No.043

Tsurube-otoshi

THE HEAD THAT DROPS FROM THE TREES

For reference: old artYamaoka Genrin (author), Yamaoka Motoyoshi (editor)（1686）
"Tsurube-oroshi of Nishioka" from Kokon Hyaku Monogatari Hyoban
Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

Japanese name: 釣瓶落とし（TSURUBEOTOSHI）
Type: Tree spirit
Found in: Big trees at the edge of a village, mountain paths at night

◆ The legend

Walk past a big tree at the edge of the village at night, and a huge head may come crashing down from the branches above. That is the tsurube-otoshi, the "dropping well bucket." It is said to get its name from the way it falls: straight down and fast, like a well bucket sliding down its rope. The head startles whoever is passing by, or grabs them and hauls them up into the tree, then slips back up into the branches again.

Tales of it are told in many places, including Kyoto, Shiga, and Gifu, and in some areas it is described not as a head but as something like a ball of fire. In pictures it is usually shown as a giant head and nothing more, its hair wild and tangled. Japan has another famous head yokai, the rokurokubi, but that one is a person whose neck stretches or whose head comes loose at night. The tsurube-otoshi is told of as the head itself, lurking up in the tree and dropping down from above.

◆ Stories about this yokai

October 25, 2026What Is a Tsurube? The Yokai Named After a Well BucketThe tsurube-otoshi is a yokai that drops from the treetops as a giant head. Its name comes from the tsurube, the bucket used to draw water from a well. A gentle look at how a well bucket works, an old saying about autumn sunsets, why a big tree makes a fitting home, and how it differs from the rokurokubi.