Explore Japan by Prefecture
We list 5 places in Iwate where yokai, cryptids and legends are told or sighted, and 5 related encyclopedia entries.
Please note Trespassing on private property or restricted areas is prohibited by law. Please be considerate of local residents.
Positions on the map are a rough guide to the area where a legend or sighting is set. Most pins are placed at representative points of a municipality or prefecture (outside Japan, a city position rounded to about 10 km, or the country), not at the exact place.
Municipality points: Geolonia address data (CC BY 4.0), based on the Address Base Registry (Digital Agency of Japan) / Country points: Natural Earth
A household deity worshipped in old families of the Tohoku region: a pair of mulberry-wood figures with the faces of a horse and a girl, dressed in layers of cloth. The Legends of Tono records the tale of a tragic love between a horse and a girl from which silkworms were born.
A child-like yokai said to live in old houses in northern Japan. A house with a zashiki-warashi prospers, and when it leaves, the family declines. Featured in The Legends of Tono, it is the best-known yokai of good fortune.
A water yokai said to live in rivers and ponds, with a dish of water on top of its head. Alongside frightening tales, it is known for friendlier ones, such as its love of sumo wrestling and cucumbers.
The folk belief that people who suddenly vanish have been taken by gods, tengu or mountain spirits. Many stories tell of people returning years later, and records are found throughout Japan.
A village that once existed in Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture, with a legend that the corpse of an oni was buried there. It is said to be where an oni killed by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro was buried. Its name disappeared in a Meiji-era merger, but the legendary "oni stone" still remains.
