Number 5
Kodama
The Kodama are tree spirits.
Similar to the dryads though they look much smaller and cuter.
They usually live deep in the mountainous forests of Japan.
These tree spirits can manifest itself outside of its main tree host and could wander very
far from the trees they are living in.
They usually tend the groves around the area and help maintain the balance of the ecosystem.
They rarely show themselves to humans but when they do, they usually show themselves
in the form of either faint light orbs or in the form of small cute funny looking creatures
with a humanoid figure.
Also, if you happen to get an echo which took long to return, there's a possibility that
the Kodama is around.
The Kodama are connected to the tree it inhabits, if the tree dies, the Kodamas will die and
vice versa.
If the tree it inhabit is cut down, it is believed that the whole area would be cursed
and the community that killed the tree will fall to ruin.
Thus, the Kodama are seen as the God or protector of the forests that blesses the land it is in.
And if you've seen some trees marked with a Shimenawa, a sacred rope, around it, that
tree is considered the tree that houses the Kodama and it would bring misfortune
if it is cut down.
Number 4
Wanyūdō or Wheelmonk
This yokai is very dangerous.
Its appearance looks pretty weird as its a flaming head of a man in the middle of a
carriage wheel or specifically an oxcart wheel.
It flies to move around.
The head in the middle of the wheel is always bald, thus why its called a wheelmonk.
The wanyudo is said to guard the gates of hell wandering back and forth between this
world and the underworld.
Some say its just a condemned soul of a tyrant daimyo and lives in the mountains.
Either way, they are dangerous beings.
The only way to stay safe from the wanyudo is to not be seen by them.
So being indoors is the best way to not be seen as the wanyudo wanders the city streets
especially around Kyoto at night.
Though it is said to usually drag wrongdoers to hell but that's just wishful thinking as
normal people have also been its victims.
They would usually rip their victims limbs apart leaving a burnt husk of a body while
dragging their souls to hell.
Number 3
Mujina
Have you ever heard of the yokai called the Tanuki?
The Mujina is similar to the Tanuki but they don't have the infamous big scrotums worthy
of a song.
If you want to know how to sing about the Tanuki's scrotum, check the link in the description.
The similarities are their size, both are furry land animals, they have magical powers
and of course the main thing is that they can shapeshift.
The Mujina are less known in the Yokai world as when they do shapeshift, they rarely slip
up in their disguise that encounters of them are very scarce.
Though, the Mujina's favourite shapeshift is to shapeshift into another Yokai called
the Nopperabo.
The Nopperabo is a humanoid creature that looks like a human being but has nothing where
a face should be.
The Nopperabo's main M.O. is to scare people.
They would appear in the middle of the road, either appearing to be troubled or running
some kind of stall and seem to always face away from you.
If you happen to talk with them, they would turn around revealing its faceless face.
If you run away, it would appear that its not chasing you but the next person you see
and explain what you just saw to, that person might just be a nopperabo.
It would listen intently at first then would smile and say "oh, like this?"
and wipes its face away.
The Mujina probably likes seeing the scared faces of humans and so enjoys being a Nopperabo
most of the time.
Number 2
Nue
The Nue is the Japanese chimera.
Well, somewhat.
It has a body that is a mixture of different animals just like the Chimera.
Usually its a creature with a monkey's head, a tanuki's body, tiger's legs and a tail with
a snake's head.
But it varies from accounts to accounts because it is believed that the appearance of the
Nue is too bizzarre and it exceeds human's understanding.
Thus, it is highly likely to look more strange than what is mostly depicted.
The Nue is one of the oldest yokai ever recorded and this yokai is one that you would not want
to meet.
It is said to be the harbinger of bad luck.
But they are known to be elusive creatures so meeting them is almost impossible.
Attacks from them has never been reported to be physical but from their appearance its
apparent that they could definitely cause a lot of physical harm.
So either it would attack but discretely or they are peaceful animals.
Though I said peaceful, as I said earlier they are the harbinger of bad luck.
If they are around, something disastrous would happen and if they appear a lot of times,
someone is bound to get an incurable illness.
There's a story about the creature in the Heike Monogatari that happened around the
year 1153.
At that time, there were dark clouds that would appear near the palace roof every single night.
The emperor at the time, Emperor Konoe then fell ill and started being paranoid and fearing
the clouds.
Night after night the clouds loomed over the palace, the Emperor's illness got worse and
can't seem to be cured.
So out of curiousity or the last resort, Minamoto no Yoshiee, one of the emperor's retainers
flung an arrow towards the black clouds.
Surprise surprise, a bird's cry in pain was heard.
That's when he told Minamoto no Yorimasa, the master of arrows to kill whatever that's
in the clouds.
It took a while but one night, the Nue, with a loud shriek, finally fell to the ground.
They then finished it off.
Weirdly enough, there were a few more sounds coming from the skies but it slowly disappeared
together with the clouds and the emperor's health recovered.
Number 1
Yamata no Orochi
The Yamata no Orochi is a snake like creature with eight heads and eight tails.
It's also very big spanning across eight valleys and eight hills with a body covered in moss
and some vegetation.
This creature is a carnivore and there's a story about it in the Japanese mythology concerning
Susanoo the brother of the sun goddess Amaterasu while he was exiled to earth because of a
horse or pony.
I explained their relationship in a different video.
Anyways, Susanoo was exiled to earth and one day when he was probably lounging about at
a shrine made for him as he is the Shinto god of sea and storms, a couple came to him
asking for help.
Well, some other story says that when he was exiled from the heavens, he was near a river
and went upstream to find people.
This is when he saw a couple with a young girl between them grieving and being all gloomy.
It was not certain whether the couple were wealthy humans or some earthly deities as
it differs from story to story.
But the couple then asked for Susano's help because they were being tormented by the giant serpent.
They said that every year, Yamata no Orochi would come and devour their daughters.
Seven out of eight of their daughters were already gone and soon the Orochi would come
for their last daughter, Kushiinada Hime.
Susano seeing their grief and actually smitten by the girl decided to help them.
Of course he also told them he wants Kushiinada Hime, for himself as a wife.
They agreed, the girl agreed thus operation kill Yamata no Orochi began.
He turned the girl into a comb temporarily which he puts in his own hair probably to
talk with her while fighting and to keep her close to protect her.
He then disguised himself to look like the last daughter as bait.
He also asked the parents to brew sake and refine it eight times which would then be
put out in 8 different gates which he also asked to build as an extra lure and trap for
the Yamata no Orochi.
Nevertheless, the trap actually worked.
Yamata no Orochi arrived being all menacing but when it saw the sake, the Yamata no Orochi
drank it like an offering.
One by one, its heads started to get drunk.
It then got so drunk, it became immobilized.
This was when Susanoo took the opportunity to strike.
Before he decided to kill it, he asked what the creature was and why it attacked people.
The serpent managed to say that it is the manifestation of evil and he used fear to
control people for its bidding.
Also that even if his body decayed, he'll still be around as long as evil remained.
Thus Susanoo said he'll always be there to fight the Yamata no Orochi again if need be
and slash!
He lopped off the heads and tails of the serpent one by one.
But something strange happened, when he got to one of the tails, his sword broke.
He found this very unusual and later found a great sword in that particular tail.
He then named it "Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi" which means "Sword of the Gathering Clouds
of Heaven" but currently its more famously known as Kusanagi no Tsurugi.
So he later represented the sword to his sister Amaterasu to reconcile their dispute and end
his exile.
Amaterasu forgave him, the sky cleared up because Amaterasu wasn't mad anymore and Susanoo
married Kushiinada Hime.