Fun & Games with the Zashiki-warashi

​Earlier this year I spent an inordinate amount of time researching Japanese folklore for background information for a science fiction novel I was writing. Readers… the novel was put out of its misery at the 20,000 words make but the research lives so in this post we head to Japan for an encounter with the Zashiki-warashi, one of those yokai supernatural/elemental spirits and entities that are so popular in both traditional and contemporary Japanese folklore.

The name zashiki-warashi translates into English as ‘parlor child’ and is used to describe a type of protective household spirit who brings good luck to the home. It is widely believed families with a zashiki-warashi living with them will prosper, whereas the departure of a zashiki-warashi is a sign that bad things are about to befall that family. Indeed some Japanese folklorists suggest zashiki-warashi originally evolved as a way traditional communities explained the changing fortunes of families, and homes, as well as the movement of wealth in villages.

Accounts describe zashiki-warashi as looking like children (ranging from about three years to 15 years in age) — some are clearly girls, others are boys but there are also tales of some of a distinctly androgynous nature. They have bob haircuts or in a short, spikey style. Female zashiki wear predominantly red kimonos, whereas the males wear robes…