Japanese language and culture

 Mother's love is great Ubume is a youkai that has changed from a woman who died due to a difficult birth. Originally a bird that kidnaps children, it has gradually transformed into a woman (mother) holding a child. In the 27th volume of "Konjaku-Monogatari", at night, he appears in a fishy river and pushes the child to "hold the child". Then, when he holds the child, he attacks him while saying, "Return the child." It's a lot of confusion. In some areas, children's voices heard at night are called "Ubume". Furthermore, in recent years, there is talk of raising a child who has lost a parent in place of the parent. Youkai category Youkai for convincing . May bring wealth Ubume try to make passers-by hold their children. And when you hold the child, the child gets heavier and heavier. If you can bear the weight until morning, child will become a gold nugget. Also, the person who holds the child seems to get superhuman strength. This i...

 On the woman's arm ... "Dodomeki" is a myriad of eyes that appear on a woman's arm. Its eyes are bird's eyes. Why did it appear on her arm? The woman's arm was long by nature, and she used that length to steal. From a certain time, countless stolen bird's eye (money) spirits appeared as bird's eyes on the woman's arm. Youkai category Education / Lessons Youkai. It's a youkai born from the lesson that youkai becomes a youkai when you steal and the fear of the person's eyes when you steal. Also, in Japan, the line of sight to those who have done wrong is quite strict, and in modern times, bad things are posted on SNS. It is called "炎上（enjou）" in Japanese internet slang. enjou means "flaming". The combination of these and the hole in the center of the bronze coin reminiscent of a bird's eye made it a mystery in which countless eyes appeared. summary ・ Countless eyes appearing on a woman's arm ・ Born from lessons l...

Rules for reading Chinese characters There are two ways to read Chinese characters. Chinese characters came from China to Japan. One is how to read when it was used in China. It is called "on-yomi" in Japanese.（Chinese reading） The other is how to read in connection with Japanese. It is called "kun'yomi" in Japanese.（Japanese reading） This time, I'm a youkai involved in those two reading methods. 件 The Chinese character "件" is a Chinese character often used in Japan. The on-yomi reading is "ken", and this reading is often used. For example, "件名（ken-mei）" which means the subject. In kun'yomi, it is read as "kudan" , but it is not used much now. In the old days, it was written at the end of the letter, "Yotte Kudan no gotosi." The meaning is "do as described above" or "do as promised (planned)." What is the appearance of "Kudan"? Although it is a "Kudan" that has als...

Youkai category entertainment youkai Education and lessons learned youkai Cute child? No, it's a youkai. Tofu　 ※ Kozo is a youkai that appears on rainy days. ※Kozo=Kid Its appearance is wearing a kimono for children and holding tofu on a tray. And he shows the tofu . ... A youkai that is neither profitable nor harmful. Why did you decide to eat the tofu? Tofu Kozo may tell you to eat the tofu he has. However, it is said that eating the tofu causes mold to come out from all over the body. I'm surprised that some people ate such suspicious tofu, but is it okay for mold to come out of my body? The interesting thing about this Tofu Kozo is that it is not said that the person who ate it will die. summary ・ Show me the tofu ・ Mold comes out from all over the body when eaten (it does not seem to die even if eaten) ・ Is it an "education / lesson youkai" that you shouldn't eat something you don't know?

Cugly There is little information about Nuppeppou, but there are stories of "old frogs" and "foxes" Haunted and of sucking the fat of dead people. Can you eat？ In 1609, a youkai with characteristics very similar to Nuppeppou appeared in Sunpu Castle (currently a castle in Shizuoka Prefecture). And when I tried to catch it, it moved so quickly that I couldn't catch it and could only drive it out of the castle. After that, when he told the story to a person familiar with medicine, he said, "I was able to make a sacred medicine that can gain a lot of power from the meat , but you did a wasteful thing" summary ・ The identity is an animal ・ I sucked the fat of a dead person and became that figure ・ Move quickly ・ You can make great medicine with the meat.

 From outside the bathroom Kanbari Nyudou is a youkai that appears in the bathroom. It's a very nasty youkai who looks into the bathroom from the outside of the window, but there is talk of bringing wealth. approach By chanting "Kanbari Nyudo Hototogisu" , Kanbari Nyudou will not look into the bathroom. There is a story that when you chanted it, the head of the Kanbari Nyudo fell, and when you brought the head to a bright place, it turned into a gold nugget. However, there is a story that it is ominous to say "Kanbari Nyudo Hototogisu". Case study ・ It is not good to remember the word "Kanbari Nyudo Hototogisu" on New Year's Eve. ・ Enter the bathroom at 2:00 am, call the name "Kanbari Nyudo" and look down, the head of the entrance will appear, so take that head and put it in the left sleeve and then take it out. , Its head instantly turns into a ※ koban. ※koban=a forme Japanese oval gold coin. summary ・ Peek into the bathroom ・  "K...

 After all from China Tengu came from China as well as "Oni" and "Kappa" . Tengu was a shooting star called "Tenkousei" in China. It is said that bad things happen when this shooting star flows, and since I came to Japan, it has come to be called the shooting star "Amatsukitsune". "狗（Dog）" = "犬（Dog）"? "狗（Ku）" is a Chinese character that stands for a small dog. Born as a shooting star, the tengu became a dog. According to the Chinese geography book "Sengaikyo", the tengu's cry is explained as "Miu Miu" or "Ryuryu". Four types of tengu Tengu have been divided into four types since they came to Japan. Hanataka Tengu "Hanataka" means that the nose is high. And the most famous tengu. As the name suggests, it has a tall nose, a red face, wings, and a wind-breathing fan. There are various personalities, but I get the impression that most of them have a comical personality. Karasu...

 Wasn't it a youkai? Kappa is now introduced as a youkai, but it was originally a  "god of water" from China. Even now, there are some areas that believe in kappa as the god of water. The status of God was taken by a certain being from the same China ... Kappa was worshiped by people as such a "god of water," but the time has come to threaten their position. That is because the "dragon" came to Japan from China. The Japanese people thought that the dragon was more suitable as a god of water, and dropped the kappa from a god to a youkai. I'm back as a mascot !! A kappa who has fallen from a god to a youkai, but nowadays, he has returned as a character to call attention to prevent water accidents. It is not a scary figure like a dragon, but because it is a charming kappa , even if it is dropped by a youkai, it may have been revived as a beloved character. summary ・Originally the god of water ・The dragon's arrival in Japan caused him to fall from...

 What is a Oni? "Oni" is the Japanese name for demons. Isn't it the origin of Japan? The demon was originally called "隠（on）" and was an invisible supernatural being. " 隠（on） " is a Chinese character that means to hide. As Chinese characters were imported from China, the word "鬼（oni）", which means ghost, came to be used. Origin regression? "Kimetu no Yaiba" "鬼（Oni）", which came from China with Chinese characters, became a general term for "bad things" by mixing with Japanese "隠（on）". After that, the number of powerfully named demons increased, and the image of the current Japanese demons with horns and tiger pants was created. By the way, many demons will appear in the anime "Kimetsu no Yaiba" which has become very popular in recent years. By the way, many demons will appear in the anime "Kimetsu no Yaiba" (English name: Demon Slayer), which has become very popular in Japan in recent ...

Student "Teacher! What is the difference between youkai and ghosts?"  I am a Japanese teacher in Japan, but I often talk about youkai in class. Then, sometimes students ask me, "Are youkai and ghosts all the same?" Japanese people can't explain youkai and ghosts, but you can see that they are different, but when it comes to defining them, it's a difficult question 😞 This time, I will briefly explain it. Are they all the same? Ghosts are also called "Obake" in Japan. "Obake" is a word that has changed from "Bakemono" . Bakemono　is things to transform or things to transformed. Both youkai and ghosts can be transformed or are the result of being transformed. For example, in the case of youkai, "foxes" and "raccoon dogs" are famous as to transform, and ghosts are born as ghosts by dying in the first place. As you can see, both youkai and ghosts are one of the big categories called Bakemono . Youkai and ghosts ...

 Last review Last time, I mentioned that youkai have four categories. The four categories are: 1,Youkai for convincing 2, Education / Lessons Youkai 3, the discovered youkai 4, entertainment youkai This time, I will finally introduce the last one, "Entertainment Youkai" . Entertainment and youkai that continue in modern Japan From entertainment like horror movies and horror games to rumors and ghost stories, there's a lot of horror-themed entertainment around us. It is not something that has just begun, but in the early Heian period, the "Ise Monogatari" , which featured a love suspense horror in which men and women who fled due to their status were eaten by demons in a hut where men and women escaped from the rain, became popular. In some cases, Yoshida Kenko's "Tsurezuregusa" was delighted with the return of his husband, and his dog, who jumped out of joy, was mistaken for the youkai "Nekomata" , and the youkai were treated as a comedy....

Last review Last time, I mentioned that youkai have four categories. The four categories are: 1,Youkai for convincing 2, Education / Lessons Youkai 3, the discovered youkai 4, entertainment youkai This time, we will introduce  "the discovered youkai" . What is the discovered youkai? As the name suggests, the discovered youkai are those that have actually been witnessed . While the other three categories of youkai are made by humans, this "discovered youkai" can be captured and transformed from a youkai to an animal if its ecology is known. .. Outside of Japan,  "Cryptid"  is also called  "UMA" , an unidentified creature in Japan. If you catch it, you will get a prize! There are many actual sightings, and "Tschinoko" is famous as a youkai who can get a prize if they capture it . Tsuchinoko is a snake that became a boom in the 1970s. The torso is as thick as a beer bottle, and the neck and tail are much thinner than the torso. From Kaiyod...

 Last review Last time, I mentioned that youkai have four categories. The four categories are: 1,Youkai for convincing 2, Education / Lessons Youkai 3, the discovered youkai 4, entertainment youkai This time, we will introduce "Education / Lessons Youkai" . Discipline When I was a kid, I was often threatened by my parents with doing bad things, such as being "eaten by a demon" or "taken by a tengu." Why do adults discipline children with youkai? The answer is simple. When a small child does something wrong, explaining why it is bad does not make the small child understand what is wrong with it.Therefore, I was disciplining my child not to do bad things by saying something scary would come. That scary thing is a youkai. Lesson It is true not only for children but also for adults that the arrival of youkai will change their lives. For example, if you don't clean it, dust will collect and you will get sick.This is common sense in modern times, but at that...

 Youkai category There are four categories of youkai. 1,Youkai for convincing 2, Education / Lessons Youkai 3, the discovered youkai 4, entertainment youkai These four are the youkai categories. This time, I would like to introduce "Youkai for convincing" . Youkai for convincing When a Japanese encounters a scary event, the biggest fear is not knowing the cause.If you don't know the cause, you can't deal with it, and after that, you become anxious about what you will do and it turns into fear. For example, when you go to the hospital because you have a stomachache, isn't it pretty scary if the doctor says "I don't know"? Wouldn't fear be alleviated if you knew the name of the illness and what to do? It's the same with old Japanese people, and if you encounter an unfamiliar event and don't know what it is, you can't help but be scared. It's also unbearable that such unfamiliar events happen frequently in my living area. That's ...

 This time I will introduce the "Yokai" in my name. What is a youkai? Youkai are strange things and things that cannot be explained, especially events that are not good for us. Also, youkai make things that people can't do, such as "raining" and "flying in the sky," easy, so people were scared of youkai and tried not to meet them. Youkai and God It is said that there are countless gods in Japan. It is called " Yaoyorozu no kami （eight million gods）" in Japan. And the gods are also the ones who can do things that people cannot do, such as "raining" and "flying in the sky." So what is the difference between youkai and gods? In fact, it's the same. However, it is "God" who does many positive things for people, and "Yokai" who does many negative things . Therefore, some of the same things may be  youkai or gods depending on the location . Things that are both youkai and gods I am both a youkai and a go...

nice to meet you！ Welcome to Japanese language and cluture. My name is Yokai-sensei. I am Japanese. And I am teaching Japanese language and culture at a Japanese school. I also holds a master's degree in folklore and is still studying Japanese culture. I also run a blog for Japanese people and wanted to make more people aware of Japanese culture. The original site is here↓. http://nihongotobunka.blog.jp/ This site will introduce Japanese life and culture. Also, we are looking for themes that we would like you to handle, so please comment.