Folktales
Illustrated yokai folktales
Panel-art retellings from Japanese folklore. Each tale lives on its creature’s page.
295 illustrated stories
Dodomeki
百々目鬼
Yokai
In the village nestled between two great mountains, there lived a young merchant named Hiroshi. He was known for his cun...
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Datsue-ba
奪衣婆
Yokai
In the twilight hours when shadows stretched across the Sanzu River, an old woman stirred from her stone seat. Her bony...
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Daitengu
大天狗
Yokai
In the mist-shrouded realm of Mount Hiei's sacred crags, where wind whispers secrets to the ancient stones, there dwelle...
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Daidarabocchi
ダイダラボッチ
Yokai
In the twilight hours, when the last wisps of sunlight had fled beyond the mountains, Daidarabocchi stirred. His massive...
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Chōchinobake
提灯お化け
Yokai
In the sleepy town of Akakawa, where the moon dipped into the rice paddies like a silver scythe, there lived an elderly...
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Cho Hakkai
猪八戒
Yokai
In the mist-shrouded mountains of old Japan, where the cypress trees whispered secrets to the wind, and the snowflakes d...
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Byakko
白虎
Dragon
In the realm of Akakawa, where the sun dips into the horizon and paints the sky with hues of crimson and gold, there liv...
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Buruburu
ぶるぶる
Yokai
In twilight's hush, where trees stood sentinel along the forest's edge, there lived an old man named Kaito. He was a rec...
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Bunbuku Chagama
分福茶釜
Yokai
In the misty hills of Gunma's mountainside, where cherry blossoms bloomed in the spring and autumn leaves rustled with g...
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Biwa-bokuboku
琵琶牧々
Yokai
In the misty hills of rural Wakayama, where cherry blossoms whispered secrets to the wind, there lived an old man named...
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Binbōgami
貧乏神
Yokai
In a small village nestled between two great mountains, there lived a young apprentice named Kaito. He was tasked with c...
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Betobeto-san
べとべとさん
Yokai
In the village of Akakawa, nestled deep in the mountains of Shizuoka Prefecture, there lived an old woman named O-Kazuko...
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Basan
バサン
Yokai
In the mist-shrouded mountains of Iyo Province, where the wind whispers secrets to the trees, there lived an old woman n...
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Baku
獏
Yokai
In a village nestled in the heart of the mountains, where cherry blossoms bloomed for but a fleeting moment each spring,...
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Bakezōri
化け草履
Yokai
In the quiet hours of dusk, when the sun's warmth had surrendered to the night's gentle breeze, the Okada household woul...
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Bakeneko
化け猫
Animal Spirit
In the village of Kurohime, where cherry blossoms bloomed in every corner and the night air carried the scent of incense...
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Bake-kujira
化鯨
Yokai
In the misty veil that shrouded the waters off Kōchi's rocky shores, a lone fisherman named Hiroki ventured out into the...
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Azukitogi
小豆とぎ
Yokai
In the depths of rural Kōchi Prefecture, where the misty veil of the mountains meets the whispers of the forest, there l...
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Azukibabaa
小豆婆々
Yokai
In the depths of winter, when snowflakes danced in the valley below, a young boy named Kaito ventured into the forest al...
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Azukiarai
小豆洗い
Yokai
In a valley nestled between two great mountains, where a crystal clear stream ran through the heart of the village, ther...
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Ayakashi-no-ayashibi
綾かしの怪火
Yokai
In the fog-shrouded hills of Hokuriku, where the sea meets the land and the rice fields stretch far and wide, there live...
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Ayakashi
綾かし
Yokai
In the mist-shrouded waters off the coast of Nagasaki, there lived an old fisherman named Hiroshi. He had spent his life...
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Ato-oi-kozō
後追い小僧
Yokai
In the mist-shrouded hills of Akakawa village, where cedars swayed like sentinels and cherry blossoms bloomed with an et...
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Asobibi
遊火
Yokai
In the depths of Kōchi's rural heart, where rice fields swayed like golden seas under the summer sun, and forested roads...
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