If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any yokai you like, and share it using the hashtag #ayokaiaday. There’s no set list of yokai you have to paint, but you’re free to browse yokai.com or any other yokai resource and choose your favorites.

Hirune no mushi
昼寝の虫

Translation: nap worm

Hirune no mushi lives between the stomach and the esophagus. It looks like a cross between a creeper vine and a centipede. Both its front and its rear look identical, so it’s very hard to tell which end is which.

People infected with a hirune no mushi lose the ability to swallow, and spend most of their day napping. Without immediate treatment, death is unavoidable.

Treatment is accomplished using mokkō (Saussurea costus) and kakkō (Pogostemon cablin; i.e. patchouli).

If you enjoyed today’s A-Yokai-A-Day entry, please consider becoming a patron and supporting my work by visiting patreon.com/osarusan.

If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any yokai you like, and share it using the hashtag #ayokaiaday. There’s no set list of yokai you have to paint, but you’re free to browse yokai.com or any other yokai resource and choose your favorites.

Kaze no mushi
風邪の虫

Translation: cold* worm (as in “the common cold,” not temperature)

Kaze no mushi lives in the liver and the spleen. It has a blue-green head (blue-green being the color associated in Chinese elemental theory with the liver) and a yellow belly (yellow being the color associated with the spleen).

Kaze no mushi causes fevers and great thirst. Whether it is the fever and thirst of a terrible cold, or the heat and thirst one feels after sex, it’s caused by this worm.

Kaze no mushi has no patience or self restraint, and it passes that trait on to those who it infects. They overindulge in eating meat (a forbidden food under Buddhist teachings and throughout a good portion of Japan’s history), which causes their skin to become yellow (just like the belly of this worm). They overindulge in sex (another impropriety in Buddhism). Such people are essentially unable to resist their various appetites.

This infection can be treated with ginseng (Panax ginseng) and the stems and roots of Chinese licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis).

*The word kaze is the same as the word for the common cold.

If you enjoyed today’s A-Yokai-A-Day entry, please consider becoming a patron and supporting my work by visiting patreon.com/osarusan.

If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any yokai you like, and share it using the hashtag #ayokaiaday. There’s no set list of yokai you have to paint, but you’re free to browse yokai.com or any other yokai resource and choose your favorites.

Tonshi no kanmushi
頓死の肝虫

Translation: sudden death liver worm

Tonshi no kanmushi infects the liver (as do all kanmushi). It has a yellow body covered in black speckles, and at the end of its tail there is a white string-like appendage. It has a red mouth and tongue. The top of its head is black (which looks just like hair in the illustration, although the description of this worm doesn’t really go into further detail).

When a tonshi no kanmushi bites down on the liver, its host will die suddenly. Yikes!

Fortunately, it can be treated! Mokkō (Saussurea costus) is an effective cure.

If you enjoyed today’s A-Yokai-A-Day entry, please consider becoming a patron and supporting my work by visiting patreon.com/osarusan.

If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any yokai you like, and share it using the hashtag #ayokaiaday. There’s no set list of yokai you have to paint, but you’re free to browse yokai.com or any other yokai resource and choose your favorites.

Kizetsu no kanmushi
気絶の肝虫

Translation: fainting liver worm

Kizetsu no kanmushi has big boggly eyes and a long blue body with black speckles.

Infected people experience a string of symptoms. First, they begin to lose their hair, which the kizetsu no kanmushi feeds upon. Then, they experience tunnel vision. Moments later, they suffer from shortness of breath. Finally, they collapse, appearing as if dead.

This infection can be cured with the herb gokō (Origanum vulgare; oregano).

If you enjoyed today’s A-Yokai-A-Day entry, please consider becoming a patron and supporting my work by visiting patreon.com/osarusan.

If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any yokai you like, and share it using the hashtag #ayokaiaday. There’s no set list of yokai you have to paint, but you’re free to browse yokai.com or any other yokai resource and choose your favorites.

Akubi no mushi
欠伸の虫

Translation: yawning worm

Akubi no mushi is a red worm with a snake-like belly and fine hairs sprouting from its back. It lives in your heart.

When an akubi no mushi infects a person’s heart, that person begins to yawn uncontrollably. Not only that, this worm disrupts the blood flow to the heart, causing intense fatigue and drowsiness.

The cure for akubi no mushi is to drink a boiled concoction made from the galls of Japanese sumac (Toxicodendron vernicifluum).

I would say that I often feel like there’s a bug inside of me making me sleepy, although I usually try to cure that by drinking tea, not tree galls.

If you enjoyed today’s A-Yokai-A-Day entry, please consider becoming a patron and supporting my work by visiting patreon.com/osarusan.

If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any yokai you like, and share it using the hashtag #ayokaiaday. There’s no set list of yokai you have to paint, but you’re free to browse yokai.com or any other yokai resource and choose your favorites.

Kasamushi
笠虫

Translation: capped worm

Harikikigaki describes kasamushi as a red worm who lives in either the heart or the small intestine. Its primary symptom is a very high fever. It prefers very bland food, low in salt and miso flavoring. Kasamushi infections are treated with dried ginger root and pepper.

I have to admit that this worm has me stumped. First of all, its name is kasamushi, but it doesn’t have a kasa. We’ve seen a number of worms with conical hat-like objects on their heads, including the hizo no kasamushi on yokai.com. So why doesn’t this guy have a cap? Or why did they call him kasamushi at all? He’s a very plain looking worm with no outstanding features at all.

Then, it says it lives in the heart or the small intestine. Ok… but there’s quite a bit of difference between those two organs… why not the heart and the lungs? Or the small and the large intestine? It’s a weird pair of organs to infect, but I suspect there’s something in Chinese medicine that I don’t know about which explains the connection.

As for it’s food preferences, presumably it imparts these preference to its host as well, as many yokai worms do. That may be the reason that ginger root and pepper are effective. Those both have pretty strong spicy flavor to them, and a worm that only likes bland food would probably be driven off by highly spicy foods.

I wish there was more about this worm in the book. It’s so vague, and leaves me with questions. Like where is its kasa??? Oh well, as I always say: the appeal of yokai is in the mystery.

If you enjoyed today’s A-Yokai-A-Day entry, please consider becoming a patron and supporting my work by visiting patreon.com/osarusan.

If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any yokai you like, and share it using the hashtag #ayokaiaday. There’s no set list of yokai you have to paint, but you’re free to browse yokai.com or any other yokai resource and choose your favorites.

Nayami no mushi
悩みの虫

Translation: worry worm

Nayami no mushi lives in your lungs. Its long white body is coiled up like a spring. It is covered with black spots spaced at even intervals. Its drooping eyes make its facial expression appear weary.

This worm loves sour, acidic foods. People who are infected with it experience strong cravings for those flavors, and find themselves constantly reaching for those kind of snacks. They become pessimistic, and even the smallest things cause them to feel a heavy sense of grief.

Treatment for nayami no mushi is accomplished with herbs. Funabarasō (Vincetoxicum atratum) and mokkō (Saussurea costus) are effective.

If you enjoyed today’s A-Yokai-A-Day entry, please consider becoming a patron and supporting my work by visiting patreon.com/osarusan.