・Which Yokai did you pick? Why?

I chose the yokai “Hachishaku-sama.” (Eight feet tall, also sometimes called hasshakusama) The reason I chose that yokai is because it was one of the first ones I read about on my own, and was scared of. I used to like reading scary stories, especially the ones that are scary when you find out the meaning. (Imikowa) When I was reading those, I found a link to another website that had scary stories, and while I was reading those I found a section with Japanese urban legends. I was in Japan at the time, and it interested me so I started reading those as well. Out of those ones I started reading, the story of hachishaku-sama seemed the most realistic and scary to me, it felt like she might be around the corner or just be living right close, ready to attack.

・Name some characteristics and provide a background history/summary on your Yokai.

Hachishaku-sama is about 240cm tall, and is eight feet tall (If you couldn’t tell from the name of the yokai) and appears in the form of a woman. It always is wearing a hat, or has something placed on it’s head, which makes it difficult to distinguish the features of it’s face. It is said to haunt the countryside more often than the city, and appears wearing a long white onepiece dress. When it finds a child that it likes, they stalk the child around and take it away from their families; doing so using some of it’s powers. Hachishaku-sama is able to change it’s voice freely, and often mimics a voice that the child knows, like their parents to gain trust from the child, and then get close enough to take them away. Hachishaku-sama, when not mimicking any other voice, is said to have a inhuman, genderless mechanical sounding voice, in which it creepily cries “popopo.” According to legends and passed down stories, in the past, Jizo-sama had sealed and trapped Hachishaku-sama so it could not move from a specified area, but now that Jizo-sama has been destroyed by someone, and Hachi-shakusama can freely appear anywhere, and do what it wishes.

・Do you think Japanese Yokai differ from Western monsters and mythical creatures? Explain. 

I do think that Japanse yokai are different from the “monsters” we have here. For one thing, what they say in Japan “If you use the thing for a long time, it will become haunted” is also a thing unique to Japan (I think…but at least something that Canada does not usually say) And I feel like the “yokai” are more like spirits while the monsters from here are more human-like or are humans or creatures that did something bad and went wrong, or changed because of punishment from god. (Examples can be Frankenstein, fallen angels etc.) I also think that the yokai are more of stories/legends that are passed down, and most of the yokai’s seem whereas the monsters are usually from books. To me, yokai’s seem to be associated with things more familiar to people, and is closer to everyday life. (I mean, an umbrella jumping out at you seems more possible than a green huge monster running at you, right..?)

・Do you believe in Yokai, monsters, ghosts, or mythical creatures? Why or why not?

I do not know, I think I could say half and half. I cannot really say for sure that they are not real, but I cannot say with certainty that they are fake/non-existent either. If I would to see one, or get evidence that it would be real I would believe in it. I used to see (it might have been part of my dream or a delusion from being tired at night) little white things dancing in the corner of my room at night; after the nightlight had been turned off. Now that I learned about these yokai-creatures more, they looked a little bit like kodamas. (Spirits that live in trees and forests) My room is not a forest anyways so I really doubt that it was kodama, but you never know! I do think that the things people say about the yokais, and the creatures though. It is interesting, it does make you think! Maybe there’s a little ghost sitting next to me reading my writing right now? If you are, hi little ghost!

・Me with my little ghost friends (maybe)

・Images of Hachishaku-sama! ↓