Time for eight more!
Sho-Oni is an Oni created from a Sho, a type of Japanese woodwind. You can listen to it here: https://ccrma.stanfo...dwinds/sho.html
So, here's the thing. this is an Oni with a long-nosed Tengu face, bird wings, a monkey body, and a Shakujo staff. And despite that, what it REALLY is... is a living whistle.
It's two for one! Waniguchi and Mokugyo!
Waniguchi is a gong that, upon gaining sentience, grows an alligator body. Yes, indeed. Andflying above him is a living Mokugyo, i.e. a Wooden Fish. Wooden fish are fixtures in Buddhist temples - they used to look like fish, but nowadays most are round. It is a type of drum made of hollowed-out wood that almost sounds like a bell.
This fellow here is named Kutsu. See those black and green things on the side of his head? Those are shoes.
Kutsu is a shoe ghost. He is the shoes.
Meet Straw and Stick! Well, Bakezori and Umatokage. A Bakezori is actually a pretty traditional ghost - a straw sandal come to life. Most Bakezori look just like a sandal with little limbs, a single eye, and sometimes a tongue. This guy is clearly economy size, as he's got a full body! You can see the sandal's thong on his head, though. Umatokage, despite its name meaning "lizard horse," is actually something we are all familair with - a stick horse. You know, a stuffed horse head on a stick. This one includes the front of the body, and has turned more lifelike, but make no mistake - you can see the stick in its back. The straw sandal rides a stick horse.
This is Dobyoushi, a spirit created when a pair of cymbals is left unattended for too long. As you can probably tell, it is a very noisy ghost. Never abandon a musical instrument.
This next one is another twofer - I am going to take a picture showing both in the same frame soon.
The Buddha zombie with hanging eyes is Nuribotoke... and just what it sounds like. A grotesque undead abomination, Nuribotoke looks like a buddha, either pale or with blackened skin, and with eyes that dangle out from its sockets. Sometimes they have catfish tails. Usually they rise when a shrine has been poorly-maintained. Nuribotoke attack people, but they have also been known to disguise themselves as the Buddha and lead worshippers astray with false prophecies.
The little bird is a Torikabuto - which literally means bird hat. Its head is a type of fancy hat used for ceremonial dances, and the bird aspects are a pun! There is actually another layer of pun here, as torikabuto is also the name of the Aconite flower (which is shaped like that hat). Aconite is poisonous, so of course it's associated with a dangerous ghost!
it's another twofer, this one with a surprise. The dancing thing is a living Hossu - see its head? A hossu is a horsehair (or tassle, or feather) fly swatter used by Buddhist priests. So of course, it sprouts a body and dances.
But do you also see that other monster? The worm-snake with Mick Jagger lips? Well, that Yokai was adapted from a recent horror movie, Teito Monogatari (Anime fans might recognize one of its many adaptations as Doomed Megalopolis). Shinto's aniist philosophy allows for spirits, monsters, ghosts, and demons to form from newer concepts - if something is scary enough in the zeitgeist, it can become a Yokai (see also the split-faced woman for a ghost based on modern surgical/dust masks). So, what is this little worm?
A chest burster.
From Alien.
Turned into a ghost.
WELL!
