Umibōzu is a giant, black, human-like being and is the figure of a yōkai from Japanese folklore. Little is known of the origin of umibōzu but it is a mythical sea-spirit creature and as such has multiple sightings throughout Japan. Normally, umibōzu appears to sailors on calm seas which quickly turn tumultuous. It either breaks the ship on emergence or demands a bucket or barrel from the sailors and proceeds to drown them. The only safe way to escape an umibōzu is to give it a bottomless barrel and sail away while it is confused. They appear and disappear in the oceans, often at night, and it is thought that they would suddenly appear on what was previously a calm sea surface as a giant’s black bōzu head and destroy ships. They are often a few meters (yards) to a few tens of meters (yards) in length, so they are seen as quite large, but there are also tales about relatively small ones. Like funayūrei, there are often many tales that seem to be about hallucinations, and often the difference between them is not clear. They would say “lend me a ladle,” and sometimes the funayūrei that come to sink ships are considered the same as umibōzu. However, unlike the funayūrei who come with stormy weather, umibōzu sometimes appear at seas with no abnormalities (and in this case, once the umibōzu was seen, the weather would start getting stormy), so it’s pointed out that these could be things that do exist but were misinterpreted. Some examples of things that could have been misinterpreted include sea organisms, cumulonimbus clouds, big waves, and other natural phenomena. Also, umibōzu would often come in swarms as naked bōzu-like beings and attack ships, and they would do things such as cling on to the hull and scull as well as put out the basket fire. It is said that they would sometimes let out a voice saying “yaa yaa” while swimming, and when hit with the scull would let out shrieks of “aitata”. Their weakness is tobacco smoke, and it is said that if one is unlucky enough to encounter one, having one of those ready can lead to being saved.
Alias Umibōzu (海坊主)
Real Names/Alt Names “Sea priest”; Alt: Umihōshi (海法師), Uminyūdō (海入道)
Description Umibōzu is a giant, black, human-like being and is the figure of a yōkai from Japanese folklore. Little is known of the origin of umibōzu but it is a mythical sea-spirit creature and as such has multiple sightings throughout Japan. Normally, umibōzu appears to sailors on calm seas which quickly turn tumultuous. It either breaks the ship on emergence or demands a bucket or barrel from the sailors and proceeds to drown them. The only safe way to escape an umibōzu is to give it a bottomless barrel and sail away while it is confused. They appear and disappear in the oceans, often at night, and it is thought that they would suddenly appear on what was previously a calm sea surface as a giant’s black bōzu head and destroy ships. They are often a few meters (yards) to a few tens of meters (yards) in length, so they are seen as quite large, but there are also tales about relatively small ones. Like funayūrei, there are often many tales that seem to be about hallucinations, and often the difference between them is not clear. They would say “lend me a ladle,” and sometimes the funayūrei that come to sink ships are considered the same as umibōzu. However, unlike the funayūrei who come with stormy weather, umibōzu sometimes appear at seas with no abnormalities (and in this case, once the umibōzu was seen, the weather would start getting stormy), so it’s pointed out that these could be things that do exist but were misinterpreted. Some examples of things that could have been misinterpreted include sea organisms, cumulonimbus clouds, big waves, and other natural phenomena. Also, umibōzu would often come in swarms as naked bōzu-like beings and attack ships, and they would do things such as cling on to the hull and scull as well as put out the basket fire. It is said that they would sometimes let out a voice saying “yaa yaa” while swimming, and when hit with the scull would let out shrieks of “aitata”. Their weakness is tobacco smoke, and it is said that if one is unlucky enough to encounter one, having one of those ready can lead to being saved.
