A recent survey discovered that 72% of Japanese believe in ghosts, possibly this will be a surprise to those who have not explored the shadowy world of Japanese supernatural beliefs. This belief in ghosts is also mixed up with a belief in “monsters” due to an interesting language twist. The word for “bad ghost” is Obake in Japanese and this also happens to be the same word for "monster." In other words, we have a large number of sophisticated, highly cultured people walking around in this country that believe in “things that go bump in the night.” But, aside from the better-known ghosts, what other creatures haunt the night in Japan?

     People almost never go swimming in lakes in this country, a surprising fact considering how many beautiful and clear ones there are. When questioned about this, most Japanese just point to tradition as the reason, but a few remember the fear that lies behind that tradition: Kaapa. 

     Kaapa are little green critters, about knee-high, that haunt lakes and streams. They have beaks, webbed fingers and toes, large turtle-like shells on their backs and depressions on their heads filled with water. One would think they were kind of cute, except that they are said to enjoy dragging children and animals under water where they drown them and turn their bowels inside-out. Though prone to murderous tendencies, kaapa can also help those who are their friends or those who manage to trick them into it.

     In Tokyo, there is an area of town called Kaapabashi and a festival is held there every year called, you guessed it, Kaapa Matsuri. The reason is that during the Edo period there was a man who lived on the river there who sold rain gear and made much money doing so. At one point there was a flood that washed away the local bridge across the river, and this was a major financial tragedy to the merchants of the area. The rain-gear seller offered to rebuild the bridge for free, and legend says that the kaapa of the river (who were his friends) helped him to build the bridge in just one night.

     Usually kappa aren’t so sweet though, and if you want them to help you, you usually have to trick them into it. If you meet a kaapa, bow to it, it will then (out of politeness) bow to you and the water in the saucer-shaped dent on the top of it’s head will spill out. If this occurs, the kappa will become powerless! It is then that you can demand a wish, because if he can’t get back to his lake or stream soon, he will die. Long ago, in Tochigi prefecture, a man caught a kaapa that was trying to drag his horse into the nearby lake. The rope had wrapped around the kaapa’s arm and the water had spilled from his head depression so he was easy to catch.  The man was going to kill him out of anger, but the kappa pleaded for his life, offering to teach him the secret of bone-setting. The man agreed to the trade, and from then on he was never bothered by kaapa again and he went on to become a famous healer and founded a family line of famous doctors.

     Kappa are not seen so often nowadays, but their pictures are; on signs, posters, products, in comics and in animation. Also, you can still order kaapa sushi, the famous cucumber roll. It has this name for two reasons, because kaapa are said to love cucumbers and, because the cut sushi resembles the water-filled head of a kappa!

     Another monstrous reason for avoiding lakes is that spirits said to resemble large white serpents live there. The origins of these beings are easy to find in the form of small shrines dedicated to the Shinto water kami  (god/spirit). 

     Belief in these “giant water serpents” has led to many legends, like the one about the Shinto priest in Miyazaki prefecture who battled a giant supernatural lake serpent.

     One that is very famous concerns the serpent Goddess Amo-Ga-Ike who lived in a pond in Niigata prefecture. People used to pray to her for rain, but they had to avoid putting any metal in the pond because the goddess disliked it. A samurai dove into the pond and encountered her as a beautiful maiden. Because of this, she had to leave the pond and, during a huge supernatural storm, visited one of the men in the village in the form of a woman. They were married and it is said that all his descendents have some scales on there bodies.

     There are a number of other “were-animals” in Japanese legend, many of which are still taken quite seriously. Some of the beasts that are said to take human form are foxes, cats, badgers, tanuki (racoon-dogs), storks, snakes and frogs. This, again, probably has roots in ancient Shinto animal-spirit worship, but some of these tales are still often repeated.

     Foxes are especially prone to this treatment and there are said to be two types of fox spirit, those which are the servants or aspect of the rice Goddess Inari, and those fox spirits which are at the very least mischievous, if not downright bad.

     In Japan there are millions of shrines to the goddess Inari which are easy to spot due to their distinctive orange torii or gates. Flanking these torii are almost always statues of her sacred white foxes. Very often the shrine will have a small cave near the sanctuary, this is where the “spirit fox” is supposed to live and it is from here that this spirit carries the blessings of the goddess to the worshippers who pray to her. There are thousands of stories about how the white fox of Inari has brought food, money or supernatural salvation to various people in need. Sometimes the fox is said to have nine tails and is then a kind of heavenly omen. Many shrines were built upon a site where these fox spirits were seen to congregate, such as the famous Inari shrine in Oji, or where people dreamed about them, such as the Inari shrine in Akasaka.

     But the “bad” fox spirits are as just as feared as Inari’s servants are welcomed. These spirits are said to steal food, lead travellers astray, play unwelcome tricks on hapless farmers and even cause injury to people they dislike. In this they are much like badger-spirits or tanuki-spirits, and the stories told about them are so similar that a couple will suffice.

     A farmer, returning home from a party in the country, decided to take a short-cut through an over-grown cemetery in the middle of a bamboo grove, despite his hosts objections. In the grove, he was confronted by a large man who challenged him to a wrestling match. Being drunk, he readily agreed, and soon they were at it. The match was a draw, but as he rested from the bout, he noticed that his partner had vanished along with the present of food he had been carrying from the party! The next day everyone agreed that it had been a were-fox that had tricked him.

     In Shimane prefecture, A man was travelling at night when he was set upon by strange wolves. He climbed a tree to escape and thought himself safe until the wolves started to stand on each others backs to reach him. The last one said, “bring Koike’s mother” and soon a large cat appeared that tried to kill him. He hit it in the head and all the beasts fled. The next day he notified his lord, Koike, what had happened. It turned out that Koike’s mother had sustained an injury to the head the night before! When confronted, the creature transformed, attacked, and was slain by Koike. The bones of his real mother were found under the bed.

     There are hundreds of stories like these and they still seem to crop-up in the more rural areas of the country. As mentioned in an earlier tale, animal-spirits not only assume human form to help or trick humans, they can also marry them! It is still said that certain families have traits that have been passed down from these original supernatural marriages. Those descended from some of these unions are said to be psychics and even today a person with ESP is referred to as a descendant of a fox-spirit.

     There are many other monsters and spirits said to haunt the hills and valleys of Japan, such as giants, elves, and tree-creatures. One of the most commonly found, and still believed in, is the tengu.

     Tengu are actually mountain kami who lost something of their divinity over the centuries and were commonly considered amoral spirits that could hurt you or help you, depending on their mood. The earliest Tengu were depicted as human-like creatures with beaks and wings who lived in sacred trees in the mountain and swooped about the lonely woods laughing and cutting trees. Later tengu were shown with red faces and large phallic noses, but still keeping the general human form and the wings. Stories of tengu abound.

     The tale of Takegoro, from Shimane prefecture, is often told to illustrate how irascible Tengu can be. Takegoro was a humble woodsman who disappeared for three days. His family and village searched everywhere with out luck, but on the third day he returned with his cloths in tatters. He had been kidnapped by Tengu and transformed into one, but it didn’t end there. Every day thereafter he had to join the Tengu in their games and flying as a kind of servant. This daily transformation began to wear on him, but he related that his presence kept the Tengu from following through with more some of their more destructive pranks, like burning down houses. The Tengu eventually released Takegoro from their spell and from then on rewarded him with odd discoveries of gold!

     There are many tales from all over Japan of Tengu playing tricks, making objects fly about, stealing objects and making strange sounds. Often these apparitions would vanish when the spirit was respectfully addressed and an offering made, usually of sake, which tengu apparently like!

     Tengu are different from many of the other supernatural beings we've discussed in that in some places, like Takao-san mountain in the Tama area near Tokyo, Tengu are revered as guardian gods of great importance. They are especially worshipped by yamabushi or mountain priests who follow a tradition which mixes Shinto and Buddhism. On Takao-san there are many large trees said to be inhabited by Tengu. One in particular, the “octopus tree,” was slated to be cut-down when a road was being built up the mountain. The next day, it had mysteriously moved itself to the side!

     Those who see Japan as simply a high-tech modern culture, solely concerned with business and efficiency, should take a closer look at the “hidden Japan.” On almost any street you can find a picture of a kappa on a sign, a tengu face on a restaurant price-list or a ceramic tanuki beconing customers into a bar. These just modern symbols of a shadow-world of myths and magic thousands of years old, lying just below the surface of this ultramodern  country. In just this way, if you chat with Japanese about things unseen, you may be surprised at some of the beliefs and tales you will hear.