Grey Alien
An alien about one meter tall with gray skin, a large head and black almond-shaped eyes. The most typical image of an alien, it spread through abduction accounts such as the Hill case of the 1960s.
All Entries
Japanese yokai, cryptids, urban legends, UFOs, mythical beasts and ancient mysteries, translated into English.
Entries: 431
Reptilians
Reptilian aliens said to disguise themselves as humans and secretly rule society. Known from a conspiracy theory that spread from the 1990s, it has no basis and has been criticized for overlapping with discriminatory conspiracy theories.
Kofu UFO Incident
An incident in 1975 in which two elementary school boys in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, said an alien emerged from a UFO that landed in a vineyard and tapped one of them on the shoulder. It is known as Japan's best-known close encounter with aliens.
Flatwoods Monster
A monster about 3 meters tall seen in 1952 in the town of Flatwoods, West Virginia. It is said to have appeared just after a glowing object fell from the sky, and is known in Japan as "the 3-meter alien."
Sleipnir
The eight-legged grey divine horse ridden by Odin, chief god of Norse mythology. The fastest of all horses, it races across sky, land and sea and can even go to the land of the dead. It is also a child of the trickster god Loki.
Fenrir
A giant wolf in Norse mythology, the son of the god Loki. Feared by the gods, he was bound with the magic fetter Gleipnir. He is foretold to swallow the chief god Odin at Ragnarok, the end of the world.
Yamanoke
An internet horror story in which a girl is possessed by an eerie white, one-legged being met on a mountain road. It mutters "ten... sou... metsu...". It was posted to a message board around 2007.
Merry-san's Phone Call
An urban legend in which a discarded doll named Merry calls on the phone, saying "I'm at ... now" as she comes closer and closer. It ends with "I'm right behind you," a classic school ghost story.
Yamauba
An old woman yokai who lives deep in the mountains. She is told of as a terrifying hag who eats people, yet she also appears as a mountain goddess and as the mother of Kintaro. She is familiar from folktales such as "The Three Charms."
Keukegen
A hairy yokai covered all over in long hair. It lives in damp places such as under floors, and sickness is said to come to the house where it settles. Its name is also written with characters meaning "rarely seen."
Rokurokubi
A female yokai whose neck stretches to great lengths at night. In the "nukekubi" type, the head detaches and flies around. It appears in Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan and was a popular sideshow attraction in the Edo period.
Yatagarasu
A great crow from Japanese mythology that guided Emperor Jimmu from Kumano to Yamato. Usually shown with three legs and revered as a messenger of the gods of Kumano, it is also famous as the symbol of the Japan Football Association.
Sugawara no Michizane's Vengeful Spirit
The legend that Sugawara no Michizane, who died in exile at Dazaifu on false charges, became a vengeful spirit and brought disasters on the capital, such as the Seiryoden lightning strike. He was later worshipped as Tenjin, the god of learning.
Taira no Masakado's Vengeful Spirit
The legend of the vengeful spirit of Taira no Masakado, who rebelled in the Kanto region in the Heian period and was killed. His head, displayed in Kyoto, is said to have flown east in search of its body, and the Masakado head mound in Otemachi, Tokyo, is still carefully tended.
The Moon Rabbit (Tsuki no Usagi)
The tradition of seeing a rabbit in the markings of the moon. In Japan it pounds rice cakes (mochi); in China it makes the elixir of immortality. An Indian Buddhist tale says a rabbit that offered itself was painted on the moon.
Vampires
The dead said to rise from their graves at night and drink human blood. Derived from Eastern European folklore, they caused a "vampire panic" in the 18th century. Bram Stoker's novel Dracula fixed today's image.
Lich
What remains of a wizard or king who used powerful magic to make himself undying. Because its soul is hidden in another vessel, it is said to be impossible to destroy. It has become a standard undead in modern fantasy fiction and games.
Kitsune no Yomeiri (The Fox's Wedding)
A tradition that likens a "sun shower" (rain falling while the sun shines) and rows of fox fires seen at night in the hills and fields to a fox bride's wedding procession. Festivals re-creating the fox wedding are held in many places.
The Monkey's Paw
A mummified monkey's paw that grants its owner three wishes, but at a terrible price. It is world-famous from the 1902 horror short story by the English writer W. W. Jacobs.
Ushi no Koku Mairi (Midnight Curse Ritual)
A curse ritual in which a person nails a straw doll to a tree at a shrine with long nails at the Hour of the Ox (around 2 a.m.) to curse someone they hate. It spread against the background of legends such as that of Hashihime of Uji. Today it can even be a crime.