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.

Jinzō no higemushi
腎臓のヒゲ虫

Translation: kidney moustache worm

Jinzō no higemushi are worm-like yokai which inhabit the kidneys. They get their name from the long, white mustache-looking growth which hangs off of their face. They have long, black bodies, and a round, lump-like shape just behind their neck.

People infected with jinzō no higemushi suffer from various kidney ailments. They also develop a sweet tooth, and their skin may become tinted yellow as a result from eating too many sweets.

These infections can be treated successfully with byakujutsu (Atractylodes japonica) and mokkō (Saussurea costus).

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.

Shakuchū
積虫

Translation: shaku worm

This Lowly Worm looking fellow is called shakuchū, an infectious yokai which causes various muscle issues. They are believed to make their nest somewhere in the abdomen. The have a red umbrella-like growth on their head, and two white stripes on their necks. Their bodies are half red and half yellow.

Shakuchū bother their hosts by sinking their teeth into muscles and tendons. This causes tremors and paralysis–especially hemiplegia (paralysis on one side of the body).

Shakuchū infections are treated by ingesting herbal medicines. Harikikigaki lists chinpi (the dried peels of citrus fruits such as ponkan), rhubarb, and ginseng as being 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.

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.

Hizō no kesshaku
脾臓の血積

Translation: spleen blood shaku

Hizō no kesshaku are caterpillar-like bugs with have white, segmented bodies, round red tails, and a round head with a blueish exterior and a red interior. As their name implies, they live in the spleen, causing various blood-related illnesses.

Harikikigaki doesn’t go into specific detail about the symptoms of this type of yokai infection, however as the spleen plays an important part in fighting infections, they could potentially cause a great number of problems.

Treatment of this infection is simple. Ingestion of ripe ōbako (Plantago asiatica; asian plantain) seeds will kill this mushi and the patient will fully recover.

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.

Kagemushi
陰虫

Translation: shadow bug

Kagemushi are disease yokai which possess the genitals of men and women.

When an infected couple has sexual intercourse, the kagemushi become excited. This excitement culminates during climax, at which point both the male and female kagemushi erupt forth, gushing liquids all over the place. A white liquid is discharged from male hosts, and a red liquid from female hosts*. Although these liquids flow forth from both humans, they are in fact vomited up from mouths of the kagemushi. Afterwards, male and female kagemushi entangle each other in their wire-like limbs, becoming inseparable.

Those possessed by kagemushi display a severely increase libido, perpetual horniness, and constantly behave in a lewd manner. Treatments for kagemushi infections exist, but are only passed down orally. Harikikigaki does not list any.

*This description relates to the ancient Buddhist “red and white drops” theory of sexual reproduction, in which the white drops expelled by the male combine with the red drops expelled by the female, become implanted in the female, and then become a seed. This seed then undergoes a series of metamorphoses before it transforms into a fetus. Harikikigaki attributes the expulsion of these drops to the kagemushi. In other words, it’s not the birds and the bees–it’s the bugs!

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.

Koshinuke no mushi
腰抜の虫

Translation: back dislocating bug

Koshinuke no mushi are yokai that infect the lower back. They have the appearance of dragonflies, and they appear suddenly out of nowhere and fly into the body. After successfully entering their host, they flutter about in the lower back area. The entwine their long tails around the spine, squeezing the vertebrae. They strike the spine with their spiked tails, causing strains, slipped disks, and other problems.

When a koshinuke no mushi strikes the spine, its victim is suddenly overcome with acute pain. Their legs buckle and they collapse. Their chest becomes tight, and breathing becomes difficult. They break out in cold sweats. The mushi’s saliva spreads throughout the body, causing heartburn, choking, and vomiting.

Fortunately, koshinuke no mushi infections can be treated by ingesting herbal remedies such as mokkō (Saussurea costus) and kanzo (Glycyrrhiza uralensis).

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.

In no kameshaku
陰の亀積

Translation: yin turtle shaku

In no kameshaku lives in the abdomen. It has a grey head and shell, and its arms and tail are black. Coiled around its body are a number of white snake-like worms.

This nasty little bug kills its host. Afterwards it remains inside of the body for quite some time. Finally, it crawls its way out of the putrid corpse’s belly.

In no kameshaku can treated by ingesting medicine made from kochia (Bassia scoparia). It is a strong herb with diuretic properties. If this herb is mixed with regular meals and ingested, the in no kameshaku will be exterminated.

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.

Yō no kameshaku
陽の亀積

Translation: yang turtle shaku

Yō no kameshaku inhabits the stomach. As its name implies, it resembles a turtle.  It also clearly has some connection to yang energy, although Harikigaki does not specify what that is. It has a speckled red shell with a circular pattern on the top of it. Its head has a blue umbrella-like growth on its head which protects it against any medicines that its host might ingest. (We’ve seen these kind of umbrella hats on other infectious yokai, such as the hizo no kasamushi.)

Yō no kameshaku feeds upon cooked rice that its host eats. Its victim stays thin no matter how much they eat. (I wonder how many mukbang YouTubers have yo no kameshaku in their stomachs…)

To extermine yō no kameshaku, Harikigaki recommends eating the peas of the pongam oiltree (Millettia pinnata). These are praised as being effective like nothing else against this shaku.

The reason for the pongam tree’s effectiveness is fascinating. To be eaten, the peas of the pongam tree must be removed from their shells. Once removed, the pea itself carries a residual memory of being removed. The kameshaku, upon eating the pea, also receives that residual memory. Because the blueish umbrella-like headpiece somewhat resembles the shell of the pongam tree’s pea, the kameshaku becomes overcome with the desire to remove his umbrella–just as the shell of the pea was removed. Once this happens, he loses his resistance to medicine, and the infected host can then take medicine and be cured!

This critter is a good example of a popular theory of magical and pseudoscientific treatment in which like cures like. It’s an interesting branch of magical thinking found all over the world, from Chinese elemental theory, to European quackery such as as homeopathy, and in New Age mumbo jumbo as well.

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