Obake

For the character, seeList of Disney's Big Hero 6 characters § Obake.

Obake(お hóa け)andbakemono(Hóa け vật)are a class ofyōkai,preternaturalcreatures inJapanese folklore.Literally, the terms meana thing that changes,referring to a state of transformation orshapeshifting.

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 thesebakemonoare distinct from the spirits of the dead.However, as a secondary usage, the termobakecan be a synonym foryūrei,the ghost of a deceased human being.

Abakemono'strue form may be an animal such as afox(kitsune), araccoon dog(bake-danuki), abadger(mujina), a transformingcat(bakeneko), the spirit of a plant—such as akodama,or an inanimate object which may possess a soul inShintoand otheranimistictraditions.Obakederived from household objects are often calledtsukumogami.

Abakemonousually either disguises itself as a human or appears in a strange or terrifying form such as ahitotsume-kozō,anōnyūdō,or anoppera-bō.In common usage, any bizarre apparition can be referred to as abakemonoor anobakewhether or not it is believed to have some other form, making the terms roughly synonymous withyōkai.

In Hawaii

Due to the influence of a large number ofHawaiians with Japanese ancestry,on the islands ofHawaiithe termobakehas 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 ofkappahave been reported on the islands, and the Japanese faceless ghosts callednoppera-bōhave also become well known in Hawaii under the namemujina.This name confusion seems to have stemmed from a story byLafcadio Hearntitled "Mujina", a story about a badger (mujina) which takes the form of anoppera-bō,rather than being one itself, which first introduced the faceless ghost to the Western world.

Hawaiian folkloristGlen Grantwas known for hisObake 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 concernedobake.

In popular culture

Bakemono is featured inThe Terror: Infamy,the second season ofAMC's television series,The Terror.

See also

• Japan portal

References

• Mayer, Fanny Hagin (March 1974)."Religious Concepts in the Japanese Folktale"(PDF).Japanese Journal of Religious Studies.1(1): 73–101.doi:10.18874/jjrs.1.1.1974.73-101.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2007-09-30.Retrieved2006-01-01.
• Grant, Glen;Ross Yamanaka (May 1994).Obake: Ghost Stories in Hawaii.Honolulu: Mutual Pub Co.ISBN978-1-56647-320-0.

Definitions from two major Japanese dictionaries:

• "Daijisen: Bakemono".Yahoo! JapanJisho(in Japanese).Retrieved2007-01-01.
• "Daijirin: Bakemono".Yahoo! JapanJisho(in Japanese).Retrieved2007-01-01.
• "Daijisen: Obake".Yahoo! JapanJisho(in Japanese).Retrieved2007-01-01.
• "Daijirin: Obake".Yahoo! JapanJisho(in Japanese).Retrieved2007-01-01.