The story of Kiyohime follows awomanwho sought out revenge after her lover had decided to abandon her. Heartbroken, she follows him into the river and transforms into a giant serpent.
Kiyohime
After her lover sees her, he flees into the hills in horror. After finding safetyunderneatha giant bell in the hills, the man was awoken by the bell sounding off.
It was the Kiyohime, using her serpent tail to slap the bell in order to wake him up so that he could see her once more before she killed him by spewing flames out of her mouth.
Yuki-Onna
This fantastically freaky demon of Japanese lore is said to roam the snow-covered fields of Japan looking for people to eat. She is described as a woman wearing a white kimono to match her pale white skin and long black hair.
She glides over the snow, emotionless, until she runs into someone. She then will blow a cold wind towards her victim until they are frozen solid. She then sucks the souls out of their mouths.
Shuten Doji
This demon is said to be over 50 feet tall, completely red, with 15 eyes and 5 horns. It is said to live in a hidden mountain lair and kidnap women to feast on.
Yamauba
These ‘demons’ are said to be old and terrifying women who live in the mountains and prefer to eat human flesh. There are stories of Yamaubas luring women into the mountains and trapping them in order to feast on their bodies. They are also said to have mouths hidden under their long white hair, filled with hundreds of razor sharp teeth.
Uji no Hashihime
This demon of Japanese folklore is said to have been born out of despair and envy. After being left by her lover, she bathed in a river for 21 days straight, dividing her hair into horns and painting her entire body red.
She then went on to kill her ex lover and his entire family. The story goes that anyone who sees her will die instantly of fear.
Tengu
A Tengu is said to be a massive goblin/bird combination that kidnap children, tie priests to tall trees, and set entire villages on fire. They are considered to be incredibly evil, and were supposedly born out of a curse.
Oiwa
Yet another tale of revenge and heartbreak, this folk tale follows a Samurai who decided to leave his wife in order to marry a younger woman. He ordered for his wife to be poisoned, but the poison did not kill her. Instead, her hair started to fall out and her left eye started to droop out of its socket. She eventually died after falling onto a sword, but not before learning about the attempt on her life.
Her ghost would haunt the samurai for the rest of his life, and her droopy-eyed face would show up everywhere he went- including over the face of his new love. The samurai would go on to decapitate his new lover out of fear, and he eventually welcomed death when his time came.
Kuchisake-Onna
This demon takes the shape of a woman who wears a surgical mask. She walks around asking children if the think she is beautiful. If they say yes, she takes her mask off to reveal that she has a massive Glasgow smile. She then asks them the same question. If they say yes again, she cuts their faces up. It is said that you can distract her with candy long enough to escape.
Aka Manto
This demon is said to hide in women’s bathrooms waiting for his prey to come to him. When a woman finds her way into a stall, he will ask her if she wants a blue or red cloak. If she chooses red, he will rip the flesh off of her back. If she chooses blue, he will strangle her to death. The story goes that if you either don’t answer or give an answer that isn’t an option, he drags you straight to hell.
Agi Bridge Demon
The story of this demon tells of a man who boasted to his friends that he did not fear the demon nor the bridge it lived under. After the man tried to cross Agi Bridge, the demon shape-shifted from a woman into a giant serpent who tried to eat him. The man managed to run away, only to be tricked once again by the demon later that night who had shape-shifted into his brother.
The demon would bite his head off and then dance around the house with it in front of his entire family before vanishing into thin air.
