Greetings yokai fans!

Here is the trio of infectious yokai that I missed from last month. There’s not really a theme to this set; I chose them because I really liked the way they all looked. The Harikikigaki has 63 infections total, and some of them have larval and adult stages, so there was a lot to choose from. I would have regretted it if I didn’t include these funny looking critters.

I’m also excited to put up another Koshin-related bug (the gyochu). There are a few Koshin-related yokai up on the website already (Shokera and Sanshi), and I wrote a little bit about the religion in both books. I’m glad that this next book will also have a Koshin-related yokai. It’s a cool religion that doesn’t really exist anymore. It died out in the 19th century as Japan modernized.

Anyway, here they are:

Mimimushi http://yokai.com/mimimushi/

耳虫
みみむし

TRANSLATION: ear worm

HABITAT: the ears and heart

APPEARANCE: Mimimushi is an infectious yōkai with long ears and a spotted, snake-like body. It writhes and slithers back and forth as it migrates between the ears and the heart, causing discomfort in its host.

INTERACTIONS: People infected with mimimushi crave cold foods and avoid hot food. Their stomachs appear swollen and bloated. Infections can be treated with remedies made from the herb byakujutsu (Atractylodes japonica) and the mushroom bukuryō (Poria cocos).

Gyochu http://yokai.com/gyouchuu/

蟯虫
ぎょうちゅう

TRANSLATION: intestinal worm; pinworm
HABITAT: the genitals

APPEARANCE: Gyōchū are infectious yokai with six arms and long red tongues. They are extremely fond of chatting and gossiping. They live and reproduce in the sex organs, making them a sexually transmitted yōkai. Gyōchū reproduce in the sex organs on Kōshin night, a holy night which occurs every sixty days in the esoteric Kōshin religion. Gyōchū leave their hosts on these nights and visit Enma Daiō, the king of hell and judge of the damned. They tattle on their hosts, telling all of their dreams, desires, and sins to Enma, who will inflict his divine wrath on them accordingly.

INTERACTIONS: There is no treatment for a gyōchū infection. The only way to keep safe from this infection is to avoid any chance of contracting an infection by abstaining from sex on Kōshin night. Traditionally, Kōshin night is reserved for praying. Believers gather together and refrain from sleeping for the whole night, so faithful practitioners should have no problem avoiding contracting gyōchū. People who have sex on these holy nights are committing a grave sacrilege, which the gyōchū will report to King Enma. During the feudal era, terrible diseases (leprosy, for example) were believed to be divine punishments for those who disrespect the gods.

Today, the name gyōchū refers to the pinworm.

 Kitai http://yokai.com/kitai/

鬼胎
きたい

TRANSLATION: uterus evil spirit; uterus ghost
HABITAT: the uterus

APPEARANCE: Kitai is a grotesque infectious yōkai which begins as a blood clot the size of a large sake cup. Its life cycle begins in the left abdomen, and as it grows it migrates to the uterus. Gradually, it develops a face that looks like a frightful cow, bright red with black horns. It grows a long body which coils around like a snake’s. Kitai has a very short temper, but moves extremely slowly, like a slug. Because of this it tends to feel a lot of stress, which it passes on to its host.

INTERACTIONS: Once a kitai takes on its adult form it is difficult to recover from. When a kitai slithers about inside of its host, it causes bouts of hysteria. It is difficult to treat with acupuncture, because the needles often cause the kitai to become stressed, which worsens the condition. There are secret ways of treating slow moving bugs like the kitai, but they are passed on orally from master to student.

Greetings yokai fans!

Today I bring you the kenmun, a yokai from southern Japan which is a kappa/kijimunaa hybrid, with its own strange little twist.

Also, check out the attachment to this post. I think I mentioned last month that the reason I wanted to do this guy was because I found a bottle of “yokai shochu” in the discount liquor bin. So I attached a photo of the liquor, which is called “Ryugu” (i.e. the name of the Dragon king’s palace on the ocean floor) and features a kenmun on the label.

I hope everyone has received their handmade postcards by now. I sent out February’s printed postcards today, and I’m not sure how long it takes to arrive from Japan, but I hope you’ll be getting them quickly! I mistakenly ordered extra large postcards this time, so for the next few months you’ll be getting giant-sized postcards! Lucky!

Anyway, on to the kenmun:

http://yokai.com/kenmun/

Kenmun
水蝹
けんむん

TRANSLATION: water spirit
ALTERNATE NAMES: kenmon, kawataro, yamawaro
HABITAT: the Amami islands
DIET: primarily fish and shellfish
CRITICAL WEAKNESS: octopus and giant clams

APPEARANCE: Kenmun are hairy water and tree spirits from the Amami islands in southern Japan. They look like a cross between a kappa and a monkey. They also closely resemble their Okinawan cousins, kijimunā. Their bodies are covered in dark red or black hair, and they have long, thin legs and arms. They are slightly larger in size than a human child. They have pointed mouths, and on top of their heads is a saucer-like depression which holds a small amount of oil or water. Their bodies smell like yams, and their drool smells terrible.

BEHAVIOR: Kenmun make their homes in banyan trees and spend their days playing in the mountains or near the water in their family groups. They particularly enjoy sumo wrestling, at which they are very skilled. As the seasons change, they migrate back and forth from the mountains to the sea.

Kenmun have a number of strange abilities. They are able to change their shapes. They often disguise themselves as people, horses, or cows. They can change into plants and blend in with the surrounding vegetation, or even disappear entirely. Kenmun can also create light. Their drool glows eerily, as do their fingertips. They have the ability to create fire from the tips of their fingers. Sometimes they use this fire to light the oil in their head-dishes. When mysterious lights are seen in the mountains or on the shores of the Amami islands, it is called kenmun machi by locals.

Kenmun like to hunt at night, lighting up their fingertips to search for food in the dark. They primarily feed on fish and small shellfish. They also enjoy slugs and snails, pulling off the shells and rolling them up like rice balls. (It is possible to identify a banyan tree inhabited by a kenmun by the sheer amount of snail shells piled up among its roots.) They absolutely hate octopus and giant clams, and will have nothing to do with them.

INTERACTIONS: Kenmun stay away from inhabited areas and run away when large groups of people are nearby. They will occasionally aid lone woodcutters and people gathering firewood by carrying heavy loads for them. They remember those who treat them kindly or do them favors. A fisherman who saves a kenmun from being attacked by an octopus is sure to earn its eternal gratitude. Some elderly islanders who have befriended kenmun are to call friendly kenmun out from the mountains to show to their grandchildren.

In general, kenmun do not harm people. They do, however, love competition, and cannot resit the chance to challenge a human to a sumo match. When their head-dish is filled, they have supernatural strength and cannot be beaten. However, kenmun like to mimic people, so if a challenger stands on their head or bows very low, their head-dish will empty out and they can be beaten.

While kenmun are not evil, they do enjoy playing pranks on humans from time to time. They may shape shift into animals and try to scare humans, or offer directions to people that get them totally and helplessly lost. They also have no shame about stealing food or even utensils from humans. Kenmun are very sensitive about being insulted, particularly about their body odors. Because of this, if a person talks about bad smells or farting while in the mountains, any kenmun who overhear it will become upset.

Kenmun do occasionally do wicked things to humans. There are stories of children who wandered into the woods and had their souls stolen by kenmun. Afterwards, the children behaved like kenmun, living in banyan trees and leaping from tree to tree when the villagers tried to catch them. Adults can have their souls stolen by kenmun as well. Kenmun like to force feed them snails, or pull them into rivers. These people are often later found unconscious beneath a banyan tree. If a banyan tree in which a kenmun lives is cut, the kenmun will place a curse upon the woodcutter. The kenmun’s curse causes its victims eyes to swell up, and then go blind. Eventually the cursed person will die.

Some families hang pig foot bones or Japanese pittosporum branches from the eaves of their roofs in order to keep kenmun from coming close. To drive away a kenmun, all it takes is to threaten it with an octopus. Merely threatening to throw an octopus at them is enough to send them running. If an octopus is not available to throw at them, they will also run away from a giant clam, or anything else you throw at them as long as you pretend it’s an octopus.

Greetings yokai fans!

Today is Hina matsuri, and like I said the other day, this yokai has nothing to do with Hina matsuri whatsoever; however, it is a doll and this is doll’s festival, so that alone makes it related enough for me. I hope you enjoy this creepy one!

人形神
ひんながみ

TRANSLATION: doll god, doll spirit
ALTERNATE NAMES: kochobbo
HABITAT: homes

APPEARANCE: Hinnagami are powerful spirits from Toyama Prefecture. They reside in dolls and grant their owners’ wishes.

INTERACTIONS: A hinnagami will grant its owner any wish that he or she desires. Families who own hinnagami quickly become rich and powerful; and people who become rich and famous very quickly are sometimes suspected of owning hinnagami.

Hinnagami come with a catch: if a new request is not made as soon as a wish is granted, the hinnagami will demand, “What is next?” As soon as that request is fulfilled, the hinnagami demands another, and another, and another. This pattern never ends. Because their creation comes out of human greed and desire, hinnagami cling to their creators obsessively and never leave their sides. A hinnagami’s attachment is so powerful, in fact, that even death cannot separate it from its master. When a hinnagami’s creator dies, the hinnagami will follow them to hell and haunt them for all of eternity.

ORIGIN: Hinnagami are created through a long and complicated ritual. There are a few methods of creating a hinnagami, which vary bit by bit depending on who you hear the story from.

In the most common ritual, the person who wishes to create a hinnagami must begin collecting grave earth that has been trampled on by people during the day. Grave earth must be collected in this way every night for three years. For an even stronger hinnagami, they should take earth from seven different graveyeards in seven different villages. Once collected, the grave earth is mixed with human blood until it becomes clay-like. Then it is molded into a doll shape representing a god or a spirit that its creator worships. This doll is placed and left in a busy road until it has been trampled upon by one thousand people. Then the creator retrieves the doll, which has become a hinnagami.

An alternative method is to collect graveyard stones and carve them into one thousand small dolls, each about nine centimeters long. These dolls are boiled in a large pot until only one of them rises to the surface. The doll that rises is said to contain the combined souls of all one thousand dolls. It becomes a special type of hinnagami called a kochobbo.

http://yokai.com/hinnagami/

Greetings yokai fans!

Today I bring you two more fun yokai that live inside of you! I hope you’re all feeling well. 😉

In case you are wondering where your postcards are this month, there has been a slight delay and I haven’t been able to send them out yet. You may remember I asked last month about making new postcards. I ordered them at the end of January, and they were supposed to arrive in 10 days, but they haven’t come yet. So I’ve contacted the print company to find out what’s wrong, but for the time please wait a bit longer for January’s postcards. I will send them as soon as I get them!

And now, on to the good stuff!

The main reason I picked these two guys was because I thought they were cute. There’s not anything in particular connecting them, but I didn’t want to leave them out. I kind of feel that way with a lot of the critters in the Harikikigaki, but I had to draw the line somewhere, so I drew it right after these two. If you guys want to see more infectious yokai in the future, let me know and I’ll happily do some more!

In March I’m going to try to pick up the pace and complete a few more entries, since my painting speed has slowed down a bit during my move to Japan. As always, if you have any requests that you haven’t told me about yet, feel free to leave them in the comments!

Sori no kanmushi
ソリの肝虫
そりのかんむし

TRANSLATION: back-bending liver bug

HABITAT: the liver

DIET: spicy foods

APPEARANCE: The sori no kanmushi is a terrible parasitic bug with wide, bugging out eyes, a blue back, and a white belly. Its hands are like flippers and its tail is brush-like. It likes spicy foods. It lives in the liver, but the symptoms it causes affect the spine.

INTERACTIONS: Sori no kanmushi bites the back of its host, causing great pain. Its victim develops a warped or curved spine, a condition which long ago was called sori (thus this creature’s name). Mokkō (Saussurea costus) and byakujutsu (Atractylodes japonica) are effective medicines against this bug.

http://yokai.com/sorinokanmushi/

Umakan
馬癇
うまかん

TRANSLATION: horse kan (kind of infection)

ALTERNATE NAMES: shinnoju

HABITAT: the heart

APPEARANCE: Umakan is an infectious parasite with the appearance of a splendid, fast horse. Its head, neck, and back are deep red. It’s tail, belly, and legs are white. It acts up in bright sunlight, or the light from a large fire.

INTERACTIONS: Umakan victims suffer from a weak heart and fainting spells. Upon waking up, they seem perfectly fine with no other problems. To treat this sickness, the victim must continuously build up strength in their heart. There are a number of effective ways to treat it with acupuncture as well, which are passed down orally from teacher to student.

http://yokai.com/umakan/

Greetings yokai fans!

As I am fighting off a cold and some food poisoning, I am wondering how many of these little guys I have inside of me right now! But painting has been helping me to forget the discomfort. Hopefully you can enjoy these without having to feel their effects!

Hizō no Mushi
脾臓の虫
ひぞうのむし

TRANSLATION: spleen worm

HABITAT: the spleen

APPEARANCE: Hizō no mushi lives in the spleen and attacks the liver and muscles. It has a bright red body which is very hot. Its limbs are tipped with sharp claws. It staggers throughout the body on its thin legs.

INTERACTIONS: People infected with hizō no mushi take on some of its characteristics; most notably the staggering style of walking about, with left and right arms spread wide. When hizō no mushi reaches out from the spleen and grasps the liver in its talons, its victims develop hyperthermia. When hizō no mushi grasps the muscles in its talons, the victim’s body becomes hot and he begins to feel dizzy as if hit on the head.

A hizō no mushi infection can be cured by taking Chinese medicine made from mokkō (a species of thistle) and daiō (a kind of rheum).

Hizō no kasamushi
脾臓の笠虫
ひぞうのかさむし

TRANSLATION: capped spleen worm

HABITAT: the spleen

APPEARANCE: Hizō no kasamushi get their name from the bright red cap-like feature on top of their heads. They have a long, worm-like body covered in short red hairs, which ends in a hairy forked tail.

INTERACTIONS: The hizō no kasamushi’s cap interferes with the normal intake of food, so people infected with this worm become pale and weak. It can cause rapid weight loss as well as extreme weight gain.

This bug is very difficult to remove the from body, but its symptoms can be somewhat relieved by taking Chinese medicine made from agi (dried gum from the roots of ferula plants) and gajutsu (made from the stems and roots of turmeric plants).

Akuchū
悪虫
あくちゅう

TRANSLATION: evil bug

HABITAT: the spleen

DIET: prefers rice

APPEARANCE: Akuchū is a very dangerous bug which infects the spleen. I can easily move throughout the body with its flexible body and tail. It has six sharp claws with which it strongly grasps the spleen.

INTERACTIONS: Akuchū clings to the spleed and eats the food that its host eats with its hooked bill. No matter how much food is eaten, it is very difficult to gain weight or receive nourishment while infected with akuchū.

Akuchū can be easily treated with mokkō (Chinese medicine made from a species of thistle).

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That’s all for now! I’ll have a post on February’s yokai later this week.

Greetings yokai fans!

I’m still battling jet lag after landing in Japan earlier this week. Most of this week has been spent house-hunting, registering with the city, getting my phone & accounts in order, and that kind of boring official stuff, but I have managed to squeeze in some painting time to work on these two guys.

The text these are from, the Harikikigaki, is an old book kept in the Kyushu National Museum. It details the human body, the five elements, and how they related to sickness. It’s based mostly on Chinese medicine and philosophy. I’m now working with a couple books based on the Harikikigaki that I didn’t have access to in the US, and since online sources only cover a handful of these “bugs,” I’m excited to get to do a little deeper work with more of them. Hopefully some of the upcoming ones will be new to the eyes of even the most dedicated yokai fans!

As you’ve seen with the previous parasitic yokai posts, I’m grouping them into pairs and trios based on shared traits. In this case, Koseu and Oozakenomushi are on the same page because they are both alcoholic bugs! Both of these guys live inside you and love sake, and of course cause you to drink too much. I really love the Koseu though, because not only can this bearded worm-bug speak, but it has a funny little umbrella protuberance on its head which blocks medicine, making him very hard to get rid of!

There will be another bug painting towards the end of this month, and sketches for that coming soon! I don’t yet have a proper studio space set up, so I’m squeezing in work whenever and wherever I have the chance.

More soon!