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No.021

Chochin-obake

THE GRINNING LANTERN

Chochin-obake
Pixel artOriginal art by Pixel Yokai
"Oiwa-san" from Hyaku Monogatari
For reference: old artKatsushika Hokusai
"Oiwa-san" from Hyaku Monogatari
Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
Japanese name
提灯お化け（CHOCHIN-OBAKE）
Type
Haunted object
Found in
Under the eaves and along night roads

◆ The legend

A yokai said to be an old paper lantern come to life. The paper splits open sideways into a huge mouth, and out flops a long tongue. Eyes appear above the tear, and it's often drawn hanging from the eaves, suddenly showing its face.

Before electric lights, the chochin lantern was a precious light for getting around at night. Carried in your hand, it lit the path at your feet; hung from the eaves, it served as a landmark. Now imagine that trusty lantern suddenly bursting into laughter one evening... Few stories tell of it truly hurting anyone, but a light that suddenly grows a face would have made any dark walk feel a lot lonelier.

◆ Stories about this yokai

Chochin-obake and Oiwa: Hokusai's Lantern and the Yotsuya Ghost StoryA face appearing in a torn paper lantern: the eeriness of chochin-obake comes from a trusted light suddenly gaining a face. From Hokusai's print of Oiwa to a famous lantern trick in the kabuki play Yotsuya Kaidan, a gentle look at lanterns and ghost stories.