Azuki Arai

Azuki Arai (bean-rinsing phenomenon) manifests as the sound of azuki beans being washed—described as 'grinding, crunching'—heard near rivers, streams, and bridge approaches. The entity typically remains unseen, announced only by its distinctive sound, making it a prominent example of a 'sound-based' strange phenomenon. Accounts span from Yamanashi and the Kōshinetsu region westward through central Japan and Kyushu, with regional variations depicting it as a young monk, a shaven-headed figure, or an elderly woman.

The phenomenon typically occurs at dusk and into the night. The conventional narrative has a listener stopping at a riverside or beneath a bridge to hear a chanting voice: 'Shall I take a person and eat them, or wash the beans?' When approached, the sound ceases and no figure appears—sometimes only scattered azuki beans remain on the water's surface or nearby stones. This pattern is documented extensively in upland settlements of Niigata and Gunma, southern Nagano, Wakasa in Fukui, Bitchu in Okayama, and northern Miyagi.

The phenomenon is illustrated in Toriyama Sekien's *Gazu Hyakkiyakō* (Picture Compendium of One Hundred Night Parade Demons, 1776) and also appears in *Ehon Hyaku Monogatari* (Illustrated Tales of One Hundred Stories). Folklorists including Yanagita Kunio (*Legends of Tōno: Supplement*), Sasaki Kizen (recording from Iwate and Miyagi), and Miyata Noboru (*Folkloristics of Yokai*) have compared related accounts. The National Institutes for the Humanities' 'Kaii and Yokai Folklore Database' systematically catalogues regional variant names.

Regional variants include the 'Azuki-grinding Old Woman' (Niigata and Sado), the 'Azuki-rinsing Young Monk' (Nagano), the 'Azuki-measuring' being (Miyagi and Fukushima), and the 'Rice-washing Woman' (Tokushima). Within the lineage of sound-based phenomena, related entities include 'Bet-bet-san' (a being marked only by footsteps) and the 'Laughing Fungus' (identified by its laughter).