Kamaitachi is a Japanese yōkai from the oral tradition of the Kōshin’etsu region. It can also refer to the strange events that this creature causes. They appear riding on dust devils and cut people using their sickle-like front claws, delivering sharp, painless wounds. The name is a combination of the words kama (sickle), and itachi (weasel).
| Alias Kamaitachi (鎌鼬) |
| Real Names/Alt Names “Sickle weasel” |
| Characteristics Yōkai, Enlightenment and Neoclassicism, Japanese |
| Creators/Key Contributors Toriyama Sekien, ○ |
| First Appearance Japanese folklore |
| First Publisher ○ |
| Appearance List Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (画図百鬼夜行, “The Illustrated Night Parade of a Hundred Demons” or The Illustrated Demon Horde’s Night Parade, 1776) Vol. 1 “Yin” |
| Sample Read Gazu Hyakki Yagyō Vol. 1 “Yin” (1776) [Smithsonian] |
| Description Kamaitachi is a Japanese yōkai from the oral tradition of the Kōshin’etsu region. It can also refer to the strange events that this creature causes. They appear riding on dust devils and cut people using their sickle-like front claws, delivering sharp, painless wounds. The name is a combination of the words kama (sickle), and itachi (weasel). |
| Source Kamaitachi – Wikipedia |

