I’ve spoken about Japanese Mythology before but my focus was primarily on the folktales and stories and how that has impacted Japanese storytelling. However, I believe it’s also important to take a look at the various mythological creatures found in Japanese folklore as you’ll find them frequently referred to in the worlds of anime, manga and video games.
Japanese folklore is surprisingly diverse and it’s worth noting that there are literally hundreds upon hundreds of mythological creatures scattered throughout these myths. However, I’m going to be focusing on a few that are commonly found in anime and manga and even some other mediums.
As far as I’m concerned, kitsune are easily the most famous of all Japan’s mythological creatures. Kitsune, often referred to as fox spirits, resemble a red fox but can possess up to nine tails. Beyond their supernatural powers (the ability to shapeshift is commonly associated with them) and their fierce intellect, they’re surprisingly varied with many kitsune considered tricksters who deceive humans while others are considered to be messengers of the kami Inari who help and assist humans.
Their presence in storytelling is quite interesting. Perhaps one of the most famous examples would be the nine-tailed fox from Naruto who is viewed as comparable to a natural disaster. The Pokémon Vulpix and Ninetails are based on kitsune, in particular with how a Vulpix is born with only a single tail which continues to divide as it grows until it fully matures into a Ninetails. One of my personal favourite kitsune from storytelling is from Persona 4 where it acts as a guardian of the local shrine and provides the protagonist with requests from the local townpeople written on ema. They have even extended beyond Japanese media, appearing in some western shows such as Supernatural and Teen Wolf!
While a tanuki is a real animal, referred to as a Japanese raccoon dog despite being unrelated to raccoons, I will be discussing the bake-danuki, a type of tanuki associated with supernatural powers. These tanuki, similarly to the kitsune, possess the ability to shapeshift although one of their more infamous attributes are their large testicles which they can manipulate into various forms.
Easily the most famous example of tanuki in popular culture is the Studio Ghibli film Pom Poko where humans are developing on the tanuki’s ancestral lands and sees the tanuki using their supernatural powers (and testicles) in an attempt to drive away the humans. Tanuki also appear in Inuyasha, Shaman King and many other anime and manga series. Additionally, many video games reference tanuki such as Super Mario where he can get a “Tanooki Suit” that allows him to fly and turn into a statue and in the Animal Crossing series where the character of Tom Nook and his relatives are all tanuki.
Finally, I would like to discuss tengu, a creature that is sometimes referred to as a yokai and other times as a kami. Their two forms, daitengu and kotengu, share several attributes such as their wings and their hostility to humans but the kotengu resemble birds, specifically crows, with a large beak and dark feathers while the daitengu, a later creation, saw the beak shift to a long red nose instead and take on more human-like image.
Tengu appear in many anime/manga series such as Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Black Bird, Urusei Yatsura etc. They have also appeared in a variety of video games such as the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, Mega Man, Okami and, interestingly, Overwatch with the recent Halloween event featuring a daitengu skin for Hanzo and a kotengu skin for Genji.
As I’ve noted before, the storytelling of every culture is influenced by their mythology and Japan is no exception. The use of Japanese mythological creatures in anime, manga and video games can be quite confusing to those unfamiliar with them and I believe that it’s important that more people can find information relating to these myths. Let me know if you’ve encountered kitsune, tanuki or tengu before, what some of their most interesting appearances have been, other mythological Japanese creatures you’ve heard of and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!