{{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'', preternatural creatures in Japanese folklore. Literally, the terms mean ''a thing that changes'', referring to a state of transformation or shapeshifting.
These words are often translated as "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.<ref>Mayer p. 89</ref> However, as a secondary usage, the term ''obake'' can be a synonym for ''yūrei'', the ghost of a deceased human being.<ref>''Daijirin'' and ''Daijisen'' definitions of ''obake''.</ref>
A ''bakemono's'' true form may be an animal such as a fox (''kitsune''), a raccoon dog (''bake-danuki''), a badger (''mujina''), a transforming cat (''bakeneko''), the spirit of a plant—such as a ''kodama'', or an inanimate object which may possess a soul in Shinto and other animistic traditions. ''Obake'' derived from household objects are often called ''tsukumogami''.
A ''bakemono'' usually either disguises itself as a human or appears in a strange or terrifying form such as a ''hitotsume-kozō,'' an ''ōnyūdō'', or a ''noppera-bō''. 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''.<ref>''Daijirin'' and ''Daijisen'' dictionary definitions.</ref>
==In Hawaii== Due to the influence of a large number of Hawaiians with Japanese ancestry, on the islands of 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'' 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''. This name confusion seems to have stemmed from a story by 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 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''.<ref>Grant</ref>
==In popular culture== Bakemono is featured in ''The Terror: Infamy'', the second season of AMC's television series, ''The Terror''.<ref name="Terror Infamy">{{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}}</ref>
== See also == * {{Portal-inline|Japan}}
==Notes== <references/>
==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 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 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 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 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