# Obake
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{{Short description|Type of Yōkai}}
{{For|the character|List of Disney's Big Hero 6 characters#Obake}}
{{Jmyth infobox}}
{{italic title}}
{{expand Japanese|お化け|date=February 2019}}
{{nihongo|'''''Obake'''''|お化け}} and {{nihongo|'''''bakemono'''''|化け物}} are a class of ''[yōkai](/source/y%C5%8Dkai)'', [preternatural](/source/preternatural) creatures in [Japanese folklore](/source/Japanese_folklore). Literally, the terms mean ''a thing that changes'', referring to a state of transformation or [shapeshifting](/source/shapeshifting).
These words are often translated as "[ghost](/source/ghost)", but primarily they refer to living things or supernatural beings who have taken on a temporary transformation, and these ''bakemono'' are distinct from the spirits of the dead.[Mayer p. 89] However, as a secondary usage, the term ''obake'' can be a synonym for ''[yūrei](/source/y%C5%ABrei)'', the ghost of a deceased human being.[''Daijirin'' and ''Daijisen'' definitions of ''obake''.]
A ''bakemono's'' true form may be an animal such as a [fox](/source/fox) (''[kitsune](/source/kitsune)''), a [raccoon dog](/source/raccoon_dog) (''[bake-danuki](/source/bake-danuki)''), a [badger](/source/badger) (''[mujina](/source/mujina)''), a transforming [cat](/source/cat) (''[bakeneko](/source/bakeneko)''), the spirit of a plant—such as a ''[kodama](/source/kodama_(spirit))'', or an inanimate object which may possess a soul in [Shinto](/source/Shinto) and other [animistic](/source/animism) traditions. ''Obake'' derived from household objects are often called ''[tsukumogami](/source/tsukumogami)''.
A ''bakemono'' usually either disguises itself as a human or appears in a strange or terrifying form such as a ''[hitotsume-kozō](/source/hitotsume-koz%C5%8D),'' an ''[ōnyūdō](/source/%C5%8Dny%C5%ABd%C5%8D)'', or a ''[noppera-bō](/source/noppera-b%C5%8D)''. In common usage, any bizarre apparition can be referred to as a ''bakemono'' or an ''obake'' whether it is believed to have some other form, making the terms roughly synonymous with ''[yōkai](/source/y%C5%8Dkai)''.[''Daijirin'' and ''Daijisen'' dictionary definitions.]
==In Hawaii==
Due to the influence of a large number of [Hawaiians with Japanese ancestry](/source/Japanese_in_Hawaii), on the islands of [Hawaii](/source/Hawaii) the term ''obake'' has found its way into the dialect of the local people. Some Japanese stories concerning these creatures have found their way into local culture in Hawaii: numerous sightings of ''[kappa](/source/Kappa_(folklore))'' have been reported on the islands, and the Japanese faceless ghosts called ''noppera-bō'' have also become well known in Hawaii under the name ''[mujina](/source/Noppera-b%C5%8D)''. This name confusion seems to have stemmed from a story by [Lafcadio Hearn](/source/Lafcadio_Hearn) titled "Mujina", a story about a badger (''mujina'') which takes the form of a ''noppera-bō'', rather than being one itself, which first introduced the faceless ghost to the Western world.
Hawaiian folklorist [Glen Grant](/source/Glen_Grant_(historian)) was known for his ''Obake Files'', a series of reports he developed about supernatural incidents in Hawaii. The grand bulk of these incidents and reports were of Japanese origin or concerned ''obake''.[Grant]
==In popular culture==
Bakemono is featured in ''[The Terror: Infamy](/source/The_Terror%3A_Infamy)'', the second season of [AMC](/source/AMC_(TV_channel))'s television series, ''[The Terror](/source/The_Terror_(TV_series))''.[{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/terror-renewed-world-war-ii-themed-second-season-at-amc-1122368 |title='The Terror' Renewed for World War II-Themed Second Season at AMC |work=The Hollywood Reporter |first=Lesley |last=Goldberg |date=June 22, 2018 |access-date=October 13, 2018}}]
== See also ==
* {{Portal-inline|Japan}}
==Notes==
==References==
*{{cite journal
| last = Mayer
| first = Fanny Hagin
|date=March 1974
| title = Religious Concepts in the Japanese Folktale
| journal = Japanese Journal of Religious Studies
| volume = 1
| issue = 1
| pages = 73–101
| doi = 10.18874/jjrs.1.1.1974.73-101
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930024357/http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/3.pdf
| archive-date = 2007-09-30
| url = http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/3.pdf
| access-date = 2006-01-01
| doi-access = free
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Grant
| first = Glen
| author-link = Glen Grant (historian)
|author2=Ross Yamanaka
| title = Obake: Ghost Stories in Hawaii
| url = https://archive.org/details/obake00glen
| url-access = registration
|date=May 1994
| publisher = Mutual Pub Co
| location = Honolulu
| isbn = 978-1-56647-320-0
}}
Definitions from two major Japanese dictionaries:
*{{cite web
| url = http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E5%8C%96%E3%81%91%E7%89%A9&stype=0&dtype=0
| title = Daijisen: Bakemono
| access-date = 2007-01-01
| website = [Yahoo! Japan](/source/Yahoo!_Japan) Jisho
| language = ja
| archive-date = 2013-01-12
| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130112063220/http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E5%8C%96%E3%81%91%E7%89%A9&stype=0&dtype=0
| url-status = dead
}}
*{{cite web
| url = http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E5%8C%96%E3%81%91%E7%89%A9&enc=UTF-8&stype=0&dtype=0&dname=0ss
| title = Daijirin: Bakemono
| access-date = 2007-01-01
| website = [Yahoo! Japan](/source/Yahoo!_Japan) Jisho
| language = ja
| archive-date = 2013-01-11
| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130111175714/http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E5%8C%96%E3%81%91%E7%89%A9&enc=UTF-8&stype=0&dtype=0&dname=0ss
| url-status = dead
}}
*{{cite web
| url = http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%8A%E3%81%B0%E3%81%91&stype=0&dtype=0
| title = Daijisen: Obake
| access-date = 2007-01-01
| website = [Yahoo! Japan](/source/Yahoo!_Japan) Jisho
| language = ja
| archive-date = 2013-01-11
| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130111185845/http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%8A%E3%81%B0%E3%81%91&stype=0&dtype=0
| url-status = dead
}}
*{{cite web
| url = http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E3%81%8A%E3%81%B0%E3%81%91&enc=UTF-8&stype=0&dtype=0&dname=0ss
| title = Daijirin: Obake
| access-date = 2007-01-01
| website = [Yahoo! Japan](/source/Yahoo!_Japan) Jisho
| language = ja
| archive-date = 2013-01-11
| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130111193659/http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E3%81%8A%E3%81%B0%E3%81%91&enc=UTF-8&stype=0&dtype=0&dname=0ss
| url-status = dead
}}
{{Japanese folklore long}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obake}}
Category:Japanese folklore
Category:Japanese ghosts
Category:Shapeshifters
Category:Yōkai
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Obake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obake) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obake?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.