Jinmengyo (Human-Faced Fish)
Fish with markings that look like a human face. In 1990, carp in the pond of Zenpoji Temple in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, were featured in magazines and on TV, causing a huge boom with up to 10,000 visitors a day.
All Entries
Japanese yokai, cryptids, urban legends, UFOs, mythical beasts and ancient mysteries, translated into English.
Entries: 431
Elves
A fairy people rooted in Norse mythology, said to include light elves and dark elves. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings created the standard fantasy image of a long-lived, beautiful race.
Banshee
A female fairy of Irish folklore who announces death by wailing. Attached to old families, she is said to cry around the house before a family member dies. In English she has also become a byword for wailing.
Goblin
An ugly, mischievous little creature of European folklore. There are also friendly hobgoblins that live in houses. Through Tolkien's works, goblins became standard enemy characters in games.
Fay
An old word for the fairies of Europe. It comes from the Latin for "fate" and is the origin of the English "fairy." Sometimes, as with Morgan le Fay of Arthurian legend, it refers to a woman with magical powers.
Ariel
An air spirit in Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Serving the magician Prospero, Ariel raises a storm and is finally granted freedom. A moon of Uranus is named after this spirit.
Nymph
The general name for nature spirits in Greek mythology. They dwell in springs, rivers, the sea, mountains and trees in the form of young, beautiful women. There are many kinds, including naiads, nereids and dryads.
Dryad
A tree spirit (nymph) of Greek mythology, said to live especially in oak trees. The hamadryad, who shares her life with a tree, is said to die when the tree dies.
Gnome
The elemental spirit of earth among the four elemental spirits. Gnomes are little people said to move freely underground and guard minerals and treasure. They are also known from the ceramic "garden gnome" figures that originated in 19th-century Germany.
Salamander (Fire Spirit)
The elemental spirit of fire among the four elemental spirits, depicted as a lizard living in fire. Since ancient times it has been believed to be "a creature that can live even in fire," and its name is also the English name of real amphibians.
Undine
The elemental spirit of water among the four elemental spirits. Undines were said to gain a soul by marrying a human, and the idea spread as a tragic love story through Fouque's novel Undine. It also gave its name to the medical term "Ondine's curse."
Sylph
The elemental spirit of wind (air) among the four elemental spirits, described by the 16th-century physician Paracelsus. Sylphs are said to be slender and beautiful, and the feminine form "sylphide" also became the subject of a ballet.
Pixie
A small, mischievous fairy of Cornwall and Devon in southwestern England. Pixies are known for leading travelers astray, and it is said that wearing your coat inside out breaks the spell.
Cat Sith
A fairy in the form of a large black cat with a white spot on its chest, from the folklore of Scotland and Ireland. It is said to steal the souls of the dead, but also to bring good luck to houses that leave out milk.
Kelpie
A water spirit in the form of a horse said to live in the rivers and lochs of Scotland. Feared for luring people in the form of a beautiful horse and dragging anyone who mounted it into the water, it can also take human form.
Lorelei
A rock towering over the banks of the Rhine in Germany, and the legend of a beautiful maiden who sings there and lures boatmen to their doom. The song "Die Lorelei," Silcher's setting of Heine's poem, was also loved in Japan as a school song.
Jinn
Spiritual beings in Arabian folklore and Islam, said to have been created from smokeless fire. Also known as the genie of the lamp in the Thousand and One Nights, they are called "genies" in English.
Dwarves
In Norse mythology, a race of master smiths who live underground and inside rocks. They are said to have made the gods' weapons, such as Mjolnir and Gungnir. In fantasy, they are the classic stubborn, bearded craftsmen.
Dullahan
A fairy of Irish folklore in the form of a headless horseman carrying his own head under his arm. He appears riding a headless horse or a coach, and where he stops, someone is said to die. He is also said to hate gold.
Kobold
A household or mine spirit of German folklore. In houses kobolds helped with chores, while in mines they were said to lead miners astray. A troublesome ore named after them gave the element "cobalt" its name.