Goblins (Yokai)

A lot of goblins and monsters had existed old times in Japan.

We call them “yokai” and they are different from “yurei”, which I introduced in this blog last month. Yurei seems more realistic (many Japanese still believe that they exist) but yokai is thought as imaginary creatures.

Actually there are many numbers of Yokai and I will introduce some of the most popular ones.

Kappa >>> Live in the river and like Cucumbers. He(she?) has a plate on the head.

Rokuro Kubi >>> Female yokai. She has a very long neck.

Bake-neko >>> The cat is more than 100 years old

If you are interested more in Yokai, the following two websites may tell and show you something more interesting.

List of legendary creatures from Japan (Wikipedia)
Most Japanese yokais are listed and you will know the feature.

Yokai zukushi
A lot of yokai pictures. The site is written in Japanese but please just click the name. Various kind of yokai will appear. I am sure you enjoy this

I think, in old times, Yokais must have lived everywhere in Japan. However, today’s japan is too light and too noisy for them to exist. Stores and bars are open all night and we don’t have any inconvenience even though we stay up through the night.

Nowadays we have too little darkness in our life. The today's civilization has kicked the lovely Japanese goblins out of the town. As the same way, yokai (= darkness) living in our minds may also lose the way to escape. I think it is important to leave some dark part in our life to keep our mental balance. Otherwise all the yokais inside us may rage to kill ourselves.