#apencilyokaiaday

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A tragic fairy tale! From the #yokaitober list, it’s Tsuru Nyobo. The Crane Wife!

I haven’t seen this story get counted amongst yokai much but I have seen it in many collections of fairy tales from around the world. I’d like to think that she’s fairly well known because of that but then again, when people think of fairly tales they rarely seem to think of anything besides the Brothers Grimm.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkNKHD4LKN5/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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The ghost with no legs! From the #yokaitober list, it’s Teke Teke! Teke Teke is named for the sound she makes as she runs on her hands. The closest thing English has to that sound might be “pitter patter” which is way too cute a name for a monster name and probably the reason we don't name monsters after sound effects here. #apencilyokaiaday #AYokaiADay #yokai #instaart #pencil #pencildrawing #teketeke #urbanlegend #japaneseurbanlegend https://www.instagram.com/p/CkZZ5VjPlfy/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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So many eyes! From the #yokaitober list it’s Dodomeki! It’s not part of the lore but I’ve had this idea for a while that if you want to see ghosts and stuff you can trade your eyes with the Dodomeki. She certainly has plenty to spare. Didn’t use the background I’ve been using for my other #AYokaiADay posts because I didn’t feel it was necessary to cut this one up. #apencilyokaiaday #AYokaiADay #yokai #instaart #pencil #pencildrawing #dodomeki #manyeyes #Ommetaphobia https://www.instagram.com/p/CkQDtF0uZ-N/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Buddhist bird men! From the #uncannytober list, it’s the Karasu Tengu! I love tengu! Tengu are one of my favorite yokai! …I am terrible at drawing them. Unfortunately for me, the prompt specified KARASU tengu. Long noses are much easier to draw than beaks. #apencilyokaiaday #AYokaiADay #yokaitober #yokai #instaart #pencil #pencildrawing #tengu #karasutengu https://www.instagram.com/p/CkKuKgquR29/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Human faces can make anything scary! From the #uncannytober list, It’s #jinmengyo! A trick of the light can create the illusion of a koi having a human face which is likely where this legend came from. There’s also a similar tale of cat-faced fish. There once was a cat that wanted to eat koi so badly that she prayed to become a fish so that she could swim after them and catch them more easily. Her wish was granted but once she got in the water she had so much fun being a fish that she forgot all about eating fish and just enjoyed being one. Aww. And on some nights she sprouts long legs and wanders around outside of the water. Aww. #apencilyokaiaday #AYokaiADay #yokai #instaart #pencil #pencildrawing #fish #humanfacefish #returntofish https://www.instagram.com/p/CkHo2MtrX0y/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Jovial shapeshifting canine (and not raccoon!) From the #yokaitober list, it’s the #tanuki! I wrote the sake kanji on the jar from memory and I got pretty close to what it should look like. The little lines on the left side should be angled differently and the bottom one should be longer. Drew the name in colored pencil this time to mix things up. (And also because I have more colored pencils to use up than markers.) I drew it backwards on one side of a paper then colored it on the other to keep it clean without spending a ton of time on clean up. #apencilyokaiaday #uncannytober #AYokaiADay #yokai #instaart #pencil #pencildrawing #raccoondog https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj6ahakvouW/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Spirit of fortune! From the #uncannytober list, it’s #ZashikiWarashi! One of my favorite yokai! The Zashiki Warashi brings great wealth and fortune to the residence it haunts but when it leaves it takes all that fortune with it. This doesn’t just cause the residence to become unlucky in finance or whatever, it causes some thing catastrophic to happen- like the family eating poison mushrooms and dying. I’ve always wondered if it has any control over the misfortune it leaves behind #apencilyokaiaday #AYokaiADay #yokaitober #yokai #instaart #pencil #pencildrawing https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj6X7uFP95d/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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From the #yokaitober list! It’s torakoishi! Seems this little dude got really popular recently despite only appearing in one print. It doesn’t have a story of it’s own because it’s just a pun based on sacred rock. I based the round one on Kotora, one of the unused pokemon that were leaked a few years back. (Fingers crossed that it or any of the other leaked pokemon appear in Scarlet and Violet. I don’t even have a switch, I just want Gamefreak to admit to their mistake) #apencilyokaiaday #AYokaiADay #yokaitober #yokai #instaart #pencil #pencildrawing #torako #torakoishi https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj2CgpKO4gf/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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From the #uncannytober list! The most legendary of Japanese urban legends! It’s Kuchisake Onna! Forgive me for making you look like a Simpsons character, Kuchiko. I swear it was an accident. 🙇‍♀️ #apencilyokaiaday #AYokaiADay #uncannytober #yokai #instaart #pencil #pencildrawing #kuchisakeonna #kuchisake #urbanlegend #japaneseurbanlegend https://www.instagram.com/p/CjuAGdMLBzj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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The first yokai I drew for my “A Pencil Yokai A Day” self challenge comes from the #uncannytober list. It’s Umi Bozu! This was inspired by that scene in It’s Grinch Night. If you’ve seen It’s Grinch Night you know exactly what I’m talking about. #apencilyokaiaday #AYokaiADay #uncannytober #yokai #seamonster #umibozu #instaart #pencil #pencildrawing https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjt8HbqrWsL/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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version is “urban legend”. A Call from Mary-San is the story of a doll named Mary that stalks the young girl who left her behind after a move. One day the young girl gets a call out of the blue that says, “I’m Mary! I’m at the old house!” then hangs up. In the time it takes for the girl to think “what was that about?” she gets another call. “I’m Mary! I’m at the corner store!” And it hangs up again. The story continues like this. Again the girl is baffled and again she gets another call. And again it’s someone claiming to be Mary at a new location. Then they hang up then call again after only a few seconds from a new location. As the calls continue, the girl notices that the locations are landmarks between her old house and new house. Each one getting closer and closer until finally… “I’m Mary. I’m right behind you.” To learn more I recommend looking up the video about her by @TaraaDevlin on YouTube. She also has a series of books on Japanese Urban Legends called Toshiden you can buy. #apencilyokaiaday #AYokaiADay #yokaitober #yokai #instaart #pencil #pencildrawing #marysan #creepydoll #haunteddoll #spooky #urbanlegend #japaneseurbanlegend https://www.instagram.com/p/CkH0mvnL1re/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Legendary storytelling monster! From the #yokaitober list, it’s #Hakutaku! This guy originated from China but still gets counted as a Japanese yokai. I think it was because Toriyama Sekien included him in one of his yokai bestiaries. But really a lot of yokai have their roots in China anyway. #apencilyokaiaday #AYokaiADay #uncannytober #yokai #instaart #pencil #pencildrawing #chinesemonster #Chinesemyth https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj6eAhKvoNG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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The gangsters of the kappa world! From the #yokaitober list it’s Suiko! Suiko are said to be child-sized like regular kappa but alternatively they’re also said to be bigger than the average kappa. So I split the difference by giving it the body shape of Gian from Doraemon. #apencilyokaiaday #AYokaiADay #yokai #instaart #pencil #pencildrawing #suiko #kappa https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj6dHz-v7wg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=