Japanese Folklore facts

While investigating facts about Japanese Folklore Stories and Japanese Folklore Yokai, I found out little known, but curios details like:

In Japanese Folklore, Ijuu is a strange beast that lives in the forests. If you are hiking and run into Ijuu, don't be scared. Just offer to split your lunch with it and the beast will most likely repay you by carrying your heavy backpack.

how to say folklore in japanese?

In Japan there is a village, Inakadate where Locals turned their Rice Paddy fields into artworks using different colored rice plants as a way to boost tourism and contribute to the village’s rich culture. The drawings are inspired from local geography and Japanese folklore. It's Beautiful.

What is japanese folklore?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 24 of the best facts about Japanese Folklore Books and Japanese Folklore Tattoo I managed to collect.

what japanese folklore creature are you?

1. The Ittan-Momen: a "roll of cotton" that, in Japanese folklore, becomes alive and self-aware once reaching 100 years old. It "flies through the air at night" and "attacks humans, often by wrapping around their faces to smother them."

2. In Japanese folklore, there is a 'futon(sleeping mat) spirit'. If it feels neglected, the futon will rise up and roam the house at night, looking for people to strangle.

3. In the Japanese version of Diamond/Pearl & Platinum, folklore says that humans and Pokémon married one another in ancient times. That detail was taken out in the English version.

4. The Tanooki suit in Super Mario is based off the rare Japanese raccoon dog. In folklore, the tanooki was known for being mischievous and having huge balls.

5. In Japanese folklore the tapir is capable of eating dreams and nightmares. The Pokémon character Drowzee is based upon the tapir.

6. In early Japanese folklore, it was believed that after a service life of nearly one hundred years, household objects become alive and receive souls. They are called Tsukumogami

7. According to Japanese folklore, raccoon dogs have magically expandable scrotums. Check them out in this series of wood block prints by renowned 19th century artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi.

8. Oarfish, A rare deep sea dwelling fish, were seen in unusual numbers in japan in 2010. Japanese folklore says these fish are messengers from the gods to warn of earthquakes.

9. In Japanese Folklore there is a demon that personifies "the of the fear of using a dark bathroom late at night." It's name "Akaname" translates to "Filth Licker"

10. Sonic The Hedgehog's sidekick Miles "Tails" Prower was based on a Kitsune, a creature from Japanese folklore that could grow multiple tails over time.

Why japanese culture is unique?

You can easily fact check why japanese culture is popular by examining the linked well-known sources.

Japanese folklore features raccoon dogs with ginormous testicles

Sazae oni, a shape-shifting snail-woman in Japanese folklore who bites off pirates' testicles  - source

After an earthquake in 1855 that killed 7,000 people, the Japanese blamed it on an angry fish god called Namazu, who was from then on worshiped heavily by the population. Folklore about Namazu states that he forced the wealthy to shit gold for the poor. - source

Japanese tanukis are magical, shape-shifting animals in Japanese folklore, and are often depicted with gigantic balls as a symbol of wealth and prosperity

In Japanese folklore flatulence can serve as a form of defence - source

When to bow in japanese culture?

From December 2009 to March 2010, unusual numbers of the slender oarfish known in Japanese folklore as the Messenger from the Sea God's Palace appeared in the waters and on the beaches of Japan, the appearance of which is said to portend earthquakes (aka the 2011 tsunami)

The kappa in 'kappamaki' (cucumber sushi roll) refers to the humanoid amphibians in Japanese folklore. They drown humans to steal or suck out their Shirikodama, which are small orbs that contain the human soul located in the Anus.

Sailor Moons human name (Usagi Tsukino) translates to and is based on the Japanese folklore of the Moon Rabbit.

In Japanese folklore, a person's soul exists within a hardened ball form called a Shirikodama, which exists within the anus.

A shachihokoe is an animal in Japanese folklore with the head of a tiger and the body of a carp. It was believed that this animal could cause the rain to fall, and as such, temples and castles were often adorned with shachihoko roof ornaments in order to protect them from fire.

In Japanese Folklore, the 'Tenjōname' is a spirit that comes out of the darkness on cold winter nights and licks your ceiling. If you catch sight of a Tenjōname while it is doing its business, you die.