Super weird ghosts in Japanese folklore (P2)

When it comes to ghosts, most of us think of strange and deadly things, but in folk culture of the Japanese, there are strange and puzzling ghosts like this.

Taka Onna
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Walking on the red light district in Japan, many people will dream of a hot night with some beautiful girl. A luxurious room, a charming girl ready to wait for you, everything seems too perfect then ooh… a face horrified appearing by the window makes you lose all emotions… that’s when you met Taka Onna – a tall woman who can stretch her body.

Taka Onna is one of many types of demons that originated in the imagination of Toriyama Sekien – the author of “Drawing on the Hundred Demons Night Parade” (Picture Book of the Night Parade of 100 Demons). Taka Onna is the story of a woman too ugly to marry, even a one-night stand is a luxury. Too cruel to her fate, she turned into a yokai, specializing in peeping in red light districts to ruin the fun of others. Taka Onna is so true that what you can’t have, others shouldn’t even dream of enjoying it!

Tofu Kozo
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Tofu is a boy with a big hat on his head, carefully carrying a plate of fresh tofu from place to place. In fact, Tofu did not have the characteristics of a genuine “ghost”. He is shy and harmless. Little Tofu Kozo does nothing but run through the streets on rainy nights trying to bring his plate of tofu wherever he wants. The special thing about Tofu Kozo probably comes from its origin. Coming not from oral stories or the imaginations of the authors, Tofu Kozo was the first yokai created for advertising purposes.

He appeared in the Anei period (1772-1781), a book at that time – Edo Meisho Zue – a collection of paintings of famous landmarks of Edo (now Tokyo) depicting tofu sellers in the page. The same outfit as Tofu Kozo’s. It is speculated that a certain tofu shop intentionally created Tofu as a mascot for advertising. After that, Tofu Kozo appeared everywhere, from clothes, pottery to children’s toys. In the end, he was given the title of Prince of Yokai as the son of the supreme Yokai commander Mikoshi Nyudo and his wife – Rokurokubi.

Sazae Oni
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The story is about a pirate ship that accidentally encounters a lonely woman floating on the water. They put her on board and in return, she agreed to spend the night with all the crew. One by one, they went to sleep with her, but the next morning, they found that something was wrong with their bodies, or more accurately, something was missing. The entire crew of pirates lost their testicles.

Hearing laughter echoing from the sea, they once again found the woman lying on the water. She holds out the bag containing everyone’s testicles and says she will return it if the pirates deliver all the gold and silver. The pirates reluctantly agreed. After the exchange was done, the woman revealed her true form as a monster with a giant seashell on her head and disappeared in the wave. People later referred to Sazae Oni as a thief who stole the testicles of men at sea.

Shirime
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Late at night, you walk alone on the street and see a stranger in front of you. The stranger stops and in the dim light of the lantern, he suddenly bends down and leans his butt towards you. If that’s not odd enough, there’s also a blinking eye from the person’s anus. The origin of Shirime dates back to Buzon’s Yokai Picture Scroll by poet and artist Buzon, but apart from this strange drawing, the author doesn’t explain anything further. However, this was enough for Shirime to stimulate the Japanese imagination and turn it into a kind of yokai as we know it.​