Meet the Karakasa-Obake

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

The Karakasa-Obake [からかさ小僧] literally means: ”Paper umbrella monster” or called ”Paper-made umbrella monster” is a monster from Japanese folklore that is quite popular in Japan.

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

The 99 years is symbolic. It indicates a long period of forgetfulness and abandonment. It is customary to take personal items that are no longer wanted or used to Shinto shrines for safe disposal, so that they do not become Tsukumogamis and come to haunt you later.

It is usually depicted as having a single eye and a long tongue. It may or may not have two arms that come out of the “hat,” and its handle is replaced by a long leg that wears a geta, a type of Japanese wooden sandal. Some older drawings depict it with a single eye, no arms, and two legs, without the sandal.

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

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

We recommend reading: Karuta – The game of 100 poems

Karakasa-Obake in anime and media

Karakasa in the anime ”Vampire+Rosario”

In modern times, when the Karakasa is represented in films or cartoons, it almost always has an innocent and silly character. When it scares human characters, it is more due to the surprise of its unexpected sudden appearance than to its monstrous appearance.

Yôkai hyaku monogatari (1968)

Let’s agree that it is not that scary. But I wouldn’t want one of those at home.

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

Source: aoikuwan, japancultpopbr