What is the kasha?
The kasha is a yokai that appears at funeral processions and graveyards and carries off the bodies of the dead. It is said to target especially the remains of people who did many evil deeds in life, appearing with sudden black clouds, thunderstorms or strong winds to lift the coffin away.
In Buddhism, the blazing cart on which the demons of hell carry sinners was called kasha (“fire cart”). This is thought to have become the name of the corpse-stealing yokai. The Japanese expression hi no kuruma (“fire cart”) for being in financial straits also comes from it.
The kasha and cats
The Edo-period artist Toriyama Sekien drew the kasha in Gazu Hyakki Yagyo as a cat-like creature wreathed in flames, reaching for a corpse. In legends across Japan, too, the kasha is often said to be an old cat, and it is said that a nekomata becomes a kasha as it ages further.
For this reason, sayings such as “Don’t let cats near a dead body” and “If a cat steps over the coffin, the dead will rise” survive in many regions, and the custom of placing a protective blade on the body is also said to keep evil things away.
Monks who drove off the kasha
Stories from many regions tell of virtuous monks who drove off a kasha. Untoan Temple in Minamiuonuma, Niigata Prefecture, keeps the “kasha-repelling kesa,” the robe a head priest is said to have thrown at a kasha that appeared at a funeral. Together with the bakeneko, another cat yokai, it reflects the old link between cats and death.
