What is the azukiarai?
The azukiarai is a yokai that makes a “shoki shoki, shaki shaki” sound like washing azuki beans by rivers and mountain streams at night. Also called azukitogi, it is told of all over Japan. Its defining feature is that, in most cases, it cannot be seen and only the sound is heard.
Azukiarai legends
The azukiarai is said to sing, “Shall I wash beans, or catch a person and eat them? Shoki shoki.” Some stories say that if you approach the sound, you will be pushed into the river. Those who claim to have seen it describe a short old man, an old woman or a young boy. The Edo-period yokai book Ehon Hyaku Monogatari also depicts it, telling of a temple boy who was killed and thrown into a well, whose spirit began making the sound of washing beans.
What is the azukiarai really?
Explanations include pebbles rolling in the river, sounds made by animals such as weasels, otters and tanuki at the water’s edge, and the tapping of tiny insects called booklice on paper. Unexplained sounds heard by dark rivers at night are thought to have become yokai stories.
