Japanese folklore is absolutely filled with strange and wonderful tales populated with equally wonderful and sometimes odd characters. In November, my friends and I decided to bring some of them to life:
Karasu Tengu - 烏天狗
Noperabo/Sadako - のぺらぼ/貞子
Noperabo is an old legend of spirits or monstrous humans without faces.
Once you see them, you'll end up becoming one of them as your facial features simply melt away.
Sadako is the antagonist of the Ring series of novels by Koji Suzuki, she has a face but you really don't want to be close enough to see it.
Lantern Ghost - 提灯お化け
A ghost that inhabits old lanterns.
Karakasa - 唐傘
A one eyed, usually one legged ghost of abandoned umbrellas.
Karakasa and the Lantern Ghost are two of a class of spirits that inhabit old or abandoned objects.
Kitsune - 狐
The Kitsune or fox is a popular character, most often portrayed as wise and powerful, though they do have a mischievous aspect as well. Once a fox reaches 100 years old it becomes even more powerful and grows additional tails. The most powerful have 9 tails and are gold or white in colour.
Nekomata - 猫又
Nekomata, depending on the legend, are cats that can shapeshift to human form kill and replace the human that they have killed, or very old cats that have gained magical powers. If you suspect a cat to be a nekomata, check if it has two tails, if it does, be very careful.
Group shot! Thank you to everyone who participated!
