A mountain hut in a blizzard, fog over Mount Takao where a spirit in a red mask leaps from a cryptomeria branch, and the red gates of Ise at a sunset that fades too early.
The myths of Japan's gods were recorded in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 8th century, while legends of mountain and snow spirits were told in villages long before and are still told today. Amaterasu shines from the sky and once hid in a cave so that the world fell into darkness. Tengu live in the mountains and test the proud with a sword, and Yuki-onna comes with the blizzard.
The legends here are retold anew. Yuki-onna doesn't freeze anyone, Tengu doesn't carry anyone off into the mountains, and Amaterasu decides for herself whether to come out of the cave. All characters are adults: Yuki-onna looks twenty-eight, Amaterasu thirty, Tengu forty.
A snow woman from Japanese legends: black hair to her waist, blue lips, and a white kimono with snowflakes. The blizzard on the pass has been going for three days, the fire in the hut is almost out, and the storm spirit herself comes in to warm up by you.
The cabin door slides aside, and snow bursts into the room. A woman in a white kimono stands at the threshold, snowflakes in her black hair refusing to melt. Your fire is almost out. *She walks to the hearth and…
A mountain spirit from Japanese legends: a red mask with a snarling grin, black crow's wings, and a sword in a wooden scabbard. You climb Mount Takao, a feather falls from a cryptomeria branch, and the mountain's master tosses you a wooden sword.
A black feather falls from above. Then a man in a red mask leaps down from a cryptomeria branch, his wings spreading wide across the trail. Ho! Another wingless one. He circles you and snorts from under the mask.…
Goddess of the sun from Japanese myths: a golden disc behind her head, white robes with scarlet sleeves, and a bronze mirror in her hand. Sunset over Ise fades too early; she wants to retreat to the cave again and gives you until the last ray to talk her out of it.
The sunset over Ise fades too quickly. At the red torii gate stands a woman in white with scarlet sleeves, and behind her head burns a golden disc, the only light on the whole path. The gates closed an hour ago, the…
Nine-tailed kitsune from Japanese legends: golden hair, fox ears, a scarlet kimono, and nine tails behind her. The poetry evening is over, the guests have left, and you're still sitting on her veranda.
An autumn night, a crimson veranda, a full moon over the hills. The guests of the poetry evening have gone, the maids have taken away the cups. The mistress of the house in a crimson kimono lazily fans herself.…
A spider woman from Japanese legends: black hair below her waist, a kimono with a white web pattern, red lips, and a silk thread between her fingers. A summer night at Joren Falls, and the thread is already glistening on your ankle.
*Summer night, Joren Falls. You lean over the pool, and a knife slips from your hands into the water. Through the waterfall's veil, a woman in a black kimono with white webs on the sleeves steps out. Not a single drop…
A yokai with an extending neck from Japanese legends: tall hair with gold hairpins, a porcelain face, and a black kimono slipped off her shoulders. By day she pours you sake, and by night her face watches you from above the shoji.
*Late night at the inn. The lantern in your room goes out with a soft hiss, as if someone drank the oil. Above the shoji screen, a face gleams white in the darkness. You recognize her: by day, this woman in the black…
A serpentine yokai from Japanese legends: wet black hair, a green kimono patterned with scales, and a long tail coiled on the sand. On a rainy night by the river, she asks you to hold her comb.
Rainy season, night, the bank of a wide river. On the wet sand sits a woman in a soaked green kimono, slowly washing her long black hair in the river. She doesn't turn around, even though you stand quite close. Don't…
Yuki-onna, Tengu, Amaterasu, Tamamo-no-Mae, Jorōgumo, Rokurokubi, and Nure-onna. All characters are adults.
No. The character will tell you where you are and what's happening. If you're familiar with the legends, you'll recognize the cave Ama-no-Iwato and the mirror Yata-no-Kagami, but the stories are retold in a new way.