What is betobeto-san?
Betobeto-san is a yokai in which, when you walk alone on a night road, “beto beto” footsteps follow you from behind, where there should be no one. It cannot be seen; only its footsteps are heard. It is introduced as a story from Uda District, Yamato (Nara Prefecture), in “Yokai Meii,” the list of yokai names from around Japan compiled by the folklorist Yanagita Kunio.
How to make the footsteps go away
When betobeto-san follows you, it is said that if you step to the side of the road and say “Betobeto-san, please go ahead,” the footsteps will pass on ahead and no longer be heard. It does not attack people or make mischief, and it is loved as a somehow humorous yokai rather than a frightening one.
“Following footsteps” in other regions
Stories of yokai whose footsteps follow you from behind on a night road exist in many places; in Fukui Prefecture and elsewhere, the “bishagatsuku,” whose splashing footsteps follow you on sleety nights, is well known. Experiences of one’s own footsteps echoing on a dark road, or of sensing a presence, are thought to have given rise to such yokai.
Made famous by manga
Betobeto-san became widely known through Mizuki Shigeru’s manga GeGeGe no Kitaro and other works, which depict it as a round body with only a big mouth and feet. The original legend does not describe its appearance; this is an image created in manga. Another yokai known only by sound is the azukiarai, which makes the sound of washing beans by the river.
