Funayurei

◆ The legend

Funayurei are said to be the spirits of people who lost their lives at sea, attacking boats to gain more companions. On the open sea at night, on foggy evenings, or around Obon, the summer festival of the dead, pale hands are said to rise out of the water one after another, with voices calling, "Lend us a ladle!" Hand one over, and they use it to scoop seawater into the boat, faster and faster, until it sinks.

So sailors passed down a piece of advice: give them a ladle with no bottom. However hard they scoop, no water goes in. Funayurei may also appear as a ghostly ship. If it looks as though it will ram you, the story goes, hold your course instead of swerving, and it simply fades away. The name changes from place to place, too; in parts of western Japan they are called "ayakashi."