Yokai Cats Vol. 1

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A wonderful retrospective on the history and legend of cats in Japan, with a wealth of folk tales, historical context, and art The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe. The bakeneko ( 化け猫, "changed cat") is a type of Japanese yōkai, or supernatural entity; more specifically, it is a kaibyō, or supernatural cat. [2] It is often confused with the nekomata, another cat-like yōkai. [3] The distinction between them is often ambiguous, but the largest difference is that the nekomata has two tails, while the bakeneko has only one.

It is an evil spirit that presents itself in front of lost travelers, preventing them from finding their way and eventually getting lost forever. Although not the scariest looking yokai, it’s definitely one of the most inconvenient! Nekomata. (2020, September 9). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nekomata&oldid=977577652 One person who assisted in the widespread popularity of yokai during the Edo period was Toriyama Sekien, a printmaker who became known as the father of the very first definitive encyclopedia of yokai monsters to ever exist. Continuing on from the Two Tailed Cat’s story of origin, as the belief that once your cat grows old of age it will transform into a Nekomata spread, people started to put a “time limit” on their pet cats or chop off their tails so it won’t split into two.

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These are Scampuss. According to the in-game lore, a Scampuss is a type of Yokai. We won’t get into their bleak origins or the reason for their thousand-yard stare. If you want to read it, choose Starting Point from the world map, and navigate to Hut > View Illustrations > Yokai Illustrations and scroll through until you find Scampuss. It won’t be there at first, so you’ll have to encounter a few in the wild before the information gets filled in. This sea creature is usually described as having a huge dark head that just appears out of the water. It’s said that when it appears, it will break through any boat that is nearby and kill its passengers. There is a belief that the Bakeneko prostitute image began as it was not acceptable for prostitutes to eat in front of their customers so they hunched over their stolen meals as the client slept. When the man awoke he may have seen her in a distorted way (especially after the night of drinking he had). Perhaps unexpectedly, the fad of cat-girls remains prominent in modern Japanese manga, anime, and video games today. Also in Japan there are cat yōkai called bakeneko; and since nekomata are the yōkai of transformed cats, sometimes nekomata are confused with bakeneko. [11] Yōkai depictions [ edit ] Nekomata ( 猫また) from Bakemono no e ( 化物之繪, c. 1700), Harry F. Bruning Collection of Japanese Books and Manuscripts, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. Nekomata ( 猫また) from the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Sekien Toriyama

Around the same time, Kyoto was suffering from a plague called Nekomata Disease (猫股病) that the people believed was caused by the Nekomata, a curse of sorts. (Actually, it was rabies and there’s a theory that it wasn’t humans but dogs that suffered from it.) The Japanese Kitsune spirit has been the inspiration of many pop culture characters and references, in part because of its ability to shape-shift into stunning women!As the years passed, more and more people came to believe that 「if your cat lives a long life, it’ll transform into a Nekomata」and with it danger and misfortune. Still, at this point there was no mention about Nekomatas having 2 tails, until the mid-Edo period when this started to spread, Some theorize that the Japanese nekomata legends derive from Chinese xiānlí/senri tales. [15] See also [ edit ] Nyanko-sensei usually takes on the form of a cuddly but fat Calico Maneki Neko, the identity of his true form however has yet to be revealed. A large powerful beast-like Yokai, some people guess that he may be an Inugami (dog god) but considering his abilities to shapeshift and his chosen form of a cat, we think it unlikely.

Davisson, Z. (2021). Kaibyo: The supernatural cats of Japan (2nd ed.). Mercuria Press: Portland, OR. Other powers of the mythical Bakeneko include summoning fireballs, using their tails as torches to set fires, controlling the dead, and cursing (or killing) their previous owners, if they see fit. Matcha Admin. (2019, October 1). The Kagurazaka Bakeneko Festival: Become a cat and join the parade (C. Mischke, Trans.). Matcha. https://matcha-jp.com/en/6661 Once they gain their powers, some Nekomata run away from their towns to hide deep in the mountains. They become large, human eating monsters (although the origins of these particular legends may actually be animals infected with rabies). There are also tales of these two tailed creatures learning necromancy. They then haunt their once owners with visitations from dead relatives. They can summon fireballs, just like the bakeneko. However, unlike the bakeneko, the nekomata use this ability to intentionally start large fires, killing many people.In this guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about those cats — called Scampuss in the game — that you can find and pet in most levels. What is a Scampuss (cat)? Marak, Katarzyna (2014). Japanese and American Horror: A Comparative Study of Film, Fiction, Graphic Novels and Video Games. McFarland & Company. p.101. ISBN 978-0786496662. The Yama Neko is said to be a Yokai that lives in the mountains, or visits the mountains occasionally. Similar to the Two Tailed Cats, it is said to originally have been a normal cat. They are described as being larger than Two Tailed Cats and leave footprints with forked toes. They take on the form of ordinary house cats to conceal their true identity. Bakeneko also have three sub-types. When a bakeneko transforms into a woman, she is called a neko-musume, or daughter of a cat. This transformed cat basically the precursor to the popular catgirl trope from anime today. 3. Kasha: The Corpse-Eating Cats

Curran, Beverley; Sato-Rossberg, Nana; Tanabe, Kikuko, eds. (2015). Multiple Translation Communities in Contemporary Japan. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-83170-4. Because of this, he is often depicted as the ‘Master of All Yokai’ in modern retellings of Japanese folklore. 18. Zashiki-Warashi Yokai are Japanese demons that can come in many shapes and forms, from shape-shifting animals to demonic monsters. They can possess a physical form but can also be spirits that evaporate into thin air. Nioh 2 is full of human brigands and also gigantic monstrous demons. But not everything is out to kill you.

Cats’ reputations have often swayed from good to evil over the years as they have been both revered and feared around the world. One of the most famous malevolent associations cats have had is undoubtedly with witchcraft. Another, arguably lesser-known connection comes from Japan, in the form of the mythical and legendary Bakeneko and Nekomata creatures. The Mythical Bakeneko Fun, easy read. The visual layout of the text is excellent. Having virtually no familiarity with the specific subject on my way in, I do get the sense that it covers the fundamentals. The author appears to know his history, writes succinctly and with authority but is simultaneously very approachable, and doesn't dance around anything -- If he doesn't know something, he says it outright. Some say the second type of two tailed cats were runaway cats that transformed into Nekomata after having made the mountain its new home.