List of legendary creatures from Japan

The following is a list of demons, ghosts, kami, obake, yōkai, yūrei and other legendary creatures that are notable in Japanese folklore and mythology.

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Japanese mythology and folklore
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A
Abumi-guchi
A small furry creature formed from the stirrup of a mounted military commander who worked for Yamata no Orochi.
Abura-akago
An infant ghost that licks the oil out of andon lamps.
Abura-sumashi
A large-headed spirit that lives on a mountain pass in Kumamoto Prefecture.
Agubanba (あぐばんば, lit. 'ash crone')
A blind, cannibalistic female yōkai who hails from Akita Prefecture. She mainly targets young women who have just come of age. Also known as Agubanba (灰坊主, lit. 'ash shaver').
Akabeko
A red cow involved in the construction of the Enzō-ji temple in Yanaizu, Fukushima.
Akamanto
A ghost in a red mantle that offers either red or blue toilet paper rolls in bathrooms, then kills whoever answers based on their choice: flaying for red, strangulation for blue.
Akaname
A spirit that licks off filth in untidy bathrooms.
Akashita
A hairy creature with a large tongue that looms in a black cloud over a floodgate.
Akateko
A red child's hand dangling from a tree, accompanied by a hypnotically beautiful woman standing beneath the tree to lure people into its grasp.
Akkorokamui
A giant Ainu monster resembling an octopus, which supposedly lurks in Uchiura Bay in Hokkaido.
Akubōzu
A spirit that lives in the ashes of hearths from Akita Prefecture and Iwate Prefecture.
Akugyo
An enormous species of sea monster found in the waters around Japan.
Akurojin-no-hi
A ghostly fire from Mie Prefecture that appears on rainy nights and gravely sickens those who do not flee from it.
Amabie
A Japanese mermaid yōkai that emerged from the sea to give a prophecy.
Amaburakosagi
A ritual-disciplinary demon from Shikoku.
Amamehagi
A ritual-disciplinary demon from Hokuriku.
Amanojaku
A small demon that instigates people into wickedness.
Amanozako
A monstrous goddess mentioned in the Kujiki, born from Susanoo's ferocious spirit when he vomited it forth.
Amaterasu
The Shinto sun goddess.
Amazake-babaa
An old woman spirit who comes late at night and asks for sweet sake in a child's voice, bringing disease to whoever answers, whether they give her any or not.
Amefurikozō
A little boy spirit who plays in the rain.
Amemasu
An Ainu creature resembling a giant fish or whale, it sometimes takes the form of a beautiful woman to lure sailors to their deaths.
Ameonna
A rain-making female spirit.
Amikiri
A bird-headed, crustacean-armed, snake-bodied spirit that cuts fishing nets and mosquito netting.
Amorōnagu
A female tennyo from the island of Amami Ōshima in Kagoshima Prefecture, who is said to bathe in pools and waterfalls in ravines.
Anmo
A ritual-disciplinary demon from Iwate Prefecture.
Aoandon
The demonic spirit which arises from an andon lamp at the end of a Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai.
Aobōzu
A blue monk spirit who sometimes kidnaps children.
Aonyōbō
A female ghost who lurks in an abandoned Imperial palace.
Aosaginohi
A luminescent night heron.
Arikura-no-baba
An old woman with magical powers, hailing from Gifu Prefecture.
Ashimagari
A spirit from Kagawa Prefecture which entangles the legs of travelers at night and is often believed to be the work of tanuki.
Ashinagatenaga
A pair of characters from Kyushu, one with long legs and the other with long arms.
Ayakashi
A maritime phenomenon considered to be the work of funayurei.
Azukiarai/Azukitogi
A spirit that washes azuki beans on a shoreline.

B
Bake-kujira
A ghostly whale skeleton that drifts along the coastline of Shimane Prefecture, accompanied by strange birds and fish.
Bakeneko
A shapeshifting cat spirit, different from the nekomata in that it doesn't have two tails.
Bakezōri
A spirit inhabiting a straw sandal (zōri).
Baku
A supernatural beast that resembles a tapir and devours dreams and nightmares.
Basan
A large fire-breathing chicken monster from Ehime Prefecture.
Bashōnosei
A banana tree spirit.
Betobeto-san
An invisible spirit which follows people at night, making the sound of footsteps.
Binbōgami
A spirit that brings poverty and other such misery.
Biwa-bokuboku
A biwa inhabited by a spirit.
Buruburu
A spirit which clings to people, inducing cowardice and shivering.
Byakko
The Japanese equivalent of the Chinese White Tiger.
Byōbunozoki
A tsukumogami that emerges from byōbu to spy on people.

C
Chōchinbi
Demonic flames which appear in the footpaths between rice fields.
Chōchinobake
A possessed chōchin lantern.

D
Daidarabotchi
A giant responsible for creating the geographical features of Japan as it moves and sleeps.
Daitengu
The most powerful tengu, each of whom lives on a separate mountain.
Danzaburou-danuki
A bake-danuki from Sado Island. One of the three famous tanuki.
Datsue-ba
An old woman in the Underworld who removes the clothes (or skin, if unclothed) of the dead.
Dodomeki
A money-stealing female demon with long arms covered in bird's eyes.
Dōnotsura
A headless humanoid yōkai with its face on its torso.
Dōsojin
The generic name for a type of Shinto guardian or spirit, considered to be the deities of borders and paths.

E
Enenra
A monster made of smoke and darkness.
Enkō
Kappa of Shikoku and western Honshū.

F
Fūjin
The Shinto wind god.
Funayūrei
The angry ghosts of people who died at sea.
Furaribi
A birdlike creature engulfed in flames that flies aimlessly.
Fūri
A monkey-like yōkai.
Furutsubaki-no-rei
A soul-sucking plant.
Furu-utsubo
A beloved quiver of slain archers.
Futakuchi-onna
A ghostly woman with a second mouth on the back of her head.

G
Gagoze
A demon known for having attacked young priests at Gangō-ji temple.
Gaki
The perpetually-starving ghosts of people who were especially greedy in life.
Gashadokuro
A giant skeleton that is the spirit of the dead left unburied after a sufficiently large disaster. Also known as Gaikotsu.
Genbu
The Japanese equivalent of the Chinese Black Tortoise.
Goryō
The vengeful spirits of dead nobles and martyrs.
Gozu and Mezu
Two notable guards of the Underworld, one with an ox's head and the other with a horse's face.
Guhin
Another name for tengu.
Gyūki
Another name for Ushi-oni.

H
Hakanohi
A ghostly fire which sprouts from the base of graves.
Hakuja no Myojin
A white serpent deity.[1]
Hakutaku
A yak-like beast which handed down knowledge on harmful spirits.
Hakuzōsu
A kitsune who pretended to be a Buddhist priest.
Hanako-san
The spirit of a young World War II-era girl who inhabits and haunts school restrooms.
Hannya
A Noh mask representing a jealous female demon.
Haradashi
A creature with a giant face on its stomach.
Harionago
A woman with a thornlike barb on the tip of each strand of her long hair.
Hashihime
A woman whose jealousy turned her into an evil spirit, associated with the bridge at Uji.
Heikegani
Crabs with human faces on their shells, said to be the spirits of the warriors killed in the Battle of Dan-no-ura.
Hibagon
The Japanese version of Bigfoot or the Yeti.
Hiderigami
Spirits said to bring droughts.
Hihi
A baboon-like Chinese yōkai.
Hikeshibaba
An old woman who extinguishes lanterns.
Hinode
The moment of dawn, when the material world and the spirit world overlap.
Hitodama
A fireball ghost that appears when someone dies, signifying the dead person's spirit.
Hitotsume-kozō
A bald one-eyed child spirit.
Hitotsume-nyūdō
A one-eyed monk spirit.
Hiyoribō
The spirit which stops rainfall.
Hoji
The wicked spirit of Tamamo-no-Mae, released upon the discovery of her true nature as a kitsune.
Hone-onna
A skeleton woman who seeks love but brings death.
Hō-ō
The legendary Fenghuang bird of China.
Hoshi no Tama
A ball guarded by a kitsune (fox) which can give the one who obtains it power to force the kitsune to help them. It is said to hold some reserves of the kitsune's power.
Hōsōshi
A ritual exorcist.
Hotoke
A term used to denote a deceased person.
Hyakki Yakō
The demons' night parade.
Hyōsube
A hairy kappa variant that prefers eggplants over cucumbers.

I
Ibaraki-doji
The name of a particularly famous offspring of an oni.
Ichiren-bozu
Animated prayer beads.
Ikiryō
Essentially a living ghost, as it is a living person's soul outside of their body.
Ikuchi
A sea serpent that travels over boats in an arc while dripping oil.
Inugami
A dog-spirit created, worshipped, and employed by a family via sorcery.
Inugami Gyoubu
A type of bake-danuki from Matsuyama in Iyo Province.
Isonade
A giant shark-like sea monster with a barb-covered tail, sighted off the coast of western Japan.
Issie
A lake creature similar to the Loch Ness Monster, found in Lake Ikeda on Kyushu.
Itsumade
A fire-breathing birdlike monster.
Ittan-momen
A possessed roll of cotton from Kagoshima Prefecture that attempts to smother people by wrapping itself around their faces.
Iyaya
A woman whose face is reflected as that of an old man.

J
Jami
A wicked mountain spirit.
Janjanbi
Drifting fireballs from Nara Prefecture, named for the sound they make and considered a type of onibi.
Jatai
An animated folding-screen cloth.
Jibakurei
A spirit that protects a specific place.
Jikininki
Ghosts of evil people, that have been condemned to eat human corpses.
Jinmenju
A tree with human-faced fruits.
Jinmenken
A human-faced dog mentioned in Japanese urban legends.
Jishin-namazu
A giant catfish dwelling beneath the earth, which causes earthquakes and tsunamis when it moves. It was blamed during the Ansei earthquake and tsunami.
Jorōgumo
A spider yōkai that shapeshifts into an attractive woman to lure men in as prey.
Jubokko
A vampiric tree that grows on old battlefields and ensnares those who come too close to it in order to drain their blood with sharp, hollow branches.

K
Kahaku (河伯)
Another word for kappa.
Kakurezato
Villages hidden deep in the mountains, where the inhabitants live peacefully and without conflict. Only those especially good of heart may stumble upon kakurezato, but cannot revisit upon leaving.
Kamaitachi
The slashing sickle-clawed weasel that haunts the mountains of the Kōshin'etsu region and rides dust devils to travel.
Kambarinyūdō
A monk spirit that spies on people while they are using the toilet.
Kameosa
A possessed sake jar.
Kamikiri
A yōkai that secretly cuts people's hair.
Kanedama
A spirit that carries money.
Kangiten
The elephant-headed god of Bliss, comparable to Ganesha.
Kappa
A famous water monster with a water-filled head and a love of cucumbers.
Karasu-tengu
A type of crow demon.
Karura
An anthropomorphic eagle akin to the Hindu Garuda.
Kasa-obake
A possessed paper-umbrella monster that is sometimes considered a tsukumogami.
Kasha
A cart-like demon that descends from the sky, or a cat-like demon, which carries away the corpses of evildoers.
Katawaguruma
A type of wanyudo, with an anguished woman instead of a monk's head in a burning wheel.
Kawaakago
A river spirit that pretends to be a crying baby to lure people in.
Kawauso
River otter spirits.
Kechibi
Fireballs with human faces inside, told of in Kōchi Prefecture.
Keneō
An old man seated in the Underworld who weighs the clothes given to him by Datsue-ba.
Keukegen
A small dog-like creature covered entirely in long hair, considered by some to be a disease spirit.
Kijimuna
Tree spirits from Okinawa that resemble red-headed small children.
Kirin
The Japanese version of the Chinese qilin, which is part dragon and part deer with antlers, fish scales and an ox's tail. Said to be a protective creature and the guardian of the metal element.
Kitsune
Mischievous shapeshifting fox spirits with multiple tails.
Kitsunebi
Atmospheric ghost lights thought to be flames created by a kitsune.
Kitsune no yomeiri
A procession of ghost lights that resemble a wedding procession, thought to be the wedding of two kitsune.
Kiyohime
A woman who transformed into a serpent demon out of the rage of unrequited love.
Kodama
Spirits that live in trees, said to be the cause of echoes.
Kokakuchō
A nocturnal bird which is said to steal babies and is associated with ubume.
Komainu
A pair of lion-dogs that guard the entrances of temples.
Konaki-jiji
The vengeful spirit of an infant left to die, it cries until someone picks it up, then turns into a heavy stone and crushes them.
Konoha-tengu
A bird-like tengu.
Koromodako
A size-shifting octopus-like yōkai that lives in the waters bordering Kyoto and Fukui.
Koropokkuru
A little person from Ainu folklore.
Kosenjōbi
Fireballs that float over former battlefields.
Kosode-no-te
A possessed kosode.
Kotobuki
A Japanese chimera with the features of the beasts from the Chinese Zodiac: a rat's head, rabbit ears, ox horns, a horse's mane, a rooster's comb, a sheep's beard, a dragon's neck, a back like that of a boar, a tiger's shoulders and belly, monkey arms, a dog's hindquarters, and a snake's tail.
Kubikajiri
A nocturnal graveyard-haunting headless beast that stinks of fresh blood and eats the heads of its victims.
Kuchisake-onna
The malevolent spirit of a woman whose face was disfigured into a Glasgow smile, who attacks people to inflict identical mutilations upon those few she doesn't kill outright.
Kuda-gitsune
A small fox-like animal used in sorcery.
Kudan
A human-faced cow that gave a prophecy.
Kumo Yōkai
A Japanese spider demon.
Kunekune
A long, slender strip of paper that wiggles on rice or barley fields during hot summers, this yokai is actually a recent invention.
Kuzuryū
A nine-headed dragon deity associated with water.
Kyōkotsu
A skeletal figure that emerges from a well where someone died a violent death.
Kyonshii
The Japanese version of the Chinese hopping vampire, known as jiangshi.
Kyōrinrin
Possessed scrolls or papers.

M
Mekurabe
The multiplying human skulls that menaced Taira no Kiyomori in his courtyard.
Menreiki
A spirit composed of gigaku masks.
Miage-nyūdō
A spirit from Sado Island that grows taller as fast as you can look up at it.
Mikaribaba
A one-eyed old woman from the Kantō region.
Mikoshi-nyūdō
A bald goblin with an extending neck.
Misaki
A term for various high-ranking divine spirits.
Mizuchi
A dangerous water dragon, believed by some to be a deity.
Mokumokuren
A swarm of eyes that appear on paper sliding doors in old buildings.
Momonjii
A mischievous spirit that takes the form of an old man and waits for travelers at every fork in the road.
Mononoke
Any mischievous or troublesome creature/entity of uncertain origin.
Morinji-no-kama
Another name for bunbuku chagama, the bake-danuki teakettle.
Mōryō
A general term for various water demons that eat corpses.
Mujina
A shapeshifting badger spirit.
Myōbu
A title sometimes given to a higher-ranking kitsune servant of Inari Okami.

N
Namahage
A ritual-disciplinary demon from the Oga Peninsula area of Akita Prefecture.
Namazu
A giant catfish dwelling beneath the earth, that causes earthquakes when it moves.
Nekomata
A malevolent cat yōkai with either two tails or a forked tail.
Nikujin
Another name for nuppeppo.
Ningen
An enormous white sea creature with humanoid features, this yokai is actually a recent invention.
Ningyo
A fish person or mermaid.
Nobusuma
A flying squirrel-like monster (possibly inspired by the Indian giant flying squirrel).
Noderabō
Strange creatures that stand near a temple bell.
Nogitsune
A dangerous type of kitsune that is known to possess people.
Noppera-bō
A faceless ghost that enjoys scaring people.
Nozuchi
A fat snake-like creature.
Nue
A Japanese chimera with the head of a monkey, the body of a raccoon dog, the legs of a tiger, and a snake-headed tail. It plagued the emperor with nightmares in the Heike Monogatari.
Nukekubi
A vicious humanlike monster whose head detaches from its body, often confused with the much more peaceful rokurokubi, whose neck merely extends.
Nuppeppo
An animated lump of decaying human flesh with vaguely humanoid features.
Nurarihyon
A strange large-headed character who sneaks into houses on busy evenings.
Nure-onna
A snake-like monster with a woman's head, which appears on the seashore.
Nuribotoke
An animated corpse with blackened flesh and dangling eyeballs.
Nurikabe
A ghostly wall that traps and misdirects travelers at night.
Nyūdō-bōzu
A yōkai that grows taller the further one looks up.
Nyūnaisuzume
Sparrows that flew from the mouth of exiled poet Fujiwara-no Sanekata.

O
Obake
Various shapeshifting spirits; also known as bakemono.
Obariyon
A yōkai which rides piggyback on a human victim and becomes unbearably heavy.
Oboroguruma
An oxen cart with a face in its carriage.
Ōgama
A giant toad which breathes rainbow-like smoke and wields a giant spear against whoever attacks it.
Oiwa
The ghost of a woman with a disfigured face who was poisoned and murdered by her husband. One of the three most famous onryō.
Ōkaburo
A cross-dressing yōkai.
Ōkami
A powerful wolf spirit that either takes a person's life or protects it, depending on the actions one does in their life.
Okiku
The plate-counting ghost of a servant girl who met a tragic end. One of the three most famous onryo.
Ōkubi
The huge face of a woman which appears in the sky, either portending disaster or causing it.
Okuri-inu
A spectral dog which follows lone travelers, attacking them if they trip and fall over. Similar to the Black dog of English folklore.
Ōmagatoki
The moment of dusk, when the spirit world and the material world overlap.
Ōmukade
A giant, human-eating centipede that lives in the mountains.
Oni
The classic Japanese demon. It is an ogre-like creature which often has horns.
Onibaba
The demonic hag of Adachigahara.
Onibi
A demonic flame which sucks out the life of those who come too close to it.
Onihitokuchi
A species of one-eyed oni that kill and eat humans.
Onikuma
A bipedal bear yōkai from the Kiso Valley in Nagano Prefecture, that carries livestock out of villages at night .
Onmoraki
A bird-demon created from the spirits of freshly dead corpses.
Onmyōji
A human who has powers like those of a yōkai, employed by the Imperial court.
Onryō
A vengeful ghost formed from powerful feelings like rage or sorrow.
Ōnyūdō
Wastebasket taxon for all 'priestly' demons.
Osakabehime
An old woman yōkai who resides in Himeji Castle and who can read and manipulate hearts.
Otoroshi
A hairy creature that perches on torii gates to shrines and temples.

R
Raijin
The Shinto god of thunder.
Raijū
A doglike beast that falls to earth in a lightning bolt.
Rōjinbi
A ghostly fire that appears with an old person, sometimes believed to be the work of tengu.
Rokurokubi
A person, usually female, whose neck can stretch indefinitely, as opposed to the vicious nukekubi, whose head detaches completely.
Ryuu
The Japanese dragon.

S
Sa Gojō
The water monster Sha Wujing from Journey to the West, often interpreted in Japan as a kappa.
Samebito
A shark-man from the undersea Dragon Palace.
Sankai
An amorphous afterbirth spirit that takes the place of a baby if a pregnant mother is not properly cared for.
Sansei
A humanoid yokai with a single leg twisted backwards.
Sarakazoe
A type of onibi that appears as a counting plate.
Satori
A mountain-dwelling monkey-like creature that can read one's thoughts.
Sazae-oni
A turban snail of great age, which has gained the ability to turn into a woman.
Seiryū
The Japanese version of the Chinese Azure Dragon.
Sesshō-seki
The poisonous "killing stones" which Tamamo-no-Mae's spirit transformed into upon her final defeat.
Shachihoko
A tiger-headed fish whose image is often used in architecture.
Shibaemon-tanuki
A bake-danuki from Awaji Island. One of the three famous tanuki.
Shichinin misaki
A group of seven ghosts who sicken the living, seeking to ascend to Heaven by forcing their victims to take their place.
Shidaidaka
A size-changing humanoid yōkai that appears above roads in the Chūgoku region.
Shikigami
A spirit summoned to do the bidding of an onmyōji.
Shikome
Wild women sent by Izanami to pursue Izanagi as he fled the Underworld.
Shinigami
Malevolent spirits that appear where people have died violently and try to lure others to similar if not identical deaths.
Shiranui
A mysterious flame seen over the seas in Kumamoto Prefecture.
Shirime
An apparition in the shape of a man having an eye in the place of his anus.
Shirōneri
Possessed mosquito nettings or dust clothes.
Shiryō
The souls of the dead, the opposite of ikiryo.
Shisa
The Okinawan version of the shishi.
Shishi
The paired lion-dogs that guard the entrances of temples.
Shōjō
Red-haired sea sprites who love alcohol, believed by some to actually be orangutans.
Shōkera
A creature which peeks in through the skylights of old houses.
Shuten-doji
The name of a particularly powerful oni lord.
Sōjōbō
The famous daitengu of Mount Kurama.
Son Gokū
The monkey king Sun Wukong from Journey to the West.
Suiko
Another name for the kappa.
Sunakake-baba
An old woman who throws sand into people's faces.
Sunekosuri
A doglike yōkai from Okayama Prefecture that rubs against people's legs when it is raining.
Suzaku
The Japanese version of the Chinese Vermilion Bird.
Suzuri-no-tamashii
An inkstone spirit.

T
Taka-onna
A female spirit that can stretch its waist to peer inside buildings.
Tamamo-no-Mae
A wicked nine-tailed fox who appeared as a courtesan to beguile Emperor Konoe.
Tanuki
The Japanese raccoon dog. In folklore, tanuki have the ability to shapeshift.
Teke Teke
The vengeful spirit of a slain schoolgirl, with a half upper-torso body, who goes around killing people by slicing them in half at the waist using a scythe, thusly mimicking her own disfigurement.
Ten
A mischievous shapeshifting weasel.
Tengu
A wise demon with two variants: a red-skinned old man with a long nose, or an anthropomorphic bird.
Tenjōkudari
A female yōkai that crawls on the ceiling.
Tenka
Atmospheric ghost lights, once believed to be a type of onryo.
Tenko
An elderly fox spirit that has gained its ninth and final tail and thusly reached the full extent of its power.
Tennin
The Japanese version of angels.
Te-no-me
A ghostly blind man with his eyes on his palms.
Teratsutsuki
The onryō of a man who lived in the 6th century.
Tesso
A priest who was snubbed by the emperor and became a swarm of rats which laid waste to a rival temple.
Tōfu-kozō
A yōkai that appears as a young boy carrying a tray of tofu.
Tsuchigumo
A clan of spider-like yōkai.
Tsuchinoko
A legendary serpentine monster. It is now a cryptid resembling a fat snake.
Tsukinowaguma
A legendary bear.[2]
Tsukumogami
An animated tea caddy that Matsunaga Hisahide used to bargain a peace with Oda Nobunaga. It is now understood to mean any 100-year-old inanimate object that has come to life.
Tsukuyomi
The Shinto moon god.
Tsurube-otoshi
A monster that drops out of the tops of trees to attack and eat those who pass beneath the trees.

U
Ubume
The spirit of a woman who died in childbirth, lingering to protect the child she left behind.
Uma-no-ashi
A tree with hidden horse's legs that kick passersby before withdrawing into the leaves to hide.
Umibōzu
A giant humanoid monster that appears on the surface of the sea and sometimes tries to sink ships by tricking sailors.
Umi-nyōbō
A female sea monster who steals fish.
Ungaikyō
A possessed mirror that distorts all reflections into monstrous images.
Ushi no toki mairi
A curse cast at the Hour of the Ox (between 1 and 3 in the morning) by a black magic user, with various harmful effects.
Ushi-oni
The name given to an assortment of ox-headed monsters.
Ushi-onna
A kimono-clad woman with a cow's head.
Ushirogami
A one-eyed, footless spirit.
Uwan
A spirit named for the sound it makes when surprising people.

W
Waira
A large beast that lurks in the mountains, about which little is known.
Wani
A dragon or sea monster comparable to an alligator or crocodile. A related word has been applied to the saltwater crocodile.
Wanyūdō
A flaming wheel with a man's head in the center, that sucks out the soul of anyone who sees it.

Y
Yadōkai
The spirits of low-ranking monks who have turned to mischief.
Yamabiko
Small mountain-dwelling creatures that create echoes.
Yama-inu
A dog-like mountain spirit that may appear to travelers on mountain roads. It may be friendly, or may attack and kill the traveler, depending on the tale (also see the Japanese wolf).
Yamajijii
An old man spirit with one eye and one leg.
Yamako
An ape-like occasionally-cannibalistic creature that can read minds.
Yamaoroshi
A possessed vegetable grater, almost porcupine-like in appearance.
Yamata no Orochi
The eight-headed dragon/serpent monster slain by the god Susanoo.
Yama-uba
A crone-like yōkai who dwells in the mountains.
Yashima no Hage-tanuki
A bake-danuki that protects the Taira clan. One of the three famous tanuki.
Yatagarasu
The three-legged crow of Amaterasu.
Yato-no-kami
Deadly snake spirits which infest fields and kill the families of those who see them.
Yobuko
A mountain-dwelling spirit from the San'in region and the city of Tottori that is said to be the reason echoes occur.
Yofune-nushi
A malevolent sea serpent from the Oki Islands that demanded the yearly sacrifice of virgin maidens.
Yōkai
A class of supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons in Japanese folklore. They can also be called ayakashi (妖怪), mononoke (物の怪), or mamono.
Yomotsu-shikome
The hags of the Underworld, sent by Izanami to pursue Izanagi as he fled the Underworld.
Yonakinoishi
A stone from Shizuoka prefecture that is said to cry at night.
Yōsei
The Japanese version of fairies, and the term for spirits from Western legends.
Yosuzume
A mysterious bird yokai that sings at night, sometimes indicating that the okuri-inu is near.
Yuki-onna
A malevolent spirit that manifests as a beautiful woman wandering snowy mountain passes.
Yurei
Ghosts in a more Western sense, in that they are the lingering spirits of the restless dead.

Z
Zashiki-warashi
A protective childlike house spirit from Iwate Prefecture.
Zennyo Ryūō
A rain-making dragon deity.
Zorigami
An animated clock.
Zuijin
Warrior-guardian spirits that watch over shrine and temple gates.
Zunbera-bō
Another name for the noppera-bō.

See also

References
  1. "The Oriental Economic Review". Oriental Information Agency. 14 July 2018 – via Google Books.
  2. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women who Run with the Wolves (1996), Ch. 12.
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