Hello and welcome back to 13 Days of Otakutober. Today wed decided to take a small step away from anime and jump back into the realm of Nihongo Legends. And this time, I’m really excited for the yokai we’re going to be talking about. Known as the monster cat, or even the ghost cat to English speakers, the traditional name of this spirit, is the bakeneko.
The bakeneko, as one would only expect, looks like a cat. But the bakeneko can actually take many forms (but yes they all are still quintessential cat). Recently born Bakeneko look exactly like any other household cat, but as they age in their spiritual life and gain wisdom and power, they gain new abilities. Soon they can walk on their hindegs. And as their power grows, tney can get bigger and bigger–even reaching human sizes. But where exactly do bakenekos come from? The answer is surprisingly straightforward. Bakenekos come from regular old cats. Whether they are domestic, stray, or feral — cats who live an exceptionally long time eventually gain supernatural powers and become yokai. Once they are yokai, they gain more wisdom and spiritual power–soon they can talk like humans and even shapeshift. It was even said that the stronger they got, the longer their tails became. Long tails on regular housecats were also an easy way to predict which cats were close to becoming bakeneko. It was due to this rumor that people in Japan started cropping their cat’s tails at a young age–therefore ensuring they would never become yokai.
You might be asking at this point–are they really that threatening if they are just big housecats with spiritual energy? Well, yes and no. On one hand, bakeneko can be mischievous and mean-spirited — shapeshifting into their owners just to kill them — and setting fires by creating fireballs with their tails. On the other hand, they dress up like humans and tie towels around their head just to frolick and dance. And like any cat, their temperment will likely reflect how you treat them. If you treat them well, they will be content and happy, but if you treat them poorly, they can easily becoming resentful spirits who will destroy the property of, curse, and even kill their targets.
The bakeneko also appears in anime–and that’s primarily why I even looked into what a bakeneko was. There’s the bakeneko from Mononoke, which is the one that inspired this post, and also more recently a bakeneko in Black Torch. The main character’s companion is essentially a bakeneko that is called Rago. And honestly, he’s definitely the reason I watched Black Torch.
The bakeneko is such a well-loved yokai that there’s even a festival in Shinjuku dedicated to the creature. The Kagurazaka Bakeneko Festival is all about Bakeneko and features a parade where cat art, sculptures, and even people dressed in cat costumes,parade through the streets. The festival happens every October and it’s totally a dream of mine to go one day.
Thanks so much for joining us for day 9 of Otakutober! We’ll see you tomorrow for day 10!
AishteLOVEru
xoxo
Luna
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