Now, it kind of goes without saying--but we’ve laid this message on quite heavily over several
other video series.
When it comes to horror, be it cinematic or in the legendary mythologies of folklore and
religion--the Mystical and Magical Place known only as Japan--does thinks quite a bit differently.
And by differently--I mean eat your own fist, this stuff is way to scary and how the hell
did they come up with this kind of different.
Yeah.
It goes without saying, but the legendary Yokai of Japanese Folklore are a different
breed entirely, and thankfully for us--they’re horrifying canon makes for some equally terrifying
tales.
So, we better take a look.
Hello horror fans, what’s going on, and once again welcome back to the scariest channel
on YouTube--Top 5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch--as today, we curiously take a look
at the Top 5 Scariest Japanese Yokai From Folklore.
Roll the clip.
For the curious amongst you, that scene was from 2007’s Carved--based upon the Japanese
Urban Legend Kuchisake-onna--or The Slit Mouthed Woman--which, as you may imagine is quite
the fitting visual to set the scene for this particular scary video.
But--as we will be discovering throughout this list, in the terrifying mysticism of
Japan--urban legend and the age old yokai are two very different things.
And the latter, is far--far more terrifying.
I guess we better take a look, right?
Kicking off at Number 5 - The Kasha
And if you’re fond of cats--which, come on--cats are awesome--then this particular
Yokai of legend may make you think twice about our furry bundles of friendship and dispondense.
In fact, cat’s in Japanese Folklore are incredibly important creatures, and it is
believed that as a cat ages--and it’s tail grows longer, it develops latent magical powers--often
turning into helpful entities, or in some cases--vile, demonic entities.
Let me introduce you to The Kasha--a particular type of monster cat, taking the formation
of large, bipedal felines that eventually grow even larger than a human.
The Kasha are often accompanied by streaks of hellish flames, or bundles of charged lightning--appearing
late at night during rainy or stormy weather--which has earned them the bizarre cultural name,
the Kasha--which translates loosely to Fire Cart.
And believe me, their namesake is just the beginning of the strange, unnerving presence
of the Kasha.
Being bake-neko, or monster cats--the Kasha live freely amongst humans, disguising themselves
as ordinary house cats, or strays.
However--there is one cultural procession that causes the Kasha to lose all sense of
its disguise--revealing their true forms during funeral services, where the Kasha will leap
down from rooftops, snatching corpses straight out of their coffins to feast upon--carrying
the deceased bodies away into the night, never to be seen again.
The Kasha are considered messengers, or servants of hell--where they are tasked with collecting
the corpses of particularly wicked humans, spiriting them away to the infernal depths
for a lifetime of punishment.
In some cases though, the Kasha becoming so addicted to feasting upon corpses--that they
operate solely for their own needs, stealing corpses for their own uses--re-animating them
like some strange, feline necromancer with an army of shambling corpses.
Yeah…
The Kasha don’t exactly make the best of pets.
Swinging in at Number 4 -- Mikoshi Nyudo
And if you’re ever strolling through rural Japan, on a particularly quite road--you better
hope to high heaven that you don’t run into this particularly terrifying monstrosity.
Mikoshi Nyudo--which literally translates to anticipating priest, is one of the most
fearsome yokai in Japanese Folklore, who often appear to lone travellers on empty streets--or
at intersections, lonely bridges--and often late at night.
They appear to lone travellers as harmless, traveling priests--kindly old men or monks--of
an average height, no taller than an ordinary person.
However, if you don’t perfectly anticipate the Nyudo’s tricks--they can instantly become
abnormally tall, often their necks growing to a massive size--revealing their long claws
and hair like a wild beast--where they’ll lunge forward and bite their victims throat
out with their teeth.
In fact, this particular Yokai is so oddly specific, that the true fear of it comes from
not understanding Japanese customs--by failing to understand how to defeat this strange,
monstrous priest.
You see, the only possible escape from the anticipating priest--is to do exactly that,
anticipate it--and before it can grow to it’s true size--you have to meet it face to face,
eye to eye--showing no ounce of fear.
Then you look from it’s head--back down to its feet, and if this process is done correctly,
the priest will be fully anticipated--causing its power to grow to it’s gigantic size
to be sapped, where it is then said to vanish in anger, leaving the traveler to pass safely--and
obviously, your throat safe and sound and not bitten out by a giant old man.
I mean--that’s a good trick to know, right?
Obviously, this yokai originated from the necessity to look where you’re going when
travelling through the countryside--which is an important one, really--because, you’ll
never know who or what you’ll bump into.
Hopefully, it’s not the Mikoshi Nyudo.
Next up at Number 3 - Yuki Onna
Which makes up one of the many Onna of Japanese Yokai--women who personify the magical properties
of nature and the power of the elements, whilst also personifying the malevolence of perturbed
spirits that seek vengeance on the living.
Yuki Onna, is perhaps the most deadly of them all.
The Snow Woman--that lives deep in mountain passes, appearing anywhere that there is heavy
and dense snowfall.
The Yuki Onna prey on travellers that are lost in the heavy snowstorms that often blanket
the Japanese Alps during the dark heart of winter.
Without a doubt, the Yuki Onna possesses an otherworldly beauty--with long, black hair--and
piercing eyes colored in a deep violet.
Their skin is ageless--as smooth as porcelain and as white as snow.
Her body is as cold as ice--and just a mere touch, or the brush of hand is enough to give
a passerby a deep, unshakeable chill.
The Yuki Onna feeds solely on human life force--often sucking it from their mouths, and breathing
it into her with an icy breath that then freezes her victims solid, encasing them in a tomb
of ice.
There are many, many tales of the Yuki Onna taking the lifeforce of her victims out in
the snowy mountain regions of Japan--but perhaps the most bizarre instance, is that the Yuki
Onna sometimes fall in love with their intended pray, letting them go free--and then taking
them as their husbands.
In some cases, as supernatural beings that never age--their husbands usually wisen up
to the fact that they’ve unwittingly married an Ice Queen--where upon discovery, the Yuki
Onna will go on a rage-fuelled rampage, and break into the homes of all their neighbouring
villagers--flash freezing every single soul in sight, leaving the village forever encased
in an icy tomb.
Yeah.
You can’t really win with this one.
Coming in at Number 2 - Kuro Bouzu
And this one is pretty damn vile.
And by function alone--the Kuro Bouzu is perhaps one of the most terrifying Yokai in the whole
of Japanese Folklore--and there’s not much that you can do to combat it, either.
Literally translating to black-monk, a Kuro Bouzu is a dark, shadowy yokai of pure dark
energy, that roughly resembles a bald-headed Buddhist monk.
However, those that glimpse the Kuro Bouzu, often find it’s appearance to be vague--and
difficult to describe or make out.
It’s entire body is black, and it wears black robes made of pure shadow.
It’s face resembles that of a wild beast, with pointed teeth and thin slits for eyes.
And here’s the worst part--the Kuro Bouzu has a long, putrid tongue--that it uses to
lick it’s victims in a process that slowly poisons them whilst they sleep, often over
a period of days and weeks of repeated visits.
And once it’s latched on to you, there’s not a lot that you can do about it.
The Kuro Bouzu haunt built up areas such as cities and towns--and thrive where there are
humans.
They only ever come at night--sneaking into houses whilst everyone inside sleeps, although
they’re smelt before they’re ever seen.
A Kuro Bouzu reeks of rotting fish and vile garbage--and they exist solely to creep up
to their victims, which are primarily women, whilst they sleep--where they then suck out
their victims breath from their mouths, sliding their putrid tongues into their mouths--ears--and
over their faces.
Yeah.
Exactly.
I told you this one was vile.
It is believed that the Kuro Bouzu didn’t appear in folklore until the late Meiji Period--which
ran from 1868 until 1912--and the origin of it’s inception as a Yokai, was thought to
be based upon a homogeneity of other, more ancient Yokai--that had adapted and morphed
their appearance to a more modern depiction.
If that’s the case--the Kuro Bouzu is much weirder than it lets on--and that’s without
the whole face-licking thing, and the function of it’s malevolent motives remain a bizarre
cultural mystery.
And finally--coming in at our Number 1 spot--The Oni
And we can’t really do this list without sticking these horrifying entities right at
our Number 1 top spot, because without the terrifying Oni--Japanese Folklore may have
turned out to be a completely different kettle of fish.
Demonic fish, of course--because come on, this is the Yokai.
Whilst there are many different versions of The Oni--many of which could find their own
place on this list--the entire race of iconic demon men are without a doubt the ultimate
villains of Japanese Folklore and Mythology--pitting themselves eternally against the forces of
mankind.
In fact, originally, all of the spirits, ghosts and monsters of the Yokai were referred to
as Oni--where the root of its name, means hidden or concealed--written alongside the
Chinese character for ghost.
Gradually though, as the canon of Yokai Folklore expanded--the Oni were reserved only for the
Male Demons that are born after truly wicked humans die.
The Oni are created when an evil human soul ends up in one of the many Buddhist Hells--where
they transform into the Oni, ogreish and brutal servants of the Great Lord Enma--ruler of
the infernal underworld.
Now, unlike the familiar demons of Abrahamic Mythology--the Oni that are more wicked than
their other evil brethren, are bound to remain on Earth to terrorize the living.
This is where the Oni of legend take their many different forms, as the fact of the matter
remains that no two Oni are the same.
Although, that’s not to say that they don’t have their familiarities.
The Oni have crimson red, or dark blue skin--wild, beast-like hair--at least two horns, and fang-like
tusks that protrude from their jaws.
The Oni were loincloths made from the pelts of great beasts that they’ve feasted upon--as
these demons are extremely strong and capable hunters--and in many cases, the Oni that remain
on Earth are incredibly powerful sorcerers.
Perhaps the most famous of all Oni is Shuten-douji, the Demon Lord that was killed by the brave
hero, Minamoto Raiko.
During his reign, Shuten-douji was said to be responsible for thousands upon thousands
of abductions, capturing young girls and keeping them captive in his Mountain Lair.
Here, as the Oni Lord entertained his Demonic Brethren, they would feast upon the slaughtered
victims--eating their flesh in massive banquets, and drinking their blood like wine.
Yeah.
There’s a lot to it, but as far as the Yokai are concerned--they don’t get much more
evil than The Oni.
Well, there we have it folks--our list for the Top 5 Scariest Japanese Yokai From Folklore.
What did you guys think?
Do you agree?
Disagree?
Have any more to add to this list?
Then let us know your thoughts down in the comment section below.
Before we depart from today’s video though, let’s first take a quick look at some of
your more creative comments from over the past few days.
The Immortal Super Being says --
At the end of this, Jack Finch is going to be a Monster.
THE FINCHER.
-- Ehhhh.
The Fincher doesn’t sound all that scary though, right?
I just sound like some kind of accomplished director.
What about The Bloody Fincher.
Or The Swamp Fincher.
Yeah.
Something like that, what do you guys think?
Well, on that monstrous note--unfortunately, that’s all we’ve got time for in today's
video.
Cheers for sticking around all the way until the end.
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