Folktales
Illustrated yokai folktales
Panel-art retellings from Japanese folklore. Each tale lives on its creature’s page.
11 illustrated stories
Browse by type
Ibaraki-dōji
茨木童子
Yokai
In the depths of autumn, when the mist-shrouded mountains of Arashiyama seemed to whisper secrets to the wind, I chanced...
Read the tale →
Ichimoku-nyūdō
一目入道
Yokai
In the depths of winter, when the snowflakes danced in the darkness and the mountain paths were shrouded in mist, a lone...
Read the tale →
Ikazuchi-no-Kami
雷の神
God
In the village of Akakawa, nestled between two great mountains, the farmers were beset by an unending drought. The rice...
Read the tale →
Ikiryō
生霊
Spirit
In the moonlit streets of our village, where cherry blossoms bloomed in every corner, a young woman named Emiko dwelled....
Read the tale →
Ikuchi
イクチ
Yokai
In the somnolent hours before dawn, when the sea's darkness was illuminated only by the faint luster of bioluminescent j...
Read the tale →
Inugami
犬神
Animal Spirit
In a village nestled between the mist-shrouded hills of Shikoku, where the wind whispers secrets to the trees, there liv...
Read the tale →
Ippon-datara
一本だたら
Yokai
In the mountains of Wakayama, where the trees grew twisted and the snowdrifts hid ancient secrets, there lived a lone tr...
Read the tale →
Isonade
磯撫
Yokai
In the moonlit bay of Akashi, where the pines leaned out over the water like sentinels, there lived a fisherman named Ka...
Read the tale →
Itsumaden
いつまでん
Yokai
In the shadow of Mount Fuji, where the mist curled like a lonely mourner, the city trembled beneath its feet. The once-v...
Read the tale →
Ittan-momen
一反木綿
Yokai
In those long-ago days when the cherry blossoms first bloomed on the hills of Kagoshima's southern shores, the people li...
Read the tale →
Iwana-bōzu
岩魚坊主
Yokai
In the depths of Akakawa village, where the mist-shrouded mountains cradled the river's gentle waters, there lived an ol...
Read the tale →