Folklore
Yokai, lucky charms, maneki-neko, daruma dolls and unlucky years.
79 entriesTap a title to open the full entry: three lengths of English explanation, the questions people actually ask, ready-made phrases and audio.
Essential（16）
- ConceptsEssential otentosama ga miteiruお天道様が見ているthe sun is watching you
- ConceptsEssential nanakorobi yaoki七転び八起きfall seven times, get up eight
- ConceptsEssential bachi ga ataru罰が当たるdivine or karmic punishment for wrongdoing
- FolkloreEssential omikujiおみくじfortune slips at shrines
- FolkloreEssential teru teru bozuてるてる坊主a little white doll hung by the window to wish for sunny weather
- FolkloreEssential Urashima Taro浦島太郎the fisherman who spends three days under the sea and returns three hundred years later
- FolkloreEssential engi縁起whether something is considered lucky or unlucky
- FolkloreEssential enmusubi縁結びmatchmaking, or bringing people together through fate
- FolkloreEssential eto干支the twelve-year cycle of zodiac animals
- FolkloreEssential shi to kyu o sakeru四と九を避けるunlucky numbers in Japan
- FolkloreEssential maneki neko招き猫the beckoning cat
- FolkloreEssential senbazuru千羽鶴a thousand folded cranes, given as a wish for recovery or peace
- FolkloreEssential Momotaro桃太郎the boy born from a peach who goes to fight demons
- FolkloreEssential nihon no mukashibanashi日本の昔話the handful of stories every Japanese child grows up knowing
- Seasons & NatureEssential tsubame no suツバメの巣the swallow nests built above shop entrances every spring
- ShintoEssential omamoriお守りa protective charm from a shrine or temple
Standard（46）
- BuddhismStandard gokuraku and jigoku極楽と地獄the Pure Land and the hells in Japanese Buddhism
- BuddhismStandard enma閻魔the king of the underworld who judges the dead
- CraftsStandard Shigarakiyaki no tanuki信楽焼のたぬきthe ceramic raccoon dog statues from Shigaraki, often placed at shop entrances
- Annual EventsStandard kanto matsuri竿燈まつりthe Akita festival of lantern poles balanced on one hand
- Annual EventsStandard tanabata七夕the star festival
- Annual EventsStandard shoryo uma精霊馬the cucumber horse and eggplant cow made for Obon
- Annual EventsStandard setsubun節分the bean-throwing festival at the start of spring
- Annual EventsStandard tori no ichi酉の市the November rake market for good business
- Annual EventsStandard rokuyo六曜the six-day luck cycle on calendars
- FolkloreStandard amabieアマビエa mermaid-like yokai said to protect people from epidemics
- FolkloreStandard Kaguya-himeかぐや姫the girl found in a bamboo stalk who returns to the moon
- FolkloreStandard kushami wa dareka no uwasaくしゃみは誰かの噂the belief that sneezing means someone is talking about you
- FolkloreStandard kokkuri-sanこっくりさんa coin-and-paper fortune-telling game often compared to a Japanese Ouija board
- FolkloreStandard darumaだるまthe round wish doll with no eyes
- FolkloreStandard nopperaboのっぺらぼうa faceless ghost
- FolkloreStandard rokurokubiろくろ首a yokai whose neck stretches or whose head detaches at night
- FolkloreStandard hitotsume kozo一つ目小僧a one-eyed boy ghost
- FolkloreStandard ichifuji nitaka sannasubi一富士二鷹三茄子the traditional ranking of lucky first-dream images: Mount Fuji, a hawk, an eggplant
- FolkloreStandard kappa河童river spirits with a dish on the head
- FolkloreStandard kaidan怪談Japanese ghost stories
- FolkloreStandard oni鬼the horned ogre of Japanese folklore
- FolkloreStandard kanashibari金縛りsleep paralysis, the feeling of being awake but unable to move
- FolkloreStandard ketsuekigata seikaku shindan血液型性格診断judging character by blood type
- FolkloreStandard kitsune to Inari狐と稲荷why shrines are guarded by foxes
- FolkloreStandard kitsune no yomeiri狐の嫁入りthe fox's wedding, a Japanese name for rain that falls while the sun is shining
- FolkloreStandard kuchisake-onna口裂け女the slit-mouthed woman, Japan's most famous modern urban legend
- FolkloreStandard yamanba山姥a mountain witch from Japanese folk tales
- FolkloreStandard shijukunichi to rei四十九日と霊why the soul is thought to linger for forty-nine days before its fate is settled
- FolkloreStandard teso手相Japanese palm reading
- FolkloreStandard morishio盛り塩the small cone of salt placed at an entrance
- FolkloreStandard chabashira ga tatsu茶柱が立つa tea stem standing upright in your cup, a small good-luck sign
- FolkloreStandard tsuru to kame鶴と亀symbols of long life
- FolkloreStandard tengu天狗long-nosed mountain spirits
- FolkloreStandard nekomata猫又a cat said to grow a forked tail and supernatural powers after living unusually long
- FolkloreStandard hamaya破魔矢the arrow you buy at New Year
- FolkloreStandard kitamakura北枕sleeping with your head to the north, a direction linked with death
- FolkloreStandard yume-uranai夢占いJapanese dream divination
- FolkloreStandard yoru ni tsume o kitte wa ikenai夜に爪を切ってはいけないthe superstition that you should not cut your nails at night
- FolkloreStandard yoru no kuchibue夜の口笛the superstition that whistling at night calls snakes
- FolkloreStandard yokai妖怪Japanese supernatural creatures
- FolkloreStandard kaminarisama to oheso雷様とおへそthe saying that the thunder god will steal your belly button if you leave it uncovered
- FolkloreStandard ryu龍the East Asian dragon
- FolkloreStandard reikyusha o mitara oyayubi o kakusu霊柩車を見たら親指を隠すthe superstition that you should tuck your thumbs into your fists when a hearse goes by
- FolkloreStandard baku獏a legendary creature said to eat bad dreams
- Pop CultureStandard hanafuda花札the flower card game
- School LifeStandard daini botan第二ボタンthe second button of a school uniform jacket, given away on graduation day
Advanced（17）
- Annual EventsAdvanced hatsuyume初夢the first dream of the year, and what it is said to foretell
- FolkloreAdvanced kamaitachiかまいたちa weasel spirit said to cut people with sickle-like claws
- FolkloreAdvanced nurarihyonぬらりひょんan old yokai who slips into houses and makes himself at home
- FolkloreAdvanced nurikabeぬりかべan invisible wall yokai that blocks your way at night
- FolkloreAdvanced ittan momen一反木綿a flying strip of cotton cloth from Japanese ghost stories
- FolkloreAdvanced onmyodo陰陽道the court's system of divination and calendar making
- FolkloreAdvanced ushimitsu doki丑三つ時the dead of night, around two in the morning, when spirits were said to appear
- FolkloreAdvanced botan doro牡丹灯籠The Peony Lantern, a famous Japanese ghost story
- FolkloreAdvanced bakedanuki化け狸the shape-shifting raccoon dog
- FolkloreAdvanced kimon鬼門the unlucky northeast direction
- FolkloreAdvanced kumade熊手the lucky rake for raking in business
- FolkloreAdvanced zashiki warashi座敷童子the child spirit of the house
- FolkloreAdvanced shichifukujin七福神the seven lucky gods
- FolkloreAdvanced yuki-onna雪女the snow woman
- FolkloreAdvanced tsukumogami付喪神objects that come alive with age
- FolkloreAdvanced kaso方位と家相lucky and unlucky directions in a house
- FolkloreAdvanced yakudoshi厄年the unlucky years of your life