Tsukumogami

• Japanese: 付喪神 or 九十九神 (tsukumogami)

Tsukumogami are the animated objects of Japanese folklore. Their awareness comes from either great age, or bitterness at being thrown away unceremoniously. There are many types of tsukumogami, as in folk belief virtually any object has the potential to attain consciousness. Often appearing in hyakki yakô emaki, they are usually depicted as having human, animal or monstrous limbs growing from object bodies, or else as human bodies with objects as their heads.

A brief sampling of tsukumogami:

• Bakezôri, straw sandals
• Biwa-yanagi or Biwa-buruburu, biwa (a type of Japanese lute)
• Chochin-obake, paper lanterns
• Kameosa, sake jars
• Karakasa-obake, umbrellas
• Mokumokuren, paper walls
• Ungaikyô, mirrors
• Shirôneri, mosquito netting or other draping cloth
• Waniguchi, a type of gong used in temples

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