In Japan, Yokai is a wide category of monsters, ghosts, and other supernatural beings of Japanese myth. From the malevolent to the mischievous, or occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them yokai range diversely. Yokai possess animal features often, which looks similar to a turtle, or the tengu, which has wings), yet others appear mostly human-like kuchisake-onna. As inanimate objects, some Yokai look, while others have no discernible shape. Yokai is a combination of the characters 妖 (yō) attractive, bewitching, calamity, and 怪 (kai) mystery, wonder.

With a foundation in the folk religions of isolated tribes living on the Japanese isles, Japanese folklore is an amalgamation of different traditions. By Shinto and later Buddhism, These traditions were modified, incorporating elements from Chinese and Indian folklore as well. There was an unprecedented flourishing of culture and art in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868). From the all over Japan Ghost stories and stories about monsters and strange phenomena experienced a huge surge in popularity. It is not simply the Japanese word for a demon, as is sometimes believed. With shapeshifting being one of the most common, Yōkai usually has a spiritual supernatural power. Yōkai usually has a spiritual supernatural power Japanese folklorists and historians use yōkai. In Japanese folklore, there is a wide variety of yōkai. yōkai is a broad term, in general, and can be used to encompass virtually all monsters and supernatural beings, even including creatures from European folklore on occasion. From fine art to high theater, from aristocratic ghost story-telling parties to low-class bawdlery, and so on, it quickly expanded into every aspect of Japanese culture.

When Japan rapidly modernized its society and culture, Yokai fell out of popularity during the Meiji restoration. As a relic of a superstitious and embarrassing past, they were all but abandoned. Manga artist Shigeru Mizuki rediscovered their charm and re-introduced them to a modern Japan after World War II. GeGeGe no Kitaro, his comic series, caused a second explosion of interest in the supernatural. The influence of yokai today can again be seen in all aspects of Japanese culture, from manga and anime to video games, brand labels, and even on the Japanese currency. The Hyakki Yagyo Zu was one of the oldest examples of yokai art, a 16th-century scroll that portrayed a pandemonium of Japanese monsters.

Through the work of 18th-century printmaker Toriyama Sekien, he formed the basis for Japan's first definitive encyclopedia of yokai characters. Sekien was able to mass-produce yokai illustrations in his catalogs of the monster parade, using the newly developed technologies of woodblock printing. Spirit-like entities called (among other things) Mononoke were believed to reside in all things, according to Japanese ideas of animism. For converting ara-mitama into nigi-mitama the ritual was called the chinkon ("the calming of the spirits"). To quell maleficent spirits, prevent misfortune, and alleviate fear from events and circumstances that could not otherwise be explained Chinkon rituals were performed.