Greetings yokai fans!

I hope you are all having a good holiday. New Years is just around the corner and I am preparing to head back to Japan to continue working on yokai!

Today I am posting the next set of microbial yokai. This posting covers two main types of these yokai, shu and shaku. We saw a kan no mushi last time and I talked a bit about that… Shu and shaku are hard to translate, so I ended up leaving their names as shu and shaku. The reason is because these are different types of bugs, and they are so tied in with Chinese magic that is becomes very hard to accurately translate them. I’ll try to do a bit of explanation here, before the posts.

Shaku have defined shapes and forms. They infect specific parts of the body each time, and are pin-pointable. Their illnesses are usually illness “of the blood” (a vague term in Chinese medicine, which I’m not advocating here, but just describing as the yokai are described in Edo-period textbooks!). The main idea behind this “theory” is that blood can become too hot or cold, or too slow, or too thin, and it causes various ailments. Shaku cause pain deep within the body. Shaku are tied to “in” (i.e. yin), the cosmic force of negativity and shadow.

Shu, on the other hand, do not have definite forms. They collect and dissipate, causing problems as they take various shapes. Shu cause pain on the surface of the body usually. Their ailments are not of the blood, but of the “ki” (another vague concept, called “chi” in Chinese, related to words like “reiki” — it basically means “energy”). Shu are related to “yo” (i.e. yang), the cosmic force of positivity and light.

If that’s a bit confusing, don’t worry, it is! If you read The Hour of Meeting Evil Spirits you’ll be a little familiar with in and yo and the cosmic forces, but that’s such a deep and confusing subject that it would take a whole other Patreon project to delve into its meanings. For our purpses, we just care about the yokai 😉 but it helps a bit to get a basic explanation of the energies we’re going to be talking about with these “disease yokai.”

Anyway, on to the yokai!

Hishaku

脾積
ひしゃく

TRANSLATION: spleen shaku (a type of infection)

HABITAT: the spleen

APPEARANCE: Hishaku is a microbe which lives near the belly button and infects the spleen. It has a fuzzy, yellowish, bear-like body and a long red tongue. A large red pentagon-like shape appears on the hishaku’s side; this is a symbol of the belly button. Hishaku love sweets, and can’t get enough of them. They also have a fondness for humming and singing.

INTERACTIONS: Hishaku infections are most likely to occur during the changing of the seasons. This is because hishaku are related to the element of earth in Chinese element theory, and those days are also closely related to the element of earth.

Hishaku can be treated with acupuncture around the belly button.

Hinoshu

脾ノ聚
ひのしゅ

TRANSLATION: spleen shu (a type of infection)

HABITAT: the spleen

APPEARANCE: Hinoshu is a lumpy, rock-like microbial yōkai which infects the spleen.

INTERACTIONS: Hinoshu cause a lot of pain. When a hinoshu infection settles in, the victim feels as if they have fallen from a height onto an enormous boulder.

When an infection takes this form, it becomes very difficult to recover from this illness.  Traditionally, acupuncture is used to treat it.

You can view these guys at http://yokai.com/hinoshu/ and http://yokai.com/hishaku/

That’s all for now! More on January’s plans soon!

Oh, and by the way, there is a “hara no mushi” dance based on these critters. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNqV_oyNZCI&feature=youtu.be

Greetings yokai fans!

I hope the polar vortext is not making you too uncomfortable. It’s quite chilly here!

Of course in the cold weather, everyone seems to be catching colds, so it’s so appropriate that this month we’re looking at these “disease” yokai.

Our first three are ready. Hopefully you won’t catch one of them!

Haimushi http://yokai.com/haimushi/

肺虫

はいむし

TRANSLATION: lung worm, lung bug

HABITAT: the lungs

APPEARANCE: Haimushi is a tiny moth-like creature with a segmented body and four wings.

INTERACTIONS: Haimushi infect the lungs and cause various health problems. They are fond of cooked rice. If a haimushi leaves its host, the person will die and the haimushi will transform into a hitodama—a fiery orb which floats about in the sky.

A haimushi infection can be treated with byakujutsu, a traditional remedy made by burning the powdered root of the herb Atractylodes japonica.

Haishaku http://yokai.com/haishaku/

肺積

はいしゃく

TRANSLATION: lung mass, lung clump

HABITAT: the lungs

APPEARANCE: Haishaku is a lumpy creature that sticks in the lungs and causes sickness. Its nose opens directly into its lugs, so it is extremely sensitive to smells. Haishaku strongly dislike pleasant and foul smells. They prefer strong fishy and raw smells. They also love spicy food.

INTERACTIONS: People infected with haishaku have the same smell and taste preferences as the haishaku. They also commonly develop depression.

Haishaku infections can be treated with gentle and shallow acupuncture.

Kiukan http://yokai.com/kiukan/

キウカン

TRANSLATION: cow distemper

ALTERNATE NAMES: haikan (lung distemper)

HABITAT: the lungs

APPEARANCE: Kiukan is a type of kan no mushi—a creature which causes distemper and irritability in children. Kan no mushi can take many shapes and infect many parts of the body. A kiukan is a kan no mushi which takes the shape of a cow and infects the lungs.

INTERACTIONS: Kiukan tend to act up and cause stronger symptoms around mealtime. When a kan no mushi takes this form, recovery becomes more difficult. However, there are a number of ways to treat it with acupuncture.

Greetings, yokai fans!

Tonight I bring you the jikininki. I included a creepy little tale that I really like! It’s based on Lafcadio Hearn’s story about the jikininki as well as an old story from Ugetsu Monogatari. It’s got just the right amount of creepiness to it. I think you’ll like it!

http://yokai.com/jikininki/

食人鬼

じきにんき

TRANSLATION: human-eating ghost

HABITAT: old temples and ruins

DIET: human corpses

APPEARANCE: Jikininki are ghouls which feast on the bodies of the dead. They appear as ordinary humans for the most part, except their features are more monstrous. They have sharp, pointed teeth which they use to peel the flesh off of the recently deceased.

BEHAVIOR: Jikininki are found near villages, usually in abandoned temples or old ruins. They avoid excessive contact with humans, but remain close to human settlements, as humans are their main source of food. Jikininki gain their sustenance by devouring the flesh and bones of the recently deceased. They do not enjoy their existence and do not find pleasure in eating the dead. It merely temporarily relieves some of the pain of their eternal hunger.

Jikininki exist somewhere between the living and the dead. They exhibit some ghost-like traits; they and their dwellings are often invisible during the day, appearing only to unsuspecting travelers during the night. They usually hunt their prey at night as well, slipping into temples when the dead are lain there for funerary prayers.

ORIGINS: Jikininki are closely related to gaki—hungry ghosts of Buddhist cosmology who are constantly starving but unable to eat anything. A jikininki is born when a person performs evil deeds, corrupting his soul. Some jikiniki were corrupt priests who could not properly pass on after their deaths. Others were once humans who, for some reason or another, developed a taste for human flesh. As time went on and they continued eating people, they gradually transformed into these monsters. 

LEGENDS: Long ago, a monk named Musō Soseki was traveling on a pilgrimage when he became lost deep in the mountains. As day began to fade, he came across a dilapidated old hermitage, where an elderly monk gave him directions to a village not far away. Soseki traveled on, and just as night fell he arrived in the village.

The son of the village chief welcomed Soseki and invited him to stay in his house as a guest. “However,” he said, “my father passed away earlier today. In our village, we have a custom. When one of us dies, we all must spend the night away from the village. If we do not do this, we will be cursed. But you are tired from your journey, and seeing as you are a priest, and also not a member of this village, I see no reason why you too must leave. Please feel free to stay in my house this night while the rest of us leave the village.” Soseki gratefully accepted. The villagers all left the village, and Soseki was alone.

That night, the monk recited funerary prayers over the body of the village chief. All of a sudden, he felt a presence nearby. Soseki felt his body freeze up, and he was unable to move. Then, a dark, hazy shape crept through the house and up to the body. The creature devoured the remains of the village chief, and then slipped away as quietly as it had arrived.

The following morning, when the villagers returned, Soseki told them what he had seen during the night. The village chief’s son told him that this was just as the local legends say. Soseki was surprsied, and asked why the monk living in the hermitage did not perform the funeral prayers for the village. The village chief’s son seemed confused. “There is no hermitage nearby. What’s more, there haven’t been any monks in this region for many generations…”

Soseki traced his steps through the mountains to the old hermitage he had seen the night before. The old monk welcomed him into the hovel and told him, “I apologize for showing you such a sight last night. The monster you saw in the village chief’s house was me. Long, long ago I was a priest. I lived in that village, and I performed many funeral services for the dead. However, all I could think of was the payment for my services, and not the souls of the deceased. Because of my lack of conviction, when I died I was reborn as a jikininki. Now, I am forced to feed off the bodies of the dead. Please, save my soul and release me from my torment!”

In that instant, the elderly monk and the dilapidated old hermitage both disappeared. Soseki was sitting on the dirt, surrounded by tall grass. The only feature nearby was an ancient, moss-covered gravestone.

Greetings yokai fans! And happy Thanksgiving!

On Thanksgiving my mother always pull old decorations out of the attic, such as a cornucopia, a teddy bear riding a sled, and some cute little sewn mice wearing pilgrim hats, among other things. These are Thanksgiving staples, and have been in my family since as long as I can remember; probably even before I was born. But every year it’s a welcoming sight to see the same old decorations layed out for Thanksgiving.

If this were old Japan, some of those things would probably become tsukumogami. I can imagine those little mice running around, stabbing at wooden turkeys and plastic fruits with their miniature forks and knives…

Today’s yokai sort of fits that theme, with a little bit of added mischief (“Hey! Who moved this piece?! I know it was one of you…”). It’s not Thanksgiving-related itself, of course, but it has that same quality. As a kid I always wanted to play with those objects, but since they were old I was told they weren’t toys for me to play with. Just like the kaichigo would be told about the precious shells he is playing with. I think the colors are quite Thanksgiving-y as well, so it’s a good post to share today.

You can read the post on yokai.com too: http://yokai.com/kaichigo/

 Kaichigo

貝児
かいちご

TRANSLATION: shell boy
HABITAT: decorative shell boxes
DIET: none

APPEARANCE: Kaichigo is the spirit of a shell box come to life. It takes the form of a small, doll-like boy in a kimono.

BEHAVIOR: Kaichigo haunt the shell boxes used to store beautiful and expensive painted shells. They come out when nobody is around and play with the shells, flipping them over and moving them around into different positions.

ORIGIN: Kaichigo’s origins lie in kaiawase (“shell matching”), a popular Heian period game which uses painted seashells. Beautiful shells of the right size and color were collected and decorated, their insides lined with gold and painted with scenes from popular stories, such as The Tale of Genji. The two halves of the same shell would be painted with the same scene, and players of the game would try to match the two sides. Beautifully decorated shell boxes, or kaioke, were used to store the shells while not in use. Kaiawase gradually became replaced by similar matching games, such as karuta, which use less exquisite playing pieces. The kaioke and shells themselves came to be viewed as precious art objects instead of toys. Because each shell half will perfectly fit its matching half and no other, expensive kaiawase sets came to be used as wedding dowries—symbolizing a perfect and unique match between bride and groom. Some boxes have been passed down from mother to daughter over and over for centuries. Those kaioke which have been around for a very long time and are no longer used as games begin to resent their existence. They grow restless and want to be played with once again, and develop a soul: the kaichigo.