This is a collection of photos that shows the specter of Japan.
YÅkai are a class of supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore. The word yÅkai is made up of the kanji for "otherworldly" and "weird". YÅkai range eclectically from the malevolent to the mischievous, or occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them. Often they possess animal features (such as the Kappa, which is similar to a turtle, or the Tengu which has wings), other times they can appear mostly human, some look like inanimate objects and others have no discernible shape. YÅkai usually have a spiritual supernatural power, with shapeshifting being one of the most common. YÅkai that have the ability to shapeshift are called obake.
Japanese folklorists and historians use yÅkai as "supernatural or unaccountable phenomena to their informants". In the Edo period, many artists, such as Toriyama Sekien, created yÅkai inspired by folklore or their own ideas, and in the present, several yÅkai created by them (e.g. Kameosa and Amikiri, see below) are wrongly considered as being of legendary origin.