I’ve written a little about yokai themes these past few days, but today’s yokai is another interesting theme: it is often considered to be a metaphor for child-rearing.

Like in many cultures, bringing up children is a very important part of Japanese culture. Motherhood and fatherhood are difficult tasks, and highly respected according to traditional customs. Unsurprisingly, there are many yokai which reflect this duty in one way or another (either cynically or sincerely).

Child-rearing yokai legends usually begin with strange creatures that require something—often this is food, or candy, or even asking a stranger to hold their baby. Nure onna and ubume come to mind, as does the kosodate yurei, which we will look at later this month. The specific details vary from story to story, and sometimes the person who offers support is killed, while sometimes the person is rewarded for their efforts.

In the case of today’s yokai, all that is required is a piggyback ride. However, after giving the piggyback ride, the yokai becomes unbearably heavy and starts chewing on your head. In these legends, those who are able to put up with the pestering yokai are rewarded with gold in the end. The metaphor is not hard to see: those who are willing to love and care for children, sacrificing what they have in order to make the lives of their children better—even when those children are unbearably annoying—will one day reap great rewards.

If only raising a child were that simple!

Today’s yokai is brought to you by request of my Patreon backers! If you have a yokai you’d like to see, please consider joining my Patreon project for $1 per month!