Nobusuma (Tokyo)

Nobusuma is a beast-form entity said to fly through the night sky and attack people and lanterns. Toriyama Sekien's Gazu Hyakki Yagyo (Anei 5, 1776) records the figure with an illustration, and tradition treats it as an aged musasabi (giant flying squirrel) or momonga (Japanese dwarf flying squirrel). It is said to extinguish travelers' lanterns or to glide from a tree onto a person's face, covering it and draining breath or voice. Cases are told in the mountains around Hachioji, Tokyo, and in the Kanto range. Wakan Sansai Zue (Terashima Ryoan, 1712) places Nobusuma in its musasabi entry, placing the figure between Edo natural history and yokai. Murakami Kenji's Nihon Yokai Daijiten and the International Research Center for Japanese Studies Yokai Folklore Database organize the tradition; alternate forms include the variant spelling Yobusuma and a flying-bedding depiction.