Discover Karakasa-Obake

A monster with one leg, umbrella head, red eye and, one sandal... I present to you Karakasa-Obake! Have you heard of Karakasa-Obake?

The Karakasa-Obake [からかさ小僧] literally means: ''Monster umbrella made of paper'' or called ''Monster umbrella made of paper'' is a Japanese folklore monster very popular in Japan.

The Karakasa-obake, then, was an old umbrella, abandoned or neglected by its owners, which after 99 years of existence turned into a Tsukumogami, a kind of Bakemono (monster), a kind of youkai, an oriental supernatural creature.

The 99 years, is symbolic. It indicates, a long period of forgetfulness and abandonment. It's customary to take personal objects that you don't want or don't use anymore in Shinto shrines to be disposed of safely, so that they don't become Tsukumogami and come to haunt you later.

He is usually portrayed as possessing a single eye and a long tongue. It may or may not have two arms, which come out of the “hat”, and its handle is replaced by a long leg that wears a geta, a type of Japanese sandal made of wood. Some older drawings depict him with a single eye, without arms, and two legs, without the sandal.

Obake

In the Hyakki Yagyō, illustrated scroll of the hundred nocturnal monsters, the monster is reported as a humanoid figure, whose head would have the shape of a traditional closed umbrella, quite different from the Karakasa description known today.

Apparently, the appearance of the tongue sticking out and only one eye started to become popular thanks to the contact with the Portuguese and, mainly, by the beginning of the 20th century during the Taisho period, when the monster started to be widely known as one leg. due to its design originally appearing on Portuguese charts. Similar to our western decks. This type of deck is called Karuta (かるた) in Japan.

We recommend reading: Karuta - The game of 100 poems

Karakasa-Obake in anime and media

Karakasa in the anime ''vampire+rosario''

Karakasa no anime "Vampire+Rosario"

In modern times, when the Karakasa is depicted in movies or cartoons, it almost always has a harmless and silly character. When it scares human characters, it is more due to the surprise of its sudden unexpected appearance than its monstrous look.

Scene from the movie yôkai hyaku monogatari 1968

Yôkai hyaku monogatari (1968)

Let's agree that he's not that scary. But I wouldn't want one of those at home.

PsI am a new Author on the site. I hope to bring good information to you :)

Source: aoikuwan, japancultpopbr

Read more articles from our website

Thanks for reading! But we would be happy if you take a look at other articles below:

Read our most popular articles:

Do you know this anime?