oni( demons) and yurei ( ghosts) have played a role in Japanese culture for thousands of years, and stories of new spirits continue to be told today. much of this list is comprised from hannya,in which noh theatre are woman whose rage and jealousy turned them into demon while still alive here are just some stories of Japanese folk lore as episodes

1- KIYOHIME

kiyohime was a young women scorned by her lover, a monk named anchin,who grew cold and lost interest in her, kiyohime followed him to a river and transformed into a serpent while swimming after his boat. ( monk followed her just if you are confused). terrified by her monstrous form, anchin sought refuge in a temple, where monks hid him beneath a bell . not to be evaded, kiyohime found him by his scent, coiled around the bell and banged loudly on it with her tail. she then breathed fire onto the bell, melting it and killing anchin

the end

meaning:

1) scorned-reject in a mean way

2) sought-past of seek

3) coiled-um not a accurate meaning but circled around it maybe

2) YUKI- ONNA (snow queen)

she is a japenese snow spirit known for her beauty and also for killing humans😈😈.

in some versions she is described as having very pale skin and black hair contrasting with her kimono, she leaves no footprints as she float over the snow and sometimes her feet are invisible. following one of the legends about its origin where a snow spirit of yuki onna is born from a woman that fell on the snow, the decision for a regretful girl taken by the sadness of a letter she just received , laying on the snow and perishing for exposure gives us our own yuki onna , with the fleeting reminiscence of being human in the past , when faced by the beauty of the cherry tree under the snow.

gathering some courage we felt compelled to give a haiku a try ...

"no footsteps , no sound,

a letter filled with regrets

of being human ."

the yuki onna calls out to people on snowy night and if you reply, she attacks, but there's also the version where she will push you off the cliff if you don't reply as well , so if you ever met her best of luck

meanings

1) pale- light in color or shade , very less pigment

2) contrasting - differing strikingly

3) exposure - the state of having no Protection from something harmful

4) reminiscence - a stiry told about the past event rememberd by narrator

5) compelled- force to do something

6) haiku- a japenese poem of seventeen syllabuses, in three lines or five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world

well this is all for today please mention me more if you know i am quite scared to go to japan at late night you all should also never go. i hope you understand my regards is with you in this

so peace bye

1- THE SECRET OF THE YAMAMBA

the yamamba looks like a harmless old women, but are actually terrifying mountain yokai that consume human flesh . one of their oldest legends is from konjaku monogotari:

Once upon a time, a Buddhist priest was caught out in a storm but luckily passed by a lonely hut. A kind old woman invited him inside, welcoming with food and a warm fire.

As welcoming she was, she gave the priest a strange warning ."no matter what, do not look in the back room .

unable to overcome his curiosity , the priest failed to heed the old women's warning . As soon as she stepped out to gather more firewood, the priest peeped through a crack in the door. To his horror, he discovered the room filled with half- eaten corpses. The priest realized that the old woman was a yamamba, luring unsuspecting travelers into her home only to shred them to pieces for her next meal. He fled from the hut as fast as he could and never looked back.

Meanings

1) yokai- a strange supernatural creature from Japanese folktale

2) heed- pay attention to

3) consume- eat, drink or ingest

2- THE LEGEND OF THE JOROGUMO

the jorogumo is a half-woman, half-spider yokai that can transform itself into a beautiful woman when hunting for unsuspecting men to devour!

A young samurai was accosted in the street by an alluringly gorgeous woman,

. Although she was beautiful, the samurai saw through her disguise, realizing she was not a human but some type of yokai. He immediately drew his sword and plunged it towards her, but only injuring the strange woman before she quickly retreated. The samurai followed the scarlet trail of spotted blood, abandoned house . Inside, he found dozens of bodies bound in spider silk, and a giant joro spider, dead from the injuries it had received.

meanings

1) devour - eat hungrily and quickly

2) alluringly - in an attractive or excited way

3) plunged- jump or dive quickly or energetically

4) scarlet - of a brilliant red colour

3- THE TALE OF OIWA

not all scary stories are made up- the tale of oiwa is based on a real event that took place in 17th century edo:

oiwa was stunningly beautiful young woman who was married to the samurai lemon, a petty man who only loved her for her head- turning looks. Another woman, Oume, was madly in love with the lemon and out of her jealousy rage, into using a cream that was laced with poison. It disfigured oiwas face , causing one of her eyes to droop and her hair to fall out, without her even noticing . Disguised with her new appearance , lemon wished to divorce oiwa and marry oume. The despicable samurai hired his friend takuetsu to rape oiwa , so that he would have the grounds for divorce . Takuetsu was so shocked by oiwas appearance , he couldn't follow through with the orders. Instead he told oiwa lemons plan, and showed oiwa her own face in the mirror. Seeing her deformed face for the first time, oiwa was so horrified that she stole takuetsu sword, killing herself . With her last breath, she cursed lemons name. On the night of lemons remarriage to oume, the ghost of the disfigured oiwa appeared before him. A terrified and guilty lemon quickly fled from oiwa, but no matter how far he ran, he couldn't escape her hauntings, after that night, no matter where lemon looked- even in the very lanterns he used to light his path he would see oiwa's face staring at him

meanings

1) droop - bend or hang down wards limply

2) deformed- a person or part of body not having normal or natural shape

end

1- THE BLACK HAIR

This thousand-year-old legend is one of the first terrifying stories within the kaidan:

Once upon a time, there was an impoverished samurai living in Kyoto with his wife. A wealthy lord from a distant land invited the samurai to be his vassal. Because it was such an honorable opportunity, he had no choice but to accept, leaving his wife to wait in poverty at home until he returned.Years later, having dutifully served his lord, the samurai finally returned to Kyoto. Although his house was in disrepair, his wife was still there to happily welcome him home. Finally reunited, the two spent the entire night talking and laughing together before drifting off to sleep. When the samurai awoke, the warmth he had felt just the night before from having his arms wrapped around his loving wife was no longer there. Instead, he opened his eyes to see that he was only holding a cold skeleton, shrouded in long, black hair.

The samurai learned that his wife passed away from sadness the summer before, but her skeleton had remained in the house all the while, waiting faithfully for his return.

2- THE GHOST OF OKIKU

Okiku’s story is sure to keep you up all night, and if it doesn’t, her ghost will!

There was once a girl, Okiku, who lived in Himeji Castle as a servant of the samurai Aoyama. One of Okiku’s tasks was to care for her master’s collection of ten valuable plates. But one day, while Okiku was washing the plates, she realized one was missing. No matter how many times she counted, she always came up one short. Her master was so enraged that she had lost his plate that he threw her down a well.

Murdered so brutally, Okiku’s soul could not rest. Every night, her ghost crawled out from the well to continue counting her master’s plates. She would count to nine, then, upon realizing that the tenth plate was still gone, she would let out an ear-piercing shriek. Okiku’s screams kept everyone in the castle up all night long for weeks on end, until a Buddhist priest finally appeased her.

3- THE PEONY LANTERN

Along with Oiwa and Okiku, Otsuyu is one of the three female ghosts that make up the “Nihon san dai kaidan” or Japan’s big three ghost stories:

One dark night, the samurai Ogiwara spotted an elegant woman carrying a peony lantern wandering through the streets of Edo. For Ogiwara, it was love at first sight. He invited the beautiful woman, Otsuyu, to accompany him home where they talked, laughed, and enjoyed each other’s company. That night, Ogiwara’s neighbor, hearing eerie laughter coming from Ogiwara’s garden, peeked over the wall. He saw Ogiwara holding, not a woman, but a laughing skeleton! The next morning, Ogiwara’s neighbor revealed to him what he had seen. Horrified, Ogiwara went seeking advice from the priest at a nearby temple. 

To his shock, Ogiwara found Otsuyu’s grave at the temple. He realized that the woman he had fallen in love just the night before with had died long before they had even met. Now that Ogiwara knew the truth, Otsuyu’s ghost no longer appeared before him. 

Even after discovering the truth Ogiwara missed Otsuyu desperately. After some time, he could no longer bear his sadness and returned to the temple where Otsuyu lay buried. At the temple gates, Otsuyu appeared before him once more. Reaching out her hand, she asked Ogiwara to accompany her home. Without hesitation, Ogiwara took her hand, walking with her into the darkness. 

After his final visit to the temple, Ogiwara vanished. The priest, concerned, opened Otsuyu’s grave. Inside the coffin lay two bodies: Ogiwara and Otsuyu, together forever.

bye