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words for monster... differences?
Link | by Nekorin on 2009-06-15 06:13:50
What are the differences between:

Youma, kaibutsu, bakemono, and kaiju? They all translate as monster. What are the subtleties?

Re: words for monster... differences?
Link | by mewarmo990 on 2009-07-05 22:52:37
They can all mean a monster or abomination depending on the conteext, but generally it's easier to understand depending on how well you understand kanji.

妖魔（ようま） - refers to more of a ghost or apparition, really. The first kanji means "bewitching" while the second one is used to refer to witches, demons, etc.
怪物（かいぶつ） - borrowed straight from Chinese, this one does mean monster. The first character is related to strangeness, suspicion, or mystery, and the second one has a number of uses but in this case it refers to a creature.
化け物、化物（ばけもの） - this one is a general word for 'monster' as well . The first character refers to something that can change or transform (in short, abnormal) while the second character is the same meaning as the one in 'kaibutsu" despite being in kunyomi (Japanese pronunciation).
怪獣（かいじゅう） - the first character "kai" is the same as in "kaibutsu." The second character means animal or beast.

You may have noticed that most of them refer to strangeness, mystery, or generally straying from the norm. I suspect this has something to do with the Japanese culture which stresses harmony and conformity; abnormality has taken on a negative connotation leading to its use in the etymology of "monster'.

Maka here is an wonderful example of why it's a bad idea to home school your children. Maybe also a good example of why inbreeding is a bad idea, although the paternity test has not been done to say for sure. -Gendou

Re: words for monster... differences?
Link | by Bonta_kun on 2009-07-06 07:41:57
interesting. the first kanji of bakemono kinda resembles hana = flower. then again the flower does go into some sort of transformation as it blooms.

Re: words for monster... differences?
Link | by on 2009-07-06 09:44:44
wow thx mewarmo990
now i little understand about this words ^^


Re: words for monster... differences?
Link | by Nekorin on 2009-07-09 05:25:59
The YOU in youma means bewitching? The monsters in Sailor Moon were called youma, I wonder if that word was chosen because of their tendency to posess, knockout, or use illusions to fool the minor characters...

Thank you very much for helping to break that down.

Which word would you use if you wanted to call a person a monster, as in a person whose cruelty would classify them as inhuman, without being supernatural? (Or do they not use that insult in Japanese? But I think they do...)

Re: words for monster... differences?
Link | by seraphna on 2009-07-09 07:48:13 (edited 2009-07-09 07:52:56)
Like in most mythologies, monsters have varied differences and abilities, and often have common names between them. Remember from various cultures they each had their own legends and stories of varied creatures, it's where we get Dwarves, Elves, Demons, Dragons, etc from today for modern fantasy stories.

The Romans and Greeks had the Minotaur, the Medusa, Gorgon, Leviathan, Centaur, Cerebus and many others, the Norse had Elves and Dwarves, Gnomes and Giants, as well as many others, this holds true for Japanese Mythology, and even moreso, Oni have many forms and personalities, some good, some bad, some silly and weird. It all depends on what you look at.

A

* Abumi-guchi - a furry creature formed from the stirrup of a mounted military commander.
* Abura-akago - an infant ghost who licks the oil out of andon lamps.
* Abura-bō - a spook fire from Shiga Prefecture, in which the shape of a monk can often be seen.
* Abura-sumashi - a spirit who lives on a mountain pass in Kumamoto Prefecture.
* Akabeko - a red cow involved in the construction of Enzō-ji in Yanaizu, Fukushima.
* Akamataa - a snake spirit from Okinawa.
* Akaname - the spirit who licks the bathroom.
* Akanbei - a humanoid yokai who always has one drooping eye.
* Akashita - a creature that looms in a black cloud over a floodgate.
* Akateko - a red hand dangling out of a tree.
* Akki - another name for a wicked oni.
* Akkorokamui - an Ainu monster resembling a fish or octopus.
* Akuma - an evil spirit.
* Akurojin-no-hi - a ghostly fire from Mie Prefecture.
* Amaburakosagi - ritual disciplinary demon from Shikoku.
* Amamehagi - ritual disciplinary demon from Hokuriku.
* Amanojaku - a small demon that instigates people into wickedness.
* Amanozako - a monstrous goddess mentioned in the Kujiki.
* Amazake-babaa - an old woman who asks for sweet sake and brings disease.
* Amefurikozō - a little boy spirit who plays in the rain.
* Amemasu - an Ainu creature resembling a fish or whale.
* Ameonna - a female rain spirit.
* Amikiri - the net-cutting spirit.
* Amorōnagu - a tennyo from the island of Amami Ōshima.
* Anmo - ritual disciplinary demon from Iwate Prefecture.
* Aoandon - the spirit of the blue paper lantern.
* Aobōzu - the blue monk who kidnaps children.
* Aonyōbō - a female ghost who lurks in an abandoned imperial palace.
* Aosaginohi - a luminescent heron.
* Asobibi - a spook fire from Kōchi Prefecture.
* Arikura-no-baba - an old woman with magical powers.
* Ashiaraiyashiki(足洗邸) - the story of a huge demon that demands that its leg be washed.
* Ashimagari - a spook which entangles the legs of travelers.
* Ashinagatenaga - a pair of characters, one with long legs and the other with long arms.
* Ato-oi-kozō - an invisible spirit that follows people.
* Ayakashi - another name for the ikuchi.
* Ayakashi-no-ayashibi - a spook fire from Ishikawa Prefecture.
* Azukiarai - a spirit that makes the sound of azuki beans being washed.
* Azukibabaa - azukiarai's more vicious cousin, a bean-grinding hag who devours people.
* Azukitogi - another name for azukiarai.

B

* Betobeto-san - an invisible spirit that follows people at night, making the sound of footsteps.
* Bake-kujira - a ghost whale.
* Bakeneko - a shapeshifting cat.
* Bakezōri - a sandal spirit.
* Baku - an auspicious beast who can devour nightmares.
* Basan - a large fire-breathing chicken monster.
* Binbōgami - the spirit of poverty.
* Biwa-bokuboku - the spirit of a biwa lute.
* Buruburu - a spirit that causes the shivers.
* Byakko - the white tiger of the west.

C

* Cho Hakkai - Zhu Bajie, the pig spirit from Journey to the West.
* Chōchinobake - a haunted paper lantern.
* Chōkōzetsu - a man with a large tongue sticking out of his mouth, like a Chōchinobake.

D

* Daidarabotchi - a giant responsible for creating many geographical features in Japan.
* Daitengu - the most powerful tengu, each of whom lives on a separate mountain.
* Datsue-ba - an old woman seated in the underworld who steals clothes from the souls of the dead.
* Dodomeki - the ghost of a pickpocket, her arms are covered in eyes.
* Doji - a spirit with white wings, accounted in European mythology as being like an angel.
* Dorotabō - the ghost of an old man whose rice fields were neglected and sold.
* Dozaemon - a yokai who resembles a kappa.

E

* Enenra - a monster made of smoke.
* Enkō - the kappa of Shikoku and western Honshū.
* Eritate-goromo - the tengu Sōjōbō's enchanted clothes.

F

* FÅ«jin - the god of wind.
* Funayūrei - ghosts of people dead at sea.
* Futakuchi-onna - the two-mouthed woman.

G

* Gagoze - a demon who attacked young priests at Gangō-ji temple.
* Gaki - the hungry ghosts of Buddhism.
* Gangi-kozō - a fish-eating water-monster.
* Garappa - a kind of kappa from Kyūshū.
* Gashadokuro - a giant skeleton, the spirit of the unburied dead.
* Genbu - the black tortoise of the north.
* Goryō - vengeful spirits of the dead.
* Gotokuneko - a cat Yōkai who can breath fire from a cut shoot of bamboo. His name means "Cat of Five Virtues".
* Guhin - another name for the tengu.
* Gyūki - another name for the ushi-oni, the ox demon.

H

* Hakutaku - the wise Bai Ze beast of China, who reported on the attributes of demons.
* Hakuzōsu - a fox who disguised himself as a trapper's uncle.
* Hannya - a noh mask representing a jealous female demon.
* Harionago - a female monster with deadly barbed hair.
* Hayatarō - the dog that killed the sarugami.
* Heikegani - crabs with human-faced shells, the spirits of the warriors killed in the Battle of Dan-no-ura.
* Hibagon - the Japanese Bigfoot.
* Hiderigami - the god of drought.
* Hihi - a baboon monster.
* Hitodama - a fireball-ghost that appears when someone dies.
* Hitotsume-kozō - a one-eyed boy.
* Hoji - the wicked spirit of Tamamo-no-Mae.
* Hōkō - a dog-like tree spirit from China.
* Hone-onna - a skeleton woman.
* Hō-ō - the legendary Fenghuang bird of China.
* Hotoke - a deceased person.
* Hyakki Yakō - the demons' night parade.
* Hyakume - a creature with a hundred eyes.
* Hyōsube - a kind of hair-covered kappa.
* Hyōtan-kozō - a gourd spirit.

I

* Ibaraki-dōji - the oni of the Rashomon gate, Shuten-dōji's accomplice.
* Ichimoku-nyūdō - a one-eyed kappa from Sado Island.
* Ikazuchi-no-Kami - a thunder god.
* Ikiryō - essentially a living ghost, as it is a living person's soul outside of their body.
* Ikuchi - a sea-serpent that travels over boats in an arc while dripping oil.
* Inugami - a dog-spirit created, worshipped and employed by a family via sorcery.
* Ippon-datara - a one-legged spirit of the mountains.
* Isonade - a fish-like sea monster with a barb-covered tail.
* Itsumaden - a monstrous bird that appeared over the capital in the Taiheiki.
* Ittan-momen - a cloth-like monster that attempts to smother people by wrapping itself around their faces.
* Iwana-bōzu - a char that appeared as a Buddhist monk.

J

* Jakotsu-babaa - an old woman who guards a snake mound.
* Jatai - an obi that has transformed into a snake.
* Jibakurei 地縛霊, 自縛霊 - a ghost that is bound to a certain place.
* Jikininki - ghosts that eat human corpses.
* Jinmenju - a tree with human-faced fruits.
* Jinmenken - a human-faced dog appearing in recent urban legends.
* Jishin-namazu - the giant catfish that causes earthquakes and tsunami, blamed during the Ansei quake & tsunami. Here and Here
* Jorōgumo - a spider woman.
* Jubokko - a vampire tree.

K

* Kage-onna - the shadow of a woman cast on the paper doors of a haunted house.
* Kahaku 河伯 - another name for a kappa.
* Kamaitachi - the slashing sickle-weasel that haunts the mountains.
* Kamikiri - the hair-cutting spirit.
* Kameosa - a bottle that never runs dry.
* Kanbari-nyūdō - a bathroom spirit.
* Kanedama - the spirit of money.
* Kappa - a famous water monster with a water-filled head and a love of cucumbers.
* Karasu-tengu - a tengu with a bird's bill.
* Kasa-obake - a paper umbrella monster.
* Kasha - a cat-like demon that descends from the sky and carries away corpses.
* Kashanbo - kappa who climb into the mountains for the winter.
* Katawa-guruma - a woman riding on a flaming wheel.
* Katsura-otoko - a handsome man from the moon.
* Kawa-akago - an infant monster that lurks near rivers and drowns people.
* Kawa-uso - a supernatural river otter.
* Kawa-zaru - a smelly, cowardly kappa-like creature.
* Keneō - an old man seated in the underworld who weighs the clothes given to him by Datsue-ba.
* Kerakera-onna - a giant cackling woman who appears in the sky.
* Kesaran-pasaran - a mysterious white fluffy creature.
* Keukegen - a creature made of hair.
* Kibagurui - a nasty creature with sharp teeth, and can pull his entire body together to form a giant floating, fanged mouth.
* Kijimunaa - a tree sprite from Okinawa.
* Kijo - a witch or ogress.
* Kirin - the Qilin of China, part dragon and part hoofed mammal, sometimes called the "Chinese unicorn".
* Kitsune - a supernatural fox.
* Kitsune-Tsuki - fox possession.
* Kiyohime - a woman who transformed into a serpent-demon out of the rage of unrequited love.
* Kodama - a spirit that lives in a tree.
* Kokakuchō - the ubume bird.
* Koma-inu - another name for the shishi, the pair of lion-dogs that guard the entrances of temples.
* Konaki-jijī - an infant spirit that cries until it is picked up, then increases its weight and crushes its victim.
* Konoha-tengu - a bird-like tengu.
* Koropokkuru - a little person from Ainu folklore.
* Kosode-no-te - a short-sleeved kimono with its own hands.
* Kubikajiri - a ghost that eats heads.
* Kuchisake-onna - the slit-mouthed woman.
* Kuda-gitsune - a small fox-like animal used in sorcery.
* Kudan - a human-faced calf that predicts a calamity and then dies.
* Kurabokko - the guardian spirit of a warehouse.
* Kurage-no-hinotama - a jellyfish that floats through the air as a fireball.
* Kyōkotsu - the ghost of a corpse discarded in a well.
* Kyūbi-no-kitsune - a fox with nine tails.
* Kyūketsuki - a Japanese vampire.

M

* Maikubi - the quarreling heads of three dead miscreants.
* Makura-gaeshi - the pillow-moving spirit.
* Mekurabe - the multiplying skulls that menaced Taira no Kiyomori in his courtyard.
* Miage-nyūdō - a spirit that grows as fast as you can look up at it.
* Mikoshi-nyūdō - another name for miage-nyūdō.
* Mizuchi - a dangerous water-dragon.
* Mokumokuren - a swarm of eyes that appear on a paper sliding door in an old building.
* Momonjii - an old-man who is waiting for you at every fork in the road.
* Morinji-no-kama - another name for Bunbuku Chagama, the tanuki teakettle.
* Mōryō - a long-eared, corpse-eating spirit.
* Mujina - a shapeshifting badger.
* Mukujara - a massive, faceless creature covered in hair.
* Myōbu - a title sometimes given to a fox.

N

* Namahage - ritual disciplinary demon from the Oga Peninsula.
* Namazu - a giant catfish that causes earthquakes.
* Nando-baba - an old-woman spirit who hides under the floor in abandoned storerooms.
* Narikama - a kettle spirit whose ringing sound is a good omen.
* Nebutori - a spook-disease that causes a woman to grow immensely fat and lethargic.
* Nekomata - a bakeneko with a split tail.
* Nekomusume - a cat in the form of a girl.
* Nikusui - a monster that appears as a young woman and sucks all of the flesh off of its victim's body.
* Ningyo - a fish person or "mermaid".
* Nobusuma - a supernatural wall, or a monstrous flying squirrel.
* Noppera-bō - a faceless ghost.
* Notari-bō - a very small humanoid yōkai.
* Nowake-baba - an old crone that can blow strong gusts of wind.
* Nozuchi - Another name for the tsuchinoko serpent.
* Nue - a monkey-headed, raccoon dog-bodied, tiger-legged, snake-tailed monster which plagued the emperor with nightmares in the Heike Monogatari.
* Nukekubi - a vicious human-like monster whose head detaches from its body, often confused with the rokurokubi.
* Nuppefuhofu - an animated lump of decaying human flesh.
* Nure-onna - a female snake-like monster who appears on the shore.
* Nuribotoke - an animated corpse with blackened flesh and dangling eyeballs.
* Nurikabe - a ghostly wall that traps a traveler at night.
* Nurarihyon - a strange character who sneaks into houses on busy evenings.
* Nyoijizai - a skeletal-looking spirit that does as they please. Able to stretch their arms great lengths.
* Nyūbachibō - a mortar spirit.

O

* Obariyon - a spook that rides piggyback on a human victim and becomes unbearably heavy.
* Oboro-guruma - a ghostly oxcart with the face of its driver.
* Ohaguro-bettari - a female spook lacking all facial features save for a large, black-toothed smile.
* Oiwa - the ghost of a woman with a distorted face who was murdered by her husband.
* Okiku - the plate-counting ghost of a servant girl.
* ÅŒkamuro - a giant face that appears at the door.
* ÅŒkubi - the face of a huge woman which appears in the sky.
* Okuri-inu - a dog or wolf that follows travelers at night, similar to the Black dog or Barghest of English folklore.
* ÅŒmukade - a giant human-eating centipede that lives in the mountains.
* Oni - the classic Japanese demon, an ogre-like creature which often has horns.
* Onibaba - the demon hag.
* Onibi - a spook fire.
* Onikuma - a monster bear.
* Onmoraki - a bird-demon created from the spirits of freshly-dead corpses.
* Onryō - a vengeful ghost.
* Otoroshi - a hairy creature that perches on the gates to shrines and temples.

R

* Raijin - the god of thunder.
* Raijū - a beast that falls to earth in a lightning bolt.
* Rokurobei - a male Rokurokubi.
* Rokurokubi - a person, usually female, whose neck can stretch indefinitely.
* Ryū - the Japanese dragon.

S

* Sakabashira - a haunted pillar, installed upside-down.
* Sagari - a horse's head that dangles from trees on Kyūshū.
* Sa Gojō - the water-monster Sha Wujing from Journey to the West, often interpreted in Japan as a kappa.
* Samebito - a shark-man from the undersea Dragon Palace.
* Sarugami - a wicked monkey spirit which was defeated by a dog.
* Satori - an ape-like creature that can read minds.
* Sazae-oni - a turban snail that turns into a woman.
* Seiryū - the azure dragon of the east.
* Seko - a kind of kappa, that can be heard making merry at night.
* Senpoku-Kanpoku - a human-faced frog that guides the souls of the newly deceased to the graveyard.
* Sesshō-seki - the poisonous "killing stones" which Tamamo-no-Mae transformed into.
* Setotaishō - a warrior composed of discarded earthenware.
* Shachihoko - a tiger-headed fish whose image is often used in architecture.
* Shibaten - a kind of kappa from Shikoku.
* Shikigami - a spirit summoned to do the bidding of an Onmyōji.
* Shiki-ōji - another name for a shikigami.
* Shikome - wild women sent by Izanami to harm Izanagi.
* Shin 蜃 - a giant clam that creates mirages.
* Shinigami - the "god of death", the Japanese Grim Reaper.
* Shirime - (尻目) an apparition in the shape of a man having an eye in the place of his anus.
* Shiro-bōzu - a white, faceless spirit.
* Shiro-uneri - an old, rotten dishcloth appearing in the form of a dragon.
* Shiryō - the spirit of a dead person.
* Shisa - the Okinawan version of the shishi.
* Shishi - the paired lion-dogs that guard the entrances of temples.
* Shōjō - red-haired sea-sprites who love alcohol.
* Shōkera - a creature that peers in through skylights.
* Shōki - the fabled demon-queller Zhong Kui.
* Shu no Bon - a red-faced ghoul that surprises people.
* Shuten-dōji - an infamous princess-kidnapping, bloodthirsty oni.
* Sodehiki-kozō - an invisible spirit that pulls on sleeves.
* Sōjōbō - the famous daitengu of Mount Kurama.
* Sōgenbi - the fiery ghost of an oil-stealing monk.
* Son Gokū - the monkey king Sun Wukong from Journey to the West.
* Soragami - a ritual disciplinary demon in the form of a tengu.
* Soraki-gaeshi - the sound of trees being cut down, when later none seem to have been cut.
* Sorobanbōzu - a ghost with an abacus.
* Sōtangitsune - a famous fox from Kyoto.
* Sunakake-baba - the sand-throwing hag.
* Sunekosuri - a small dog- or cat-like creature that rubs against a person's legs at night
* Suppon-no-yūrei - a ghost with a face like a soft-shelled turtle.
* Suzaku - the vermilion bird of the south.

T

* Taimatsumaru - a tengu surrounded in demon fire.
* Taka-onna - a female spirit that can stretch itself to peer into the second story of a building.
* Tamamo-no-Mae - a wicked nine-tailed fox who appeared as a courtesan.
* Tankororin - an unharvested persimmon which becomes a monster.
* Tantanbō - a massive stone head with glowing eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. His saliva can turn anything into stone.
* Tanuki - a shapeshifting raccoon dog.
* Tatami-tataki - a poltergeist that hits the tatami mats at night.
* Tengu - the infamous bird-man demon of the mountains.
* Tenjōname - the ceiling-licking spirit.
* Tennin - a heavenly being.
* Te-no-me - the ghost of a blind man, with his eyes on his hands.
* Tesso - the ghost of the priest Raigō, who transformed into a swarm of rats.
* Tōfu-kozō - a spirit child carrying a block of tofu.
* Toire no Hanako-san - a ghost who lurks in grade school restroom stalls.
* Tōtetsu - the Taotie monster of China.
* Tsurara-onna - an icicle woman.
* Tsuchigumo - a giant spider that was defeated by Minamoto no Raikō.
* Tsuchikorobi - a tumbling monster that rolls over travelers.
* Tsuchinoko - a legendary serpentine monster, now a cryptid resembling a fat snake.
* Tsukumogami - inanimate objects that come to life after a hundred years.
* Tsurube-otoshi - a monster that drops out of the tops of trees.

U

* Ubume - the spirit of a woman who died in childbirth.
* Uma-no-ashi - a horse's leg that dangles from a tree and kicks passersby.
* Umibōzu - a giant monster appearing on the surface of the sea.
* Umi-nyōbō - a female sea monster who steals fish.
* Ungaikyō - a mirror monster that can display assorted wonders in its surface.
* Ushi-oni - a name given to an assortment of ox-headed monsters.
* Uwan - a spirit named for the sound it shouts when surprising people.

W

* Wani - a water monster comparable to an alligator or crocodile. A related word has been applied to the Indo-Pacific or Saltwater crocodile.
* Wanyūdō - a flaming wheel with a man's head in the center, that sucks out the soul of anyone who sees it.

Y

* Yagyō-san - a demon who rides through the night on a headless horse.
* Yakubyō-gami - spirits who bring plagues and other unfortunate events.
* Yadōkai - monks who have turned to mischief.
* Yamaarashi - a supernatural porcupine.
* Yama-biko - a creature that creates echoes.
* Yama-bito - the wild people who live in the mountains.
* Yama-chichi - a mountain spirit resembling a monkey.
* Yama-inu - the fearsome mountain dog.
* Yama-jijii - a humanoid with a head like a large rock, with one eyeball and a constant smile. Often lives in the trees in the mountains.
* Yama-otoko - the giant mountain man.
* Yama-oroshi - a radish-grater spirit, a pun on a word for "mountain storm".
* Yamata no Orochi - the eight-headed serpent slain by the god Susanoo.
* Yama-uba - the mountain hag.
* Yama-waro - a hairy, one-eyed spirit, sometimes considered a kappa who has gone into the mountains for the winter.
* Yanari - poltergeists that cause strange noises.
* Yatagarasu - the three-legged crow of Amaterasu.
* Yato-no-kami - deadly snake-gods which infested a field.
* Yobuko - Mountain dwelling spirit.
* Yomotsu-shikome - the hags of the underworld.
* Yōsei - the Japanese word for "fairy".
* Yosuzume - a mysterious bird that sings at night, sometimes indicating that the okuri-inu is near.
* Yukinko - a child-like snow-spirit.
* Yuki-onna - the snow woman.

Z

* Zashiki-warashi - a protective child-like house spirit.
* Zennyo Ryūō - a rain-making dragon.
* Zunbera-bō - another name for the noppera-bō.

Notably I haven't gone into the Dragons, Dragon-Gods, or most of the deities in the mythos, just the yōkai, obake, yūrei and other unclassified monsters.

Re: words for monster... differences?
Link | by Nekorin on 2009-07-09 13:54:48
That's an impressive list! I like the idea of a ghost whale...

Re: words for monster... differences?
Link | by mewarmo990 on 2009-08-17 18:56:14
Hahahaha, wow, where did you pull that list from?

@Nekorin:
That's correct, but I was unsure about giving it such a precise meaning as "bewitching." Generally, you just have to take the context of all of those words as referring to witches, demons, monsters, etc.

@darkzero999:
The kanji in 化け物 that reminds you of "hana" has nothing to do with flowers. In Chinese, 化 and 花 have very similar pronunciations that only differ by tone, and the 'grass' radical (think like a Latin or Greek root word) has been added to the second kanji to give it a plant-related meaning. Such characters are referred to as "semantic-phonetic", but that's a bit beyond the scope of this thread.

Maka here is an wonderful example of why it's a bad idea to home school your children. Maybe also a good example of why inbreeding is a bad idea, although the paternity test has not been done to say for sure. -Gendou

Re: words for monster... differences?
Link | by positiveangel on 2023-04-29 04:09:39
Shikigami, Shirime, and Shibaten are the best positive words that start with S in Japanese. Well, they may not be so positive for others, but I love them! :) Oh, and Suzaku! :)

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