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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.
Description. The Gashadokuro is a spirit that takes the form of a giant skeleton made of the skulls of people who died in the battlefield or of starvation/famine (while the corpse becomes a gashadokuro, the spirit becomes a separate yōkai, known as hidarugami.), and is 10 or more meters tall. Only the eyes protrude, and some sources describe ...
The Japanese word kaijū originally referred to monsters and creatures from ancient Japanese legends; [3] it earlier appeared in the Chinese Classic of Mountains and Seas. [4] [5] There are no traditional depictions of kaijū or kaijū-like creatures among the yōkai of Japanese folklore, [6] although it is possible to find megafauna in their mythology (e.g., Japanese dragons).
Yōkai (妖怪, "strange apparition") are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore.The kanji representation of the word yōkai comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", [1] and while the Japanese name is simply the Japanese transliteration or pronunciation of the Chinese term yaoguai (which designates similarly strange creatures), some Japanese ...
Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. [ 1 ]
Baku. (mythology) A baku, as illustrated by Hokusai. Baku (獏 or 貘) are Japanese supernatural beings that are said to devour nightmares. They originate from the chinese Mo. According to legend, they were created by the spare pieces that were left over when the gods finished creating all other animals. They have a long history in Japanese ...
For instance, multi-headed dragons in Greek mythology include the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra and the 100-headed Ladon, both slain by Heracles. Two other Japanese examples derive from Buddhist importations of Indian dragon myths. Benzaiten, the Japanese form of Saraswati, supposedly killed a five-headed dragon at Enoshima in 552.
The Ōmukade is a giant man-eating centipede that lives in the mountains. While it eats humans, the Ōmukade has a weakness to human saliva. It also preys on great serpents and dragons. A giant centipede or mukade was killed near Lake Biwa by Fujiwara no Hidesato (aka Tawara Tōda Hidesato, "Rice bag Tōda") according to the legendary tale ...