgotten and stored away may transform into a Koto Furunushi. Despite its beast-like appearance, the creature retains the memory of every song ever played on its strings. When nobody is around, it plays music on its own, leaving people puzzled by the mysterious sounds coming from empty rooms.

The Koto Furunushi prefers old melodies that have fallen out of fashion and disappeared from human memory. Through its solitary performances, it preserves forgotten songs long after people have ceased to remember them.

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Sources

“Koto furunushi.” Yokai.com. https://yokai.com/kotofurunushi/

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Bake Zōri, 化け草履, Ghost Zōri, Haunted Straw Sandals
Category: Object

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The Myth

Bakezōri are supernatural sandal yōkai said to emerge when traditional Japanese straw sandals, known as zōri, are mistreated and abandoned by their owners. They take the form of animated sandals with arms and legs growing from their bodies and a single large eye in the center. Once transformed, they become mischievous household spirits that run around the house at night, making noise as their little feet clatter across hard floors.

Bakezōri are known for singing a peculiar chant as they race through the house: “Kararin! Kororin! Kankororin! Managu mittsu ni ha ninmai!” The chant refers to the sandal’s physical features, with “three eyes” representing the three holes where its straps are attached and “two teeth” referring to the two wooden clogs on the underside of Japanese sandals. The remaining words imitate the clattering sound of sandals moving across a hard surface. Through their strange appearance and noisy nighttime antics, Bakezōri embody the idea that neglected everyday objects can acquire a supernatural life of their own.

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Sources

“Bakezōri.” Yokai.com. https://yokai.com/bakezouri/

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Nuno-bai, 布這い
Category: Object

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The Myth

Nunobai is a mysterious yokai from the Aomori region of Japan. It is described as a strange being that moves along the ground in a writhing motion, as though a piece of cloth were being dragged across the earth.

Little else is known about Nunobai, and its appearance, origins, and supernatural abilities are not described in detail. Its defining characteristic is its unusual, cloth-like movement across the ground.

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Sources

“Nunoba.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010652669.html

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Kasa Obake, Karakasa Kozō, Umbrella Ghost, 傘化け, 傘お化け, 唐傘小僧
Category: Object

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The Myth

The Kasabake is a classic Japanese yokai depicting a supernatural umbrella. It is typically portrayed with a single eye, a mouth, and a handle transformed into a leg, giving the umbrella a strange, animated appearance. This distinctive design has become one of the most recognizable visual representations of yokai and continues to appear in various forms of Japanese imagery.

The Kasabake is also known as Kasa Obake or Karakasa Kozō. Unlike many other yokai, however, it is not based on a specific legend or established traditional narrative. Rather, it is a depiction of an umbrella brought to life as a supernatural creature. Consequently, it has no clearly established behaviour, powers, or personality beyond its characteristic appearance as a monstrous umbrella.

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Sources

“Kasa-obake.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010652592.html

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