Gashadokuro

◆ The legend

A towering skeleton formed from the bones of people who died in war or famine and were never given a proper burial. It wanders the fields at midnight with a rattling "gasha, gasha," and grabs anyone it meets.

Surprisingly, this yokai hardly appears in old folklore at all. It spread fairly recently, through yokai encyclopedias in the Showa era. Its image is said to trace back to Utagawa Kuniyoshi's ukiyo-e of a giant skeleton looming over a ruined palace. It may be a newcomer, but the idea of countless regrets gathering into one is heavy indeed. If you hear teeth chattering in a field at night, quietly turn back.