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Folktales

Illustrated yokai folktales

Panel-art retellings from Japanese folklore. Each tale lives on its creature’s page.

295 illustrated stories

Dodomeki

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Baku

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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