Iwana Manda Hugginkiss!

First of today's 妖怪 (yokai) is 貝ぶき坊 (Kaibu Kibou) who is a Conch-blowing Monk (with a conch as a proboscis)  from the mountains of 岡山県 (Okayama-Ken). I can't find much of anything about him on the net except that he likes to eat frogs.

This cutie is called  かわうそ (Kawauso) which is a mythical otter with magical powers who often disguises himself as a human. It is one of several creatures featured in a bestiary called 画図百鬼夜行 (Gazu Hyakki Yakō) showcasing the Ukiyoe art of 鳥山 石燕 (Toriyama Sekien ).

You oughtta check out this otter who has a robotic doppelgänger.



This guy is called いわな坊主 (Iwana Bouzu), a Char-Buddhist Monk who hails from 美濃・岐阜県 (Mino in Gifu-Prefecture).

Btw, a char is a relative of the salmon or trout, so here is a picture of an old tie of mine sporting a Rainbow Trout!

This video gets good at about the 4:55 moment, if you wanna FF to then.



This babe, 川赤子 (Kawa-Akago) is an infant monster that lurks near rivers and drowns people. Like most toddlers, this guy screams incessantly, wailing "オギャ!オギャ!" ("O-Gya!O-Gya!")

くらげの火の玉 (Kurage no Hi no Tama) is a jellyfish which floats through the air as a fireball! Cool!

 Because the above are in an aquatic vein, I thought I'd present the coolest sea serpent since Cecil, マンダ (Manda) from 海底軍艦 (Kaitei Gunkan or Undersea Warship=Atragon). I happen to own a copy of the dvd with its accompanying magazine and a few photos thereof.

Here is a Manda figure as well for your enjoyment. It'd probably be impossible to make, but wouldn't it make a nifty costume?

Perhaps one of these two characters from the movie would be easier. I don't think I could carry off the Mermaid, but that Frogman suit would be awesome!