Yokai Cats Vol. 1

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Bakeneko start off as normal cats, but later develop supernatural abilities. They can gain these abilities as a result of age, after living for around 12 or 13 years, from being unusually large, from eating too much lamp oil, or by having too long a tail. For this reason in ancient japan, cats’ tails were usually cut short, and it is theorized, that a preference for short-tailed cats led to an unintentional breeding, which resulted in many of japan’s cats now having naturally short tails. Once they have gained their supernatural powers, the bakenko grow in size, up to the size of a human adult, they begin to walk on their hind legs, they may learn human language, and they can summon fireballs. Fire also appears on the tips of their tails, which, as you can imagine, leads to them unintentionally lighting houses on fire.

In the mountain recesses, there are those called nekomata, and people say that they eat humans… Tsurezuregusa, Yoshida Kenko, c. 1331 One heads up for the iron beads is that you should never forget that taking them off is an option. By the time you have them, you should be leveled and experienced enough to know how to hold your own if you do need to take them off. I usually took them off in floors I wasn't too confident in my ability to clear without getting hit. Those floors were the shooting gallery floors and the parkour floors, mostly. Nekomata, on the other hand, are evil, plain and simple. Nekomata is often translated as “forked cat,” but it may also mean “again cat,” have something to do with monkeys, or mean something entirely different that has been lost to time [4, 5, 10]. There are several different forms of the word, all sharing the same character for neko, “cat,” but with different characters after [4]. The first written mention of nekomata in Japan was in 1233 [10], so there has been a lot of time for the word to evolve. That first mention came when Fujiwara no Teika recorded in his journal that in August in Nanto, a nekomata killed and ate several people in one night [4, 5, 10]. He described the nekomata as having cat eyes but “a large body like a dog” [5, 10]. Bakeneko (化け猫) are another type of cat Yokai that are often mistaken for Two Tailed Cats. The biggest differences between Bakeneko and Two Tailed Catsare: Type of Japanese yōkai The Bakeneko of the Sasakibara Family ( 猫) from the Buson Yōkai Emaki by Yosa Buson. It depicts a cat in Nagoya that would wear a napkin on its head and dance. Unlike nekomata which have two tails, this cat has only one tail. [1]All that said, though, it ultimately feels more like a good coffee table book than some kind of reference book for Kaibyo (which admittedly is probably beyond what it's trying or claiming to be). International Research Center for Japanese Studies, “ 山猫”“ 山猫” Yokai Terminology: Kaibyo is Cat Yokai This frightening yokai is known to haunt homes and all the humans living in it. It can also devour the master of the home and take his place as the head of the household. Grant blessings like good / big catch (for fishing), and safety from disasters (When a cat washes its face, it means it’s going to rain soon). The spirit perception beads will be good for whenever you choose to start your yokai and cat hunts, because both are detected by them.

As for the content itself? It's neatly divided into chapters - with each section focusing on a different form of cat-yokai. Expect all sorts of bizarre feline spirits here; from the eerie bakeneko (the shapeshifting cat) to the terrifying kasha - which is more of a demon than a yokai. It's not all scary though; there's also a chapter on the maneki-neko, which you may know better as the cheery waving cat (often gold) that is so often spotted in people's homes or in Chinese takeaways! (We've got one sat cheerily waving away in our spare room...). Sharp, Jasper (2011). Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema. Scarecrow Press. p.86. ISBN 978-0810857957. Also shown at the right, the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō of 1776 (An'ei 5) depicts a cat with its head protruding from a shōji screen, a cat with a handkerchief on its head and its forepaw on the veranda, and a cat wearing a handkerchief and standing upright. The less experienced cat has difficulty standing on its hind legs while the older cat is able to do so: this is showing the process by which a normal cat ages and transforms into a nekomata. [12] In the Bigelow ukiyo-e collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Hyakki Yagyō Emaki includes a similar composition, leading some scholars to see a relationship between the books. [13] Senri [ edit ]

According to Japanese folklore, yurei are deceased people who have not been able to join their ancestors in the afterlife; thus, they’re condemned to wandering around in limbo for eternity. Marak, Katarzyna (2014). Japanese and American Horror: A Comparative Study of Film, Fiction, Graphic Novels and Video Games. McFarland & Company. p.101. ISBN 978-0786496662.