Inktober 2O2O Series.
To keep a running theme leading up to the best holiday of the year–Halloween–I based my illustrations off of Japanese folklore and horror stories.
THE BRIEF
This was my first time doing any sort of Inktober challenge, and this year made it so easy to become stagnant and lazy with developing personal skills; I thought it’d be a good way to keep my illustrative edge intact as well as keep myself busy during quarantine.
DAY O1 - FISH
Umibozu
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DAY O2 - WISP
Based off of Katsushika Hokusai‘s woodblock print: 
Uso shidare-zakura [鷽 垂桜]
One of the more dangerous types of fireball yōkai, onibi are a beautiful, but deadly phenomenon. Their name means “demon fire,” and they certainly earn that moniker. They appear in places surrounded by nature—most often during the spring and summer months, and particularly on rainy days.
DAY O3 - BULKY
OtoroshiOtoroshi are known by many regional names, most of them being wordplays denoting this monster’s fearsome appearance and wild, course mane that covers its body. Otoroshi appear as hairy, hunched, four-legged beasts with fierce claws and tusks.
DAY O4 - RADIO
Hide and Seek; can you find the radio?
DAY O5 - BLADE
DaitenguDaitengu became closely connected with the ascetic mountain religion of Shugendō. The mountain mystics grew close to the tengu, seeking their wisdom and worshiping them as divine beings. It is perhaps through this mystic religion that humankind was eventually able to earn the respect of the tengu. Brave men ventured into the unknown wilds in hopes of gaining some of the tengu’s wisdom. Occasionally, tengu would teach secrets and impart magical knowledge to the worthiest of these men.
DAY O6 - RODENT
Kodama NezumiKodama nezumi are rarely encountered due to their remote habitat. However, they do have one particularly notable behavior. When the mountain gods grow angry, kodama nezumi begin to swell. Internal pressure builds up. They inflate like a balloon. Then suddenly, they rupture down the spine and burst. The sound of this explosion is said to be louder than a gunshot. Everything nearby is splattered with their flesh, blood, and innards.
DAY O7 - FANCY
Futakuchi OnnaFamilies who notice that their food stocks are shrinking at an alarming rate, while the women in their houses hardly eat a bite, may be the victims of a futakuchi onna. Futakuchi onna appear as regular women until their terrible secret is revealed: in the back of their skulls—buried beneath long, thick hair—is a second mouth, full of teeth and with large, fat lips. This second mouth is ravenous, and uses long strands of its hair-like tentacles to gorge itself on any food it can find.
DAY O8 - TEETH
Chochin ObakeWhen a paper lantern, or a chōchin, reaches an advanced age, it may transform into a chōchin obake. The paper of the lantern splits, forming a gaping mouth with a wild, lolling tongue.
DAY O9 - THROW
Tengu TsubuteTengu tsubute is a phenomenon where rocks mysteriously fall from the sky. It is most commonly encountered deep in the mountains, however tales of rocks mysteriously falling from the sky are found in larger cities as well. It usually takes the form of a handful of pebbles or gravel flying through the air on an evil wind, however from time to even even boulders are blown about in this way.
DAY 1O - HOPE
AmabieAccording to the sketch made by this official, the Amabie had long hair, a mouth like bird's bill, was covered in scales from the neck down and three-legged. Addressing the official, it identified itself as an amabie and told him that it lived in the open sea. It went on to deliver a prophecy: "Good harvest will continue for six years from the current year; if disease spreads, draw a picture of me and show the picture of me to those who fall ill and they will be cured."
DAY 11 - DISGUSTING
HyakumeLike their name suggests, hyakume are covered from head to foot with countless blinking, yellow eyes. Underneath those eyes are fleshy, roughly man-sized bodies. With their eyes closed, they resemble pink lumps of flesh, and are nearly indistinguishable from nuppeppō.
DAY 12 - SLIPPERY
Nure OnnaNure onna are vampiric sea serpents who haunt shores and rivers looking for humans to eat. There are two variations of this yōkai: one without arms, which resembles an enormous sea serpent with a woman’s head, and one with human-like arms. They have long black hair which sticks to their dripping bodies. Their name comes from the fact that they always appear soaking wet.
DAY 13 - DUNE
Based off of Katsushika Hokusai‘s woodblock print:Gekka no ubume zu [月下のうぶめ図]
These yuurei, who generally appear holding babies, embody both the sufferings of women who died during pregnancy or childbirth and the love and concern of the dead mothers for the babies they left behind, or took with them.
DAY 14 - ARMOR
Shuten-DojiShuten-dōji is a mythical oni or demon leader of Japan, who according to legend was killed by the hero Minamoto Raikō. Although decapitated, the demon's detached head still took a bite at the hero, who avoided death by wearing multiple helmets stacked on his head.
DAY 15 - OUTPOST
Based off of Toriyama Sekien‘s woodblock print:Hitodama [人魂]
In Japanese folklore, Hitodama are balls of fire that mainly float in the middle of night.They are said to be "souls of the dead that have separated from their bodies,” which is where their name comes from.
DAY 16 - ROCKET
Ryugu-joUrashima Tarō is the protagonist of a Japanese fairy tale, who in a typical modern version is a fisherman rewarded for rescuing a turtle, and carried on its back to the Dragon Palace (Ryūgū-jō) beneath the sea.
Japanese rocket, Hayabusa2's team members thought resembled a dragon or an ouroboros — a dragon or serpent swallowing its own tail — coiling around the asteroid. Because of that inspiration, the team named the ridge for Ryujin, the Dragon Palace ruler and father of Otohime.
Japanese rocket, Hayabusa2's team members thought resembled a dragon or an ouroboros — a dragon or serpent swallowing its own tail — coiling around the asteroid. Because of that inspiration, the team named the ridge for Ryujin, the Dragon Palace ruler and father of Otohime.
DAY 17 - STORM
Fujin + RaijinFujin is the Japanese god of the wind, a popular and terrifying demon. His bag of air moves all the world’s winds, and he is a powerful force of nature alongside his brother, the thunder god Raijin.
Raijin is the Japanese god of thunder, lightning, and storms. Often appearing alongside his brother, Fujin, the god of the wind, Raijin brings vital rains and leaves a wake of chaos and destruction.
Raijin is the Japanese god of thunder, lightning, and storms. Often appearing alongside his brother, Fujin, the god of the wind, Raijin brings vital rains and leaves a wake of chaos and destruction.
DAY 18 - TRAP
UngaikyoThe ungaikyō is a tsukumogami that is in the form of a possessed mirror. They can manipulate their reflection to resemble what they prefer. Any human who looks into the ungaikyō sees a transformed monstrous version of themselves in the reflection. It has also been used by humans to trap spirits in them.
DAY 19 - DIZZY
KamaitachiKamaitachi is a Japanese yōkai often told about in the Kōshin'etsu region and can also refer to the strange events that this creature causes. They appear riding on dust devils and they cut people using the nails on both their hands that are like sickles. One would receive a sharp, painless wound.
DAY 2O - CORAL
IkuchiIkuchi are colossal sea monsters that roam the open seas off the coasts of Japan. They appear in numerous stories from the Edo period, where they are described as enormous fish or monstrous serpents of some kind. Their bodies are covered in a slippery oil, which sheds as they swim the ocean.
DAY 21 - DREAM
BakuBaku watch over humans and act as guardian spirits. They feed on the dreams of humans—specifically bad dreams. Evil spirits and yōkai fear baku and flee from baku-inhabited areas. Because of this, health and good luck follow baku wherever they go.
Based off of Horitsugu Tattoo’s interpretation of Baku.
Based off of Horitsugu Tattoo’s interpretation of Baku.
DAY 22 - CHEF
NarigamaNarigama are a tsukumogami of kama, iron kettles or cauldrons used to cook rice in old Japanese kitchens. They have long arms and legs. Their bodies are covered in dark hair as if wearing an animal’s pelt. Flames lick the sides of the kettle which either serves as their head, or which they wear like a helmet.
DAY 23 - RIP
DatsuebaAt the River Sanzu’s edge, the bewildered soul is advised by the hellish hag Datsueba to make a pile of pebbles on which to climb toward paradise. But before the pile reaches any small height, the hag and underworld demons viciously knock it down.
After the first trial by Judge Shinkō-ō, the dead who are found innocent can cross the river, walking on a bridge guided by Jizō. The guilty, however, must swim across deep waters and the less guilty ford across a rapid stream. At the other side of the river, the old hag Datsueba waits for the guilty to arrive and then robs them of their clothes. Those who arrive without their clothes are instead stripped of their skin.
After the first trial by Judge Shinkō-ō, the dead who are found innocent can cross the river, walking on a bridge guided by Jizō. The guilty, however, must swim across deep waters and the less guilty ford across a rapid stream. At the other side of the river, the old hag Datsueba waits for the guilty to arrive and then robs them of their clothes. Those who arrive without their clothes are instead stripped of their skin.
DAY 24 - DIG
HitobashiraHitobashira, practiced formerly in Japan, is a human sacrifice, buried alive under or near large-scale buildings like dams, bridges and castles, as a prayer to the gods so that the building is not destroyed by natural disasters such as floods or by enemy attacks.
DAY 25 - BUDDY
KodamaDeep in the mountainous forests of Japan, the souls of the trees are animated as spirits called kodama. These souls wander outside of their hosts, tending to their groves and maintaining the balance of nature. Kodama are rarely ever seen, but are often heard—particularly as echoes that take just a little longer to return than they should. When they do appear, they resemble faint orbs of light in the distance; or occasionally a tiny, funny shaped vaguely humanoid figure. A kodama’s life force is directly tied to the tree it inhabits; if either the tree or the kodama dies, the other cannot live.
Based off of Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke’s interpretation of Kodama.
DAY 26 - HIDE
DAY 27 - MUSIC
Shami ChoroMusical instruments, because of their high value, are often kept around long enough to turn into tsukumogami. Instruments which were once played by masters are the most likely to develop into yōkai. These instruments no longer receive any use—either because their master died or because they started using other instruments—and transform into yōkai, longing to be played again.
DAY 28 - FLOAT
KitsuneLegends tell of celestial Kitsune providing wisdom or service to good and pious humans. These holy foxes act as messengers of the gods and mediums between the celestial and human worlds. They often protect humans or places, provide good luck, and ward evil spirits away. More common are the wild foxes which delight in mischief, pranks, or evil.
DAY 29 - SHOE
Bakezori‘Kararin! Kororin! Kankororin! Managu mittsu ni ha ninmai!’
‘Kararin! Kororin! Kankororin! Eyes three and teeth two!’
Bakezori are sandal-shaped that yōkai sprout arms and legs from their bodies and a single, large eye in their centers. They run about the house at night, causing mischief and making noise.
DAY 3O - OMINOUS
Kage OnnaKage onna are the shadows of women projected onto windows and doors when there is no one around to cast them. They usually take the form of young ladies, though occasionally they appear as old crones with bells hanging from their necks. They appear late at night, when the moon is bright. The paper sliding doors and windows of traditional Japanese homes are particularly good at catching kage onna shadows in the moonlight.
DAY 31 - CRAWL
Based off of Fatal Frame’s ghost enemy, ‘Woman in a Box’.Thanks for checking out this blog post!
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