Explore the legendary Yokai, spirits, and creatures

Maikubi
Yokai

Maikubi (舞首)

The quarreling severed heads of three miscreants, doomed to argue eternally as a punishment for their crimes.

Makura-gaeshi
Yokai

Makura-gaeshi (枕返し)

A mischievous spirit known for flipping or moving pillows while people sleep, sometimes causing mysterious discomfort or dreams.

Mekurabe
Yokai

Mekurabe (目競)

A swarm of disembodied skulls that gather and multiply, known for terrifying Taira no Kiyomori in ancient Japanese legends.

Miage-nyūdō
Yokai

Miage-nyūdō (見上げ入道)

A mysterious yokai that grows taller the more you look up at it—known to cause fear and disorientation in travelers.

Mikoshi-nyūdō
Yokai

Mikoshi-nyūdō (見越し入道)

A terrifying yokai known to grow taller the more you look up at it—often mistaken for Miage-nyūdō, but with a more violent nature.

Mizuchi
Yokai

Mizuchi (蛟)

A serpentine water dragon from Japanese legend, said to dwell in rivers and attack those who pollute or approach its domain.

Mokumokuren
Yokai

Mokumokuren (目目連)

A haunted yōkai made of paper doors filled with unblinking eyes, watching anyone who enters abandoned buildings.

Momonjii
Yokai

Momonjii (百々爺)

A mysterious old man yokai said to appear at every fork in the road, testing or deceiving travelers.

Morinji-no-kama
Yokai

Morinji-no-kama (茂林寺の釜)

A famous tale about a magical teakettle that transforms into a tanuki, known from Morinji Temple in Gunma Prefecture.

Mōryō
Yokai

Mōryō (魍魎)

A malevolent spirit known for feasting on corpses, often associated with graveyards and the dead. Mōryō are said to dwell in mountains and forests and dig up graves to devour the dead.

Mujina
Yokai

Mujina (貉)

Mujina are shapeshifting badgers known in Japanese folklore for their ability to transform into human forms, especially faceless ghosts known as noppera-bō.

Myōbu
Yokai

Myōbu (命婦)

Myōbu is a title used for noblewomen at the imperial court, but in folklore, it is also a respectful term for fox spirits that serve the deity Inari.