Curious Ordinary

In Japan, Children’s Day is one of Japan’s five sacred festivals and is held on the 4th of May. It's celebrated by hanging koinobori (carp streamers). This practice is based on a Chinese legend that if a carp is strong enough to swim upstream  against strong currents, it can become a dragon.

Teru teru bozu are a common superstition in Japan related to the weather. They are small white dolls made of paper or cloth. Traditionally they were hung in windows by farmers as a talisman believed to bring sunny weather, and to stop or prevent rainy days.

In Japanese folklore suppon no yurei are the ghosts of soft shell turtles, who return to take revenge on those who have killed or eaten them. They appear with long legless bodies and faces with lips resembling a turtle. In one tale of a vengeful turtle ghost (also known as suppon on onryo) a man who owned a turtle restaurant slaughtered hundreds and thousands of turtles to serve his diners.

In Japan, kudagitsune (pipe fox) are magical spirit fox familiars, tiny enough to hide in sleeves or bamboo pipes. They are a type of spirit possesion and have the power to both possess and control humans, and can also serve as magical familiars for sorcerers to assist with divination, prophecies and casting curses.

Hitotsume kozo are child-like and cheeky yokai appearing as small one-eyed goblins, with shaved heads and usually dressed in Buddhist robes. They have one enormous eye and a long red tongue. While relatively harmless they are known to appear suddenly on dark streets to frighten people or shout at them to be quiet. It is also believed that they are bad omens, and so it is best to avoid seeing one.

'Yotsuya Kaidan' is the story of the ghost of Oiwa. Also knowns as 'The Lantern Ghost, it is one of Japan's most famous ghost stories. It tells the story of the vengeful spirit of a young woman betrayed by her husband. In the beginning of the story Oiwa is married to a samurai named Iemon, but she was very unhappy because her husband was a liar and a thief.

In Japan there is a tale known as Towara Toda monogatari which tells the story of the hero Fujiwara no Hidesato. One day Hidesato decided to set off in search of adventure. He was heading towards Lake Biwa and on the path ahead of him near the lake, he saw a serpent-like creature blocking the path. Although he hesitated at first, he was a brave man and decided to carry on regardless.

In Japanese folklore there are many tales about cat witches that are connected to yokai known as kaibyo , or supernatural cats. These are not witches in the western sense of the term, but rather evil supernatural spirits that take the form of a cat. They may have been linked to the yokai known as yama uba , or mountain witch, and are also often referred to as tales of the cat stone.

If you go exploring in Japanese forests or mountains, keep a watchful eye out for yama uba. These yokai are actually strange old witches that live alone in remote areas. They appear as kind old ladies offering travellers a place to stay, but late at night they magically transform into ugly hags and eat their guests alive.

In Japanese folklore there is a belief that objects that are very old are able to gain a spirit and transform into a type of yokai known as tsukumogami. Sometimes this is because they have been used lovingly for a long time and are rewarded for their service. There are several musical instruments that are believed to transform into yokai if they are played for many years and then neglected by being stored away and not played any more.

There is a Japanese folktale called 'The Three Brothers and the Oni ' that is similar to the German tale known as Hansel and Gretel. In the Japanese tale, a mother who couldn't afford to feed her three children takes them deep into the woods and asks them to wait while she goes to hunt for food. The three boys soon realised that she was not coming back.

In Japanese folklore there is a yokai known as a azuki arai. This ghostly phenomenon occurs near water, when the sound of azuki beans can be heard rattling and making a 'shoki shoki' sound. The spirit responsible often sings a song along the lines of 'should I wash my beans or find a person to eat instead?' 

In Japanese folklore, an oni is a kind of ferocious demon similar to an ogre. They usually have horns, big fangs and sharp claws. Although their skin colour can vary, it is common to see them portrayed as red or blue skinned, club wielding monsters. Oni have extreme strength and it is believed that they form an army of underworld demons.