Yōkai

Yōkai (妖怪, "strange apparition") are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word yōkai is composed of two kanji characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while it may be regarded as a loanword from the Chinese term yaoguai, the word yōkai has taken on multiple different meanings particular to a Japanese context.

Yōkai are also referred to as ayakashi (あやかし), mononoke (物の怪) or mamono (魔物). Despite often being translated as such, yōkai are not demons in the Western sense of the word, and they can be viewed as kami. However, the two loose classes of spirits are generally thought of as highly different, although some academics and Shinto practitioners acknowledge similarities within the seeming dichotomy between the natures of them and most kami, which are generally thought to be relatively beneficent in comparison, and class the two as ultimately the same type of spirits of nature or a mythological realm. Their behavior can range from malevolent or mischievous to benevolent to humans.

Yōkai often have animal like features (such as the kappa, depicted as appearing similar to a turtle, and the tengu, commonly depicted with wings), but may also appear humanoid in appearance, such as the kuchisake-onna. Some yōkai resemble inanimate objects (such as the tsukumogami), while others have no discernible shape. Yōkai are typically described as having spiritual or supernatural abilities, with shapeshifting being the most common trait associated with them. Yōkai that shapeshift are known as bakemono (化け物) or obake (お化け).

Japanese folklorists and historians explain yōkai as personifications of "supernatural or unaccountable phenomena to their informants". In the Edo period, many artists, such as Toriyama Sekien, invented new yōkai by taking inspiration from folk tales or purely from their own imagination. Today, several such yōkai (such as the amikiri) are mistakenly thought to originate in more traditional folklore.