◀ Back to the Yokaipedia PIXEL YOKAI

No.12

Ippon-datara

THE ONE-LEGGED SPIRIT

Ippon-datara
Pixel artArt by @yokaipixel
Japanese name
一本だたら（IPPON-DATARA）
Type
Mountain spirit
Found in
Obamine Pass, deep in the Kumano mountains
Where the legend lives
  • Nara — A legend of Obamine Pass, deep in the Kumano mountains

◆ The legend

A one-legged yokai of Obamine Pass, deep in the mountains of Kumano. People told of snowy mountain trails where a line of single, one-legged footprints went on and on.

The curious thing is that it appears on only one day a year: December 20. That day was called "Hate no Hatsuka," the Last Twentieth, an unlucky day when people never crossed the pass. Flip that around, and it does nothing for the other 364 days. Hiding in the mountains all year for its one big appearance — what a dutiful yokai. One theory says it comes from the image of a tatara smith who injured a leg at the forge.