Japanese Folklore and Yokai, Chisai Ojisan

 

 Chisai Ojisan / Chiisai Ojisan or Tiny Uncle , Little Mister, Little Old Man" is a popular Japanese urban legend.

This little guy is usually considered benevolent and even Lucky to encounter.

Sightings have been posted online at least so far back as 2009, but older tales date back a lot farther.

There are several stories about him and countless eyewitnesses that claim to have seen him 

All the accounts talk about encountering a very small man apparently middle aged man. His hight seems to range anywhere from 10cm -50cm tall

Some legend say that spotting these little men will give you  good luck. If more so if the speak too you. 

In some versions they dress in normal clothes, in other's the wheat a suit..

These Yokai are basically  Japanese Leprechauns.

They have been featured in multiple shows and manga.

Japanese Folklore: Tamamo no Mae: The Nine tailed fox

 

 

 Tamamo no Mae, One of the strongest and most feared Yokai.




Tamamo  is one of the most famous kitsune (Fox Spirits) in Japanese mythology.

A nine-tailed magical fox, she is also one of the most powerful yokai that has ever lived.

Her magical abilities were matched only by her sharp mind  and lust for power.

Tamamo lived during the Heian period, and though she may not have succeeded in her plan to kill the emperor and take his place, her actions destabilized the country and lead it towards one of the most important civil wars in Japanese history.

 For that reason, she is considered one of the Nihon San Dai Aku Yokai—the Three Terrible Yokai of Japan.

She  is mentioned in various old texts and has been a popular subject throughout Japanese history. Her story is portrayed in literature, 

Noh, Kabuki, bunraku, and other forms of art including modern mang, anime and evenK Dramas. 

There have been  several variations on her story throughout history.

According to Legends: Tamamo no Mae was born around 3,500 years ago in what is now China. Her early life is a mystery, but she eventually became a powerful sorceress.

 

A few hundred years later she became a white faced, golden furred kyubi no kitsune—a nine-tailed fox with the highest level of  magic powers.

She was also a very skilled liar and master  manipulator. She used her charms and intelligence to advance her standing and influence politics of the time .

During the Shang Dynasty she was known as Daji. She disguised herself as a beautiful woman and became the favorite concubine of King Zhou of Shang.

 

 
Daji was a model of human depravity. She held orgies in the palace gardens. Her fondness for watching and inventing new forms of torture are legendary.

Daji eventually brought about the fall of the entire Shang Dynasty. She managed to escape execution, and fled to the Magadha kingdom in India in 1046 BCE.

In Magadha, she was known as Lady Kayo, and became a consort of King Kalmashapada, known in Japan as Hanzoku.

She used her beauty and charms to dominate the king, she devoured children, murder priests, and commit other unspeakable horrors.

Eventually—whether because she ran out of  children to eat or because Kalmashapada began to turn away from her and towards Buddhism—she fled back to China.
...

During the Zhou Dynasty she called herself Bao Si, and was known as one of the most desirable women in all of China.

In 779 BCE she became a concubine of King You. Not satisfied as just a mistress, she manipulated the king into deposing his wife Queen Shen and making Bao Si his new queen. 

Though she was beautiful, Bao Si rarely ever smiled. In order to please his beautiful new wife, King You committed acts of such
evil and atrocity that eventually all of his nobles abandoned and betrayed him. Eventually, King You was killed and Bao Si captured and the Western Zhou Dynasty was brought to an end in 771 BCE. Somehow Bao Si managed to escape again, she went into hiding for many years.

Little is known of her activities until the 700s, when she resurfaced disguised as a 16-year old girl named Wakamo. She tricked the leaders of the 10th Japanese envoy to the Tang Dynasty—Kibi no Makibi, Abe no Nakamaro, and Ganjin—as they were preparing to return home to Japan.

Wakamo joined their crew and took the ship to Japan, where she hid herself away for over 300 years.

In the 1090s, she resurfaced once again. This time she transformed herself into a human baby and hid by the side of the road.

A married couple found the baby and rescued it, taking her in as their daughter and naming her Mikuzume.

She proved to be an exceedingly intelligent and talented young girl, and was so beautiful that she attracted to attention of everyone around her.

When she was 7 years old, Mikuzume recited poetry before the emperor. His imperial majesty immediately took a liking to her and employed her as a servant
in his court.

Mikuzume excelled at court, absorbing knowledge like a sponge. There was no question she could not answer, whether it was about music, history, astronomy,
religion, or Chinese classics. Her clothes were always clean and unwrinkled. She always smelled pleasant. Mikuzume had the most beautiful face in all of Japan, and everyone who saw her loved her.

During the summer of her 18th year, a poetry and instrument recital was held in Mikuzume’s honor. During the recital, an unexpected storm fell upon the palace. 

All of the candles in the recital room were snuffed, leaving the participants in the dark. Suddenly, a bright light emanated from Mikuzume’s body, illuminating the room.

 Everybody at court was so impressed by her genius and declared that she must have had an exceedingly good and holy previous life. 

She was given the name Tamamo no Mae. Emperor Toba, already exceedingly fond of her, made her his consort.

Almost immediately after she became the emperor’s consort, the emperor fell deathly ill. None of the court physicians could determine the cause, and so the onmyoji (Exorcist) Abe no Yasunari was called in. ( Not be confused with Abe no Yasuna, who is the father of the famous onmyōji Abe no Seimei , Similar title, Different people.)

Abe no Yasunari read the emperor’s fortune and divined that he was marked by a bad omen. After that, the highest priests and monks were summoned to the palace to pray for the emperor’s health.

The best prayers of the highest priests had no effect, however. The emperor continued to grow worse. Abe no Yasunari was summoned again to read the emperor’s fortune. 

This time, to his horror the onmyoji discovered that the emperor’s beloved Tamamo no Mae was the cause of his illness. She was a
kitsune in disguise, and was shortening the emperor’s life span in order to take over as ruler of Japan. Emperor Toba was reluctant to believe the diviner’s words, but agreed to test Tamamo no Mae just to be sure.

To save the emperor’s life, Abe no Yasunari prepared the Taizan Fukun no Sai, the most secret and most powerful spell known to onmyodo.

Tamamo  was ordered to perform part of the ritual. They reasoned that an evil spirit would not be able to participate in such a holy ritual.

Though she was reluctant to participate, the emperor’s ministers persuaded her. They told her that it would increase her standing an admiration among the court. She had little choice but to accept.

When the ritual was performed, Tamamo was dressed even more beautifully than normal. She recited the holy worlds as expected and played her part extremely well. But just as she prepared to wave the ceremonial staff, she vanished. Abe no Yasunari’s divination was confirmed. The court flew into an uproar.

Soon after, word arrived that women and children were disappearing near Nasuno in Shimotsuke Province.

The court sorcerers determined that Tamamo  was the cause, and it was decided that she must be destroyed once and for all.

The emperor summoned the best warriors in all of the land and then charged the most superb of them, Kazusanosuke and Miuranosuke, to find Tamamo no Mae.

The warriors gladly accepted the honor. They purified themselves and set out with an army of 80,000 men to slay the nine-tailed kitsune.

Upon reaching Nasuno the army quickly found the kitsune. 

The warriors chased her for days and days, but the fox used her magical powers and outsmarted them time and time again, easily escaping. The army grew weary, and frustration set in. It seemed that nothing they did was working. However, Kazusanosuke and Miuranosuke would not accept the shame of defeat and vowed to press on. They practiced harder, honing their tactics, and eventually picked up the kitsune’s trail.

One night, Miuranosuke had a prophetic dream. A beautiful young girl appeared before him, crying. She begged: “Tomorrow I will lose my life to you. Please save me.” Miuranosuke adamantly refused, and upon waking the warriors set out again to find Tamamo no Mae. 

Sure enough, the next day they caught
her. Miuranosuke fired two arrows, one through the fox’s flank and one through its neck. Kazusanosuke swung his blade. It was over, just as the dream had said.

.....

However, her evil did not end with her death. One year after she died, Emperor Konoe died, heirless. The following year, her lover
and former Emperor Toba died as well. A succession crisis ignited between forces loyal to Emperor Go-Shirakawa and forces loyal to former Emperor Sutoku.

 This crisis started the Fujiwara-Minamoto rivalry that led to the Genpei War, the end of the Heian period, and the rise of the first shoguns.

......

As if that were not enough, Tamamo’s spirit haunted a massive boulder which killed every living thing that touched it.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
This boulder is know as the killing stone or  Sessho-seki.

 On march 5 2022, the boulder split in half. Presumably freeing the evil fox once more.

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Also, Happy Valentines Day.

💗🦊

Wednesday: Outcast Abilities.

 

Wednesday characters supernatural powers 

As season one stated, the four main groups (at least In Nevermore)

Are Fur's, Fang's, Stoner's and  Scales.

......

Werewolf, Vampire, Gorgon and Siren..

But there are a lot more then just these four groups from shapshifters to psychics..........

Psychics abilities.🔮

Telekinesis

Physical animation of drawings through thought manipulation 

Precognition.

Clairvoyance

Dream  visions

Can see ghosts

Visions (good or bad, depending on the psychics outlook)

Good visions make you a dove, bad/darker visions and your a raven.

Wednesday is a Raven, same as her grandmother and aunt. Her psychic visions of the past and future are  darker usually about something bad ..murder,death ect that has happened or is going to happen.

 In season one she isn't able to control these visions on demand, though season two shows her increased proficiency with it though at a cost. Pushing your psychic powers to far or over using them results in black tears and epilepsy. Improper use or lack of proper training can also lead to madness.

Wednesday experience vision's of past or future events  when touching an object that triggers her power. She inherited her powers from her mother.

...

Werewolves 🌕🐺

(Fur's) 

Increased strength and heightened sense especially hearing and sent.

Enid Sinclair,the first werewolf we see can change her nails into claws at will, and has above average strength in human form.

All werewolves transform on a full moon.

They also really enjoy meat, even owning steak scented candles,...at least Enid does.

Werewolves like actual wolf's are pack creatures, their family is their pack, though they can also form an individual  pack (group of close friends) with others they get along well with. Most werewolves wolf out (transform) by puberty. however some are late bloomers not changing until mid to late teens and there seems to be a small minority that never wolf out. Werewolves that can't change are eventually driven from their packs and live alone (lone wolf's). Even rarer is the Alpha Wolf, not to be confused with the pack alpha.

An Alpha Wolf is  a fur that can wolf out without a full moon . Their wolf form is larger then an average werewolf and they are the strongest werewolf's.

They are considered Outcasts among the other wolves and are even hunted by them .

If a young alpha Wolf's Out under a full moon they risk possibly getting stuck in wolf form forever.

(Enid Sinclair is an Alpha)

........

Vampires🧛‍♀️

(Fang's )

Extremely long lives as stated in season one some of them have been in Nevermore for decades, not immortal but far longer life's then others. Vampires like Yoko are able to walk around in the sun, unlike traditional vampires, as long as they wear protective sunglasses to shield their eyes from bright rays.

they are however allergic to garlic and their strength is likely above average if not superhuman. (. Not shown in the show ..yet )

.......

Gorgon's🐍🪨

(Stoner's)

Snake's for hair and the ability to turn other's to solid stone (temporarily)

.........

Sirens🧜‍♀️

(Scales)

Can manipulate others with their voice (Siren Song) though it can be suppressed with a special necklace or an object with Corinthian coral to negate the effects. They also grow scales, webbed hands and mermaid like tails when in water .

............

Hyde's 👹

They look just just like anyone else, until their power is activated (unlocked). Someone has to put the Hyde through enough physical or emotional trauma to awaken a Hyde ( chemical induction or hypnosis also works) at which point they become the Master and the Hyde will do their bidding.

A Hyde has a normal appearance until they are unlocked after which they can transform at will or at their master's command into a fierce and dangerous  monster . Once unlocked they can't survive without a master.

The transition has a human cost, every time they change it eats away at their life spans and will eventually kill them.

Super strong, unpredictable and violent. Because of this Hyde's are banned from attending Nevermore.

..........

Shapeshifters🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️

The ability to perfectly transom into another person. The first person we see in the show with this power is Nevermore's late Principal Larissa Weems. In the original comics she was a babysitter for the Addams family.

 Agnes DeMille's friend Josephine Wilks also has the shape shifting ability.

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Pyrokinetic🔥

(Pyro)

The power to create and control fire at will. 

The new principal of Nevermore, Berry Dort had this ability.

Dort is the only one shown with this ability so far.

,..........

Vanishers 👀

The ability to completely disappear at will.

Agnes DeMille (Wednesdays Stalker/friend and self proclaimed number one super fan is the only one we've "seen" with  this power so far, much to Enid's annoyance .

Agnes Powers 

Vanisher ability: She can make herself and any objects she is in contact with invisible.

Partial invisibility: She doesn't always make her entire body invisible; at times, only her hands and other objects were visible while the rest of her body remained hidden.

Agnes can hide herself and anything she's touching, however she  does not negate sound as shown when  Fester noticed that she was following him and Wednesday.

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Zombies. 🧟‍♂️

Dangerous, always hungry brain eating monsters.

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Sparks ⚡

Electrokinesis.

The ability to generate and control electricity at will.

The spark they generate can range from a mild static shock to a power burst strong enough to shut down a building's power grid.

They are also capable of unleashing powerful focused jolt's of lightning from their fingers

 👉⚡

(Seems like most of the male Addams family members have this ability.)

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Avians 

🐧🦉🦜

(Controls birds)

This outcast ability let's the user control large groups of birds...

Can be used for spying or attacking other's.

.........

Bug Control 

🐝🐛🦟

(apkinesis)

The ability to control bees and other insects a version of psychic/telepathic abilities..

.........

DaVincis ⚙️

Intelligent and creative outcasts with the ability to build/ create whatever they can dream up..(also seem to have a telekinetic power).

........

The Faceless students..👻😶

Faceless is a term used to refer to a type of outcast that has no features on their faces, including no mouths, noses, or eyes.

They may be a type of yokai called The Noppera-bo or  faceless ghost, a Japanese yōkai that looks like a human but has no face.

Another theory is they are shapeshifters in their natural form.

.......

Lurch.🗿

The Addams family's ever loyal butler.

Tall, Strong, sturdy and silent (only talks on grunts) he may be a type of Frankenstein monster, or some other higher functioning undead.

Could also  possibly be a type of golem or gargoyle. Not sure.

 It hasn't been stated what kind of outcast he is yet.

..........

Other outcasts mentioned in the series but not yet shown.

Yeti's... 

Abominable Snowman is  considered a derogatory term.

 (Yeti's have been extinct since the 1950s)

...

Minotaurs. 

(Extinction date Not stated)

And Cyclops.

(extinction date,Not stated

.....

As mentioned during the Outcast Day of Remembrance they are all now extinct.

They're physical abilities and appearance has not yet been shown in the series beyond the figures we see during the procession, which are possibly over exaggerated representations of them.

Aside from that we can only guess based on their mythical counterparts.

...

Extended Family.

Cousin Itt. 

💈🕶️🎩

Cousin Itt. (Ignatius Itt )

A member of the Addams family (possibly Immortal or at least has a very long life),is a short bipedal being completely covered in long, thick hair. He is often seen wearing a bowler hat and dark, round sunglasses. 

He only speaks in a high-pitched gibberish that is unintelligible to outsiders but perfectly understood the rest of  the Addams family. 

Unlike the main characters, Cousin Itt was developed by producer David Levy for the 1964  Addams Family television series, not by the original cartoonist Charles Addams. 

Has not appeared in Wednesday yet, besides a portrait in the Nightshades hideout. He was one of the original Nightshades.

........

✋

Thing (Thing Addams)

Thing is a disembodied hand from The Addams Family. Created by Charles Addams.

He  serves the family as a helpful "handservant" and is often seen performing various tasks. While originally depicted as a more mysterious, extradimensional entity. In the old comics he can usually be seen looking through the banuesters.

Modern interpretations typically show Thing as a free-roaming hand that moves on its fingers.  In the series Wednesday Thing is the sentient right hand of a DeVinci Isaac Night (Tyler's Uncle)

.....

Originally created by Charles Addams for his Addams Family cartoons, things first appearance was in his 1954 book Homebodies. He was a multi armed being with tentacles, later changed to just a hand. 

Thing is in the  window on the right.

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Also 

Wednesday Season 3 will start filming on November 30th 2025 in Wicklow Ireland with a planned early to mid 2027 release.

Yokai, The Hibagon .. Bigfoot of Japan.

 

Japanese Bigfoot,The Hibagon 👣🇯🇵

It seems that every country or at least most have a version of a hairy manlike cryptid that roams the forests or mountains ..

North America's Bigfoot/Sasquatch the Rock Apes of Vietnam, the Yeti of the Himalayas and so on..

Well Japan is no exception, the Japanese version is called the Hibagon..

The first reported sighting was in Hiroshima Prefecture in what is now Shobara City during July of 1970.

FIRST SIGHTING...

July 20, 1970, that a man in his 30s said he saw from his car an unusual two-legged creature walking down a mountain road in the Yuki district in the former town of Saijo, now incorporated into the city of Shobara, before it slowly retreated back up the trail after noticing it was being watched.

....

Second and third Sighting..

A man who was cutting grass near his home early in the morning of July 23, three days after the first sighting, claimed to have seen a creature in a grassy area with a "human face." 

Another man on July 30 called out to a person whom he believed was a relative walking along a footpath to a rice field, but it turned out to be a "gorilla-type monster.

........

In 1971 the government special office to take reported sightings this continued until about 1975 when the sightings started to drop eventually leading to the office being shutdown there were a total of 29 local sightings from 1970-75.

Later sightings of a similar creature took place  in the neighboring city of Yamano, it was called the yabagon it was sighted infrequently for a few years leading people the believe the Hibagon had simply moved to a new location however the yabagon seemed to have disappeared too as it has not been spotted since 1980.

It's believed to live near Mount Hiba in the Chūgoku Mountains. 

Like Bigfoot/Sasquatch the Hibagon walks upright on two legs, standing about 5 -6 feet or up to 1.5 meters tall and very muscular build for it's size.

Eyewitnesses have described the unidentified figure as resembling a gorilla covered in dark brown bristles

 Their bodies are completely covered in black, gray, or dark brown hair.

 Their faces resemble an inverted triangle, and they have bulging eyes that slant upwards. Their voices resemble a dolphin’s call.

There are many theories on what the hibagon actually was.

Some suggest it was a  large Japanese macaques, black bears, a humans in a suit or possibly an  alien being but no one is entirely sure...

....

The sightings eventually got the attention of the local authority's and media. Leading to a newspaper article..

A former reporter, then Shobara bureau chief of the Chugoku Shimbun, who wrote the article, was quoted in the Hiroshima-based daily as saying, "I didn't take the first call seriously because I thought it was just a hoax, but then I got another call from someone else who gave an eyewitness account."

After meeting separately with the three eyewitnesses to hear and compare their stories, the reporter said all appeared shaken up, with one saying, "I can't live here anymore." Another complained of people accusing him of "faking" the story and not believing him.

.....

A footprint that was cast in 1970

A plaster cast of "footprint" believed to belong to the Hibagon was cast on December 16, 1970 and was kept in the chief's office of the Shobara Police Station, which is part of the Hiroshima Prefectural Police.

the Shobara Police Department has donated the footprint to the tourism association, which moved it to JR Bingo-Saijo Station.

 The tourist association used the donation as an opportunity to start recruitment for a "Hibagon Explorers" fan club that has seen about 40 people from around Japan join.

A tour of the mountain road where the first sightings took place was planned for may 2024.

Today the Hibagon has become a symbol of the town, and signs with its  likeness can be seen everywhere.

Japaneses myths: The White Butterfly....

 

 

 

 

                                      The White Butterfly

An old man named Takahama lived in a little house behind the cemetery of the temple of Sozanji. He was extremely amiable and generally liked by his neighbors, though most of them considered him to be a little mad. His madness, it would appear, entirely rested upon the fact that he had never married or showed any  desire for intimate companionship with women.

One summer day he became very ill, so ill, in fact, that he sent for his sister-in-law and her son. They both came and did all they could to bring comfort during his last hours. While they watched, Takahama fell asleep; but he had no sooner done so than a large white butterfly flew into the room and rested on the old man's pillow. The young man tried to drive it away with a fan; but it came back three times, as if loath to leave the sufferer.

At last Takahama's nephew chased it out into the garden, through the gate, and into the cemetery beyond, where it lingered over a woman's tomb, and then mysteriously disappeared. On examining the tomb the young man found the name "Akiko" written upon it, together with a description narrating how Akiko died when she was eighteen. Though the tomb was covered with moss and must have been erected fifty years previously, the boy saw that it was surrounded with flowers, and that the little water tank had been recently filled.

When the young man returned to the house he found that Takahama had passed away, and he returned to his mother and told her what he had seen in the cemetery.

"Akiko?" murmured his mother. "When your uncle was young he was betrothed to Akiko. She died of consumption shortly before her wedding day. 

When Akiko left this world your uncle resolved never to marry, and to live ever near her grave. For all these years he has remained faithful to his vow, and kept in his heart all the sweet memories of his one and only love. Every day Takahama went to the cemetery, whether the air was fragrant with summer breeze or thick with falling snow.

 Every day he would visit her grave and pray for her happiness, swept the tomb and set flowers there. 

When Takahama was dying, and he could no longer perform his loving task, Akiko came for him. That white butterfly was her sweet and loving soul."

 

Yokai,The Ippondatara

 

The Ippondatara is a famous one legged Yokai that haunts the mountains of Japan.

In some villages, its  considered to be a cousin  to the kappa called gōrai who leave their river homes in in winter then transform from river yokai into mountain spirits called kashambo until they return to the rivers in spring. 

This one legged Yokai tends to keep to itself and is relatively harmless with the exception of December 20th, once per year on this day it turns very violent and will kill any human it encounters. 

. Those entering the mountains on December 20th and are unlucky enough to run into the ippondatara are immediately attacked and squashed squashed by  its powerful foot. Because of this, December 20th is considered an unlucky day in the areas where this yōkai lives and people (at least the  ones) stay out of the mountains on that day.

It's name comes from the man powered bellows that a blacksmith would use before the industrialization of the smithies shops  because this yōkai resembles a master blacksmith who lost the use of one eye from years of starting at the bright flames, and has one large leg from years of heavy work pumping the bellows.

It seems to prefer the mountains near Wakayama and Nara Prefectures (old Kii and Yamato Provinces), though it has also been sighted have other neighboring prefectures .

 Some believe it's possibly the ghost of a famous one-legged, one-eyed robber named Hitotsudatara who lived in the mountains of Wakayama and had supernatural strength.

Others think it may be a former mountain kami (God/powerful nature Spirit) that became  corrupted over time and transformed into a yōkai. The  one eyed appearance is a well known feature on  mountain spirits, and other one-eyed yōkai like the hitotsume kozō that was originally a mountain kami.

Bakeneko Yujo

 

During the Edo-period it was believed that a strange cat monster haunted the  red-light district it was called the bakeneko yūjo.

A bakeneko is a cat Yokai with one tail, often confused with a Nekomata  a cat Yokai with two tails)...

The bakeneko yūjo is a popular character in kusazōshi and other popular publications, and originated from the association between the mysterious nature of cats and the alluring prostitutes who worked in Edo-period red-light districts.  The woman working these areas would sometime act more cat like to spread the rumer they may in fact be a bakeneko yujo, this would often increase there clients numbers out of curiosity alone.

 

In Japanese folklore, a bakeneko, or nekomata, is a cat that has gained  supernatural abilities.

 A common folkloric believe is that a cat can become a bakeneko after living to a certain age,  usually longer than 10, 40, or even 100 years depending on which version of the tale you hear.

 Bakeneko are often depicted as neutral creatures who may commit evil acts to satisfy their mischievous nature. Though, some stories say that cats can become friendly bakeneko if their owners treat them well.