Ashimagari

Ashimagari is a kaii reported on nighttime roads in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, wherein soft, cotton-like material allegedly wraps around a person's legs, making forward movement difficult. The entity itself remains unseen; victims attempt to kick it away but encounter no resistance. Though attributed to ancient tanuki mischief, the phenomenon causes little actual harm. It belongs to the tradition of tanuki-transformation kaii native to Sanuki (the historical name for Kagawa).

In representative legends, travelers walking at night feel something woolly and soft coiling around their legs, impeding their gait. Despite attempts to brush it away, there is no tactile feedback, and darkness obscures any visible form. Sanuki has long been rich in tanuki lore, and ashimagari is understood as one variety of mischief perpetrated by old tanuki spirits.

The phenomenon is documented in local historical materials from Kagawa Prefecture, in folkloristics research on Shikoku kaii by Yanagita Kunio and his peers, and in Kenshi Murakami's edited *Nihon Yōkai Daijiten* [Dictionary of Japanese Yokai] (Kadokawa Shoten, 2005). The International Research Center for Japanese Studies maintains records of ashimagari in its Kaii and Yōkai Legends Database.

Ashimagari shares folkloric ties with phenomena such as the snekosuri of Okayama and the okuri-inu and okuri-ōkami (escort dogs and wolves) found across Japan—all beings that attach themselves to travelers' legs. In Sanuki specifically, ashimagari is framed within tanuki mischief traditions, occupying a place alongside other local tanuki narratives such as the tales of the Yashima hairless tanuki and Tatsaburo tanuki.