What are Yokai?

Essentially, they’re Japanese “ghosts,” “monsters”, or “demons”. In Japanese, yokai is written as: 妖怪ようかい

In general, they tend to be explanations of phenomena, like people dying in snowstorms could be caused by a 雪女ゆきおんな or drowning can be caused by a 河童かっぱ.

They are extremely common in media and you’ll find versions of them everywhere.

Here’s a NativShark lesson that covers some extra youkai, and expands on ones talked about below.

Youkai covered

雪女ゆきおんな - Kills you in blizzards.

狐きつね or 妖狐ようこ - Fox yokai that can transform in pretend to be people.

木霊こだま - Forest spirits.

天狗てんぐ - Red faces, long nose, can fly. Can change the weather or kidnap people.

鬼おに - Japanese ogres/demons. I didn’t know that these were actually in the category of 妖怪ようかい.

鬼女きじょ - Japanese female ogres/demons.

コロポックル - Tiny people from Hokkaido.

河童かっぱ - Drowns people near rivers.

龍りゅう - An asain sea dragon.

狸たぬき 化ばけ狸だぬき - A tanuki that can transform.

座敷ざしきわらし - A youkai who protects houses but also plays pranks.

枕返まくらがえし - Flips your pillow on you when you sleep.

アマビエ - A half-fish half-human yokai who predicts prosperity and plagues. Has gained popularity due to COVID.

海坊主うみぼうず - Sinks your ships at night time.