Bakeneko (Tottori)

Bakeneko ("ghost cat") is an entity of a long-kept household cat that gains preternatural power, walks on two feet, speaks human language, dances, and disguises itself as people. The notion is rooted in the Edo idea that "an old thing becomes a strange thing," and cases such as the Nabeshima ghost-cat affair of Saga gave the figure broad Edo-period currency. Tsurezuregusa, chapter 89 (early 14th century) "in the deep mountains there is a thing called nekomata" is the old textual layer. Toriyama Sekien's Gazu Hyakki Yagyo, yo no maki (1776) carries the "Nekomata" image, and the boundary between bakeneko and nekomata blurred from the Edo period. The kaidan collections Mimibukuro and Kasshi Yawa (late 18th to early 19th century) and the kabuki plays Hitori Tabi Gojusan Tsugi and Nabeshima Neko Sodo dramatize the figure. Murakami Kenji's Nihon Yokai Daijiten (Kadokawa, 2005) and the International Research Center for Japanese Studies Yokai Folklore Database systematize the tradition; the Tottori and Shimane San'in ranges connect with mountain-cat lore.