View source for Obake

{{Short description|Type of Yōkai}}
{{For|the character|List of Disney's Big Hero 6 characters#Obake}}
{{Jmyth infobox}}
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{{expand Japanese|お化け|date=February 2019}}
{{nihongo|'''''Obake'''''|お化け}} and {{nihongo|'''''bakemono'''''|化け物}} are a class of ''[[yōkai]]'', [[preternatural]] creatures in [[Japanese folklore]]. Literally, the terms mean ''a thing that changes'', referring to a state of transformation or [[shapeshifting]].

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 these ''bakemono'' are distinct from the spirits of the dead.<ref>Mayer p. 89</ref> However, as a secondary usage, the term ''obake'' can be a synonym for ''[[yūrei]]'', the ghost of a deceased human being.<ref>''Daijirin'' and ''Daijisen'' definitions of ''obake''.</ref>   

A ''bakemono's'' true form may be an animal such as a [[fox]] (''[[kitsune]]''), a [[raccoon dog]] (''[[bake-danuki]]''), a [[badger]] (''[[mujina]]''), a transforming [[cat]] (''[[bakeneko]]''), the spirit of a plant—such as a ''[[kodama (spirit)|kodama]]'', or an inanimate object which may possess a soul in [[Shinto]] and other [[animism|animistic]] traditions. ''Obake'' derived from household objects are often called ''[[tsukumogami]]''.

A ''bakemono'' usually either disguises itself as a human or appears in a strange or terrifying form such as a ''[[hitotsume-kozō]],'' an ''[[ōnyūdō]]'', or a ''[[noppera-bō]]''. In common usage, any bizarre apparition can be referred to as a ''bakemono'' or an ''obake'' whether or not it is believed to have some other form, making the terms roughly synonymous with ''[[yōkai]]''.<ref>''Daijirin'' and ''Daijisen'' dictionary definitions.</ref>

==In Hawaii==
Due to the influence of a large number of [[Japanese in Hawaii|Hawaiians with Japanese ancestry]], on the islands of [[Hawaii]] the term ''obake'' has 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 of ''[[Kappa (folklore)|kappa]]'' have been reported on the islands, and the Japanese faceless ghosts called ''noppera-bō'' have also become well known in Hawaii under the name ''[[Noppera-bō|mujina]]''. This name confusion seems to have stemmed from a story by [[Lafcadio Hearn]] titled "Mujina", a story about a badger (''mujina'') which takes the form of a ''noppera-bō'', rather than being one itself, which first introduced the faceless ghost to the Western world.

Hawaiian folklorist [[Glen Grant (historian)|Glen Grant]] was known for his ''Obake 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 concerned ''obake''.<ref>Grant</ref>

==In popular culture==
Bakemono is featured in ''[[The Terror: Infamy]]'', the second season of [[AMC (TV channel)|AMC]]'s television series, ''[[The Terror (TV series)|The Terror]]''.<ref name="Terror Infamy">{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/terror-renewed-world-war-ii-themed-second-season-at-amc-1122368 |title='The Terror' Renewed for World War II-Themed Second Season at AMC |work=The Hollywood Reporter |first=Lesley |last=Goldberg |date=June 22, 2018 |access-date=October 13, 2018}}</ref>

== See also ==
* {{Portal-inline|Japan}}

==Notes==
<references/>

==References==
*{{cite journal
 | last = Mayer
 | first = Fanny Hagin
 |date=March 1974
 | title = Religious Concepts in the Japanese Folktale
 | journal = Japanese Journal of Religious Studies
 | volume = 1
 | issue = 1
 | pages = 73–101
 | doi = 10.18874/jjrs.1.1.1974.73-101
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930024357/http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/3.pdf
 | archive-date = 2007-09-30
 | url = http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/3.pdf
 | access-date = 2006-01-01
 | doi-access = free
 }}
* {{cite book
 | last = Grant
 | first = Glen
 | author-link = Glen Grant (historian)
 |author2=Ross Yamanaka
  | title = Obake: Ghost Stories in Hawaii
 | url = https://archive.org/details/obake00glen
 | url-access = registration
 |date=May 1994
 | publisher = Mutual Pub Co
 | location = Honolulu
 | isbn = 978-1-56647-320-0
 }}
Definitions from two major Japanese dictionaries:
*{{cite web
| url = http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E5%8C%96%E3%81%91%E7%89%A9&stype=0&dtype=0
| title = Daijisen: Bakemono
| access-date = 2007-01-01
| website = [[Yahoo! Japan]] Jisho
| language = ja
}}
*{{cite web
| url = http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E5%8C%96%E3%81%91%E7%89%A9&enc=UTF-8&stype=0&dtype=0&dname=0ss
| title = Daijirin: Bakemono
| access-date = 2007-01-01
| website = [[Yahoo! Japan]] Jisho
| language = ja
}}
*{{cite web
| url = http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%8A%E3%81%B0%E3%81%91&stype=0&dtype=0
| title = Daijisen: Obake
| access-date = 2007-01-01
| website = [[Yahoo! Japan]] Jisho
| language = ja
}}
*{{cite web
| url = http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E3%81%8A%E3%81%B0%E3%81%91&enc=UTF-8&stype=0&dtype=0&dname=0ss
| title = Daijirin: Obake
| access-date = 2007-01-01
| website = [[Yahoo! Japan]] Jisho
| language = ja
}}

{{Japanese folklore long}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obake}}
[[Category:Japanese folklore]]
[[Category:Japanese ghosts]]
[[Category:Shapeshifters]]
[[Category:Yōkai]]