While most Yōkai are traditional supernatural creatures with a distinctly rural character, there are some that reside in the cities. As in many countries the migration and urbanisation of a country led to the creation of several new monsters, the imagination breeding Yōkai for the new environment. In the later part of the twentieth century new rumours and monsters began to appear such as the Kuchi-sake Onna who terrified so many children in the 80’s and whom many people are still scared of today. A far more recent and benign apparition is the Chiisai Ojisan whose name literally translates into ‘tiny old man’ or ‘little uncle’.
This miniscule apparition has been popping up startling people as recently as 2009 though there were other vague stories before that. The tiny figure seems quite happy just to observe what is going on around him, popping up in people’s apartments and even in their showers. He has been known to interact with those he encounters, even asking a crying girl what the trouble was. It’s far from clear whether this is one individual Yōkai or an entire group of tiny little men, new theories are coming up all the time.
The illustration I did here is based on a recent manga series, Chiisai Oyaji Nikki, but instead of looking like a tiny salary man the Chiisai Ojisan is more commonly reported to be wearing a tiny green track suit. The kanji next to him say: ‘actual size’ but in fact most reports say this is closer:
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May30
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