Creatures image

This list of mythical creatures that begin with this letter and I am constantly gathering information from each continent, and is continually being updated.

return

Bakeneko (Japanese)

The bakeneko ("changed cat") is a type of Japanese y?kai, or supernatural entity; more specifically, it is a kaibyo, or supernatural cat. It is often confused with the nekomata, another cat-like yokai. The distinction between them is often ambiguous, but the largest difference is that the nekomata has two tails, while the bakeneko has only one. One folk belief about the bakeneko is that they lick lamp oil.

In the Edo period encyclopedia Wakan Sansai Zue, it is said that a cat licking this oil is an omen of an impending strange event. People in the early modern period used cheap fish oils in lamps, e.g. sardine oil; that could explain cats wanting to lick them. Also, at that time the Japanese diet was based on grains and vegetables, and while the leftovers were fed to the cats, as carnivores, the cats would have lacked for protein and fat and therefore been even more attracted to lamp oils.