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''Rokurokubi'' (ろくろ首, 轆轤首) is a type of Japanese ''
yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and Spirit (supernatural entity) , spirits in Japanese folklore. The kanji representation of the word comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply ...
'' (apparition). They look almost completely like humans with some differences. There is a type whose neck stretches and another whose head detaches and flies around freely (''nukekubi''). The ''Rokurokubi'' appear in classical ''
kaidan is a Japanese language, Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (''kai'') meaning "strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition" and 談 (''dan'') meaning "talk" or "recited narrative". Overall meaning and usage In its broadest sense ...
'' (spirit tales) and in ''
yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and Spirit (supernatural entity) , spirits in Japanese folklore. The kanji representation of the word comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply ...
'' works.


Etymology

The word ''rokurokubi'' may have derived from the word ''rokuro'' which refers to a
potter's wheel In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping (known as throwing) of clay into round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during the process of trimming excess clay from leather-hard dried ware that is stiff but malleable, ...
, a
water well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
's
pulley Sheave without a rope A pulley is a wheel on an axle or shaft enabling a taut cable or belt passing over the wheel to move and change direction, or transfer power between itself and a shaft. A pulley may have a groove or grooves between flan ...
(since it elongates) Yahoo Japan, ヤフー株式会社 Accessed 22 January 2008. or an
umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used when protec ...
handle (which also elongates).


Head flight

The nukekubi are rokurokubi whose heads come off and float about. These were the last of the rokurokubi whereas the other kind came before. Nukekubi sometimes perform bad deeds such as attacking at night and drinking their victims' blood. It is theorized that the nukekubi has a weakness when it is sleeping and the head is floating around: if the body moves, then the head cannot be re-united to the body. Classical literature about rokurokubi describe tales of people witnessing and encountering floating heads at night time. Sometimes, the action of the head separating from the body is seen as the soul wandering away from the body, i.e. somnambulism. For example, in the ''Sorori Monogatari'' (曾呂利物語, 1663 CE), in the chapter ''A Woman's Wild Thoughts Wandering Around'' (女の妄念迷ひ歩く事, ''Onna no Mōnen Mayoiaruku Koto'') the head separating from the body interpreted to be the woman's soul wandering while asleep. In the same book, a man saw a nukekubi that changed into a chick and a woman's head, so he took his sword and chased the head. The head fled into a home and people said that they heard a voice from inside say, "I had a scary dream. I was chased by a man with a sword. I ran away all the way back home and then I woke up." (refer to picture). A different story appears in Shokoku Hyaku Monogatari (諸国百物語, 1677 CE) which drew a lot of inspiration from the Sorori Monogatari. In ''About Rokurokubi in the Province of Echizen'' (ゑちぜんの国府中ろくろ首の事, ''Echizen no Kuni Fuchū Rokurokubi no Koto''), there is a story of a man who chases a nukekubi (who was a woman's soul detached from her body) all the way home. It is said that the woman had been shamed by a crime she has committed, so as a result, she left her husband, shaved her hair, and committed suicide. ''Hokusō Sadan'' (北窻瑣談, 1910 CE) is an
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
essay by Tachibana Nankei (橘春暉). Here too, it was interpreted to be an illness resulting in a detaching soul. The story goes: in the first year of
Kansei was a after '' Tenmei'' and before '' Kyōwa''. This period spanned the years from January 1789 through February 1801. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1789 : The new era name of '' Kansei'' (meaning "Tolerant Government" or "Broad- ...
, in
Echigo Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen Province, Uzen, Iwashiro Province, Iwashiro, Kōzuke Province, Kōzuke, Shinano Province, Shinano, and Etchū Province, ...
(now
Fukui Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 737,229 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,190 Square kilometre, km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture border ...
), there was a house maidservant whose head rolled off the pillow while she was asleep, detached from the body. Later in the story, it was explained that it was not really the head, but rather the soul making the appearance of a head. In ''Kokon Hyaku Monogatari Hyōban'' (古今百物語評判, 1686 CE), a book of ghost stories that explains yōkai tales by Yamaoka Genrin, there is a chapter called ''How Priest Zetsugan saw Rokurokubi in Higo'' (絶岸和尚肥後にて轆轤首を見給ふ事, ''Zetsugan Oshō Higo nite Rokurokubi wo Mitamou Koto''). In
Higo Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces. History The cas ...
(now
Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...
), the head of an innkeeper's wife leaves her body and floats in the air. It returned to normal the next day, but there was a line around her neck. The author made references to examples from Chinese books and then commented "as these kinds of things were often seen in South-East Asia, not just limited to the creation of the heaven and earth, it is difficult to fathom them with ordinary common sense such as the idea that octopuses do not have eyes and as these things are unheard of in the capital, everything strange is in faraway lands." In the same book, there is a story which tells of a woman in the village of Tawa, Nagao, Ōkawa District,
Kagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, smallest prefecture by geographic area at . Kagawa Pr ...
(now Sanuki) who is a rokurokubi and has a ring-like bruise around her neck. In the ''Churyō Manroku'' (中陵漫録) is a tale which describes a "Rokurokubi Village" in the recesses of
Mount Yoshino is the general name for the mountain ridge that stretches from the south bank of the Yoshino River in the town of Yoshino central Nara Prefecture, Japan, to the Ōmine Mountains, stretching for about eight kilometers from north-to-south, or the ...
where all the residents, even children, wore scarves to cover a line around their necks. In the ''Kasshi Yawa'' (甲子夜話, c. 1821 CE) by
Matsura Seizan , born , was a ''daimyō'', essayist, and famed swordsman during the Edo period of Japan. Seizan was a practitioner of Iba Hideaki's Shingyōtō-ryū school of swordsmanship, in which Seizan was considered as an adept. Seizan adopted the name Jo ...
is a story which tells of a woman in
Hitachi Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of Ibaraki Prefecture.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Hitachi fudoki''" in . It was sometimes called . Hitachi Province bordered on Shimōsa Province, S ...
who has a terminal illness. A peddler has told her husband that the liver of a white dog will cure her. The husband kills the pet dog and gives his wife the dog's liver as a medicant. The woman is cured but her next-born daughter is a rokurokobi. When the rokurokubi's head detached and flew in the air, the white dog appeared, bit the head and killed the rokurokobi. Although rokurokubi and nukekubi are usually female, in ''Shousai Hikki'' (蕉斎筆記), an Edo period tale, there is a nukekubi that is male. A priest is sleeping in his temple when a head appeared and approached his chest. He grabs it and throws it away and it left. In the morning, the manservant asks to take leave and when asked why, the manservant asks, "did a head come visit last night?" The priest answered yes, the manservant then explained that "I have the nukekubi illness and I fear it will interfere with my work too much from now on." The manservant went away to his home in
Shimōsa Province was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture as well as the bordering parts of Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo (the parts that used to be located east of the lower reaches of the old Tone River prior to the ...
where this "illness" was thought to be common. In the essay ''Mimibukuro'' by Negishi Shizumori, a woman who was rumored to be a rokurokubi is married, but manages to live well since the rumor was nothing more than a rumor. She was not actually a rokurokubi, so she achieved a happy ending, which is unusual for tales about rokurokubi because bad fortune almost always results when the true identity of a rokurokubi is discovered. In the Edo period encyclopedia, ''
Wakan Sansai Zue The is an illustrated Japanese ''leishu'' encyclopedia published in 1712 in the Edo period. It consists of 105 volumes in 81 books. Its compiler was Terashima or Terajima Ryōan, Terajima (), a doctor from Osaka. It describes and illustrates va ...
'' Rokuokubi like creatures from Chinese lore are described. They are written as 飛頭蛮 meaning ''flying head barbarians''. They use their ears like wings and they eat insects. The ones from China and Japan were believed to be foreigners. The foreigner nukekubi also appears in ''
Rokurokubi ''Rokurokubi'' (ろくろ首, 轆轤首) is a type of Japanese ''yōkai'' (apparition). They look almost completely like humans with some differences. There is a type whose neck stretches and another whose head detaches and flies around freely ...
'' by
Lafcadio Hearn was a Greek-born Irish and Japanese writer, translator, and teacher who introduced the culture and literature of Japan to the Western world. His writings offered unprecedented insight into Japanese culture, especially his collections of legend ...
. In his story, the spirits masquerade as a family of woodcutters from the city who kill and eat travelers and mostly men.


Neck extension

Starting in the Edo period, tales were written about people's necks stretching when they were asleep. Examples of these tales are ''Buya Zokuda'' (武野俗談), ''Kanden Kōhitsu'' (閑田耕筆) and ''Yasō Kidan'' (夜窓鬼談). It is thought that the idea of an extending neck originated from people misinterpreting visual depictions of nukekubi, the earlier kind of rokurokubi. There was the idea that nukekubi had a string attaching the head to the body and when this string was depicted in visual depictions, people misinterpreted this string as an elongated neck. In the ''Kasshi Yawa'' (甲子夜話), there is a tale which tells of a female servant with a pale face who is suspected to be a rokurokubi. One night, her master checks on her while she is sleeping and sees something like steam gradually rise from her chest. The steam becomes thick and obscures her head and then suddenly it appears as though her neck has risen up and stretched. Perhaps due to being surprised from seeing her master, the girl stirs, turns over and her neck returned to normal. This servant had a pale face, but otherwise looked completely normal, but despite this, she was fired and in fact has had trouble staying in any job, always being fired shortly after being employed. For the soul to leave the body and create the shape of a neck, as seen in this story and the before mentioned Hokusō Sadan, is sometimes interpreted to be " ectoplasm" in
parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, teleportation, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry (paranormal), psychometry) and other paranormal cla ...
. In the late Edo period ''
yomihon is a type of Japanese book from the Edo period (1603–1867). Unlike other Japanese books of the periods, such as kusazōshi, they had few illustrations, and the emphasis was on the text. In storylines, Buddhist ethics such as karma are often pr ...
'' (illustrated novel), ''Rekkoku Kaidan Kikigaki Zōshi'' (列国怪談聞書帖) by
Jippensha Ikku was the pen name of Shigeta Sadakazu (重田 貞一), a Japanese writer active during the late Edo period of Japan. He was among the most prolific writers of the late Edo period — between 1795 and 1801 he wrote a minimum of twenty novel ...
the author suggests the elongated necks of rokurokubi originate in the spiritual principle, ''
karma Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...
''. In Ikku's work, ''Kaishin'', a monk from Enshū and a woman called Oyotsu elope together. However, when Oyotsu collapsed from an illness, they ran out of money, so he killed her. When Kaishin eventually returned to secular life, he slept with a girl he met at an inn. When they sleep together, the girl's neck stretched and her face becomes that of Oyotsu, who then told him about her resentment. Kaishin felt regretful of his actions and proceeded to tell Oyotsu's father everything. The girl's father then told Kaishin that he has also killed a woman before. He stole her money and with it, he opened his inn. He had a daughter soon after who, due to karma, became a rokurokubi. Kaishin then reentered the priesthood. He built a grave for Oyotsu, said to be the Rokurokubi no Tsuka (Rokurokubi Mound), which told the story to future generations. In some stories, rokurokubi are not a yōkai, but rather people who have an affliction that affects the body. For example, the Edo period author Ban Kōkei in his work "Kanden Kōhitsu" told a tale of a
geisha {{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha {{nihongo, Geisha{{efn, {{IPAc-en, lang, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ., ʃ, ə, {{IPA, ja, ɡei.ɕa, ɡeː-, lang{{cite book, script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典, publisher=NHK Publishing, editor= ...
at the
Yoshiwara was a famous ( red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1617, Yoshiwara was one of three licensed and well-known red-light districts created during the early 17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate, alongside Shim ...
brothel whose neck would elongate in her sleep. It stated that her neck stretched due to her "heart becoming loose".


Oral tradition

Rokurokobi also appear in the
oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...
of Japanese myths. For example, there is a myth about an old highway between the villages of Iwa and Akechi in
Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...
where it is said that a snake shapeshifted into a rokurokubi. Another example is a myth from the oral tradition of the Koikubo area of Iida,
Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...
where it is said a rokurokubi appeared in someone's home. In the
Bunka was a after '' Kyōwa'' and before ''Bunsei''. The period spanned the years from January 1804 to April 1818. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * February 11, 1804 (): The new era name of ''Bunka'' ( meaning "Culture" or "Civili ...
period, a
kaidan is a Japanese language, Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (''kai'') meaning "strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition" and 談 (''dan'') meaning "talk" or "recited narrative". Overall meaning and usage In its broadest sense ...
story became popular, where there was a prostitute whose neck would smoothly stretch and would lick the oil of paper lanterns when she slept with guests, showing how rokurokubi were spoken of as things that women would transform into or an illness that they would be afflicted with. In this period, rokurokubi were also popular in
freak show A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "Freak, freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual Human#Anatomy and physiology, humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, t ...
s. The ''Shohō Kenbunroku'' (諸方見聞録) records a freak show in 1810 (Bunka 7) in Edo, now
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
where a male rokurokubi with an elongated neck appeared. Tales of rokurokubi appeared even in the early
Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
. There was a tale of how a merchant and his wife from Shibaya town, Ibaraki,
Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...
who witnessed their daughter's neck stretch every night. Despite their supplications in
Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...
and
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, their daughter did not get better and eventually the whole town learned of it. The couple couldn't bear it anymore, so they left, leaving no clues as to where they went.


Magic shows

The rokurokubi is also a kind of Japanese
magic trick Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of close-up magic, parlor magic, and stage magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural me ...
using curtains and life-sized dolls without heads. It's reported that a doll without a head wearing a
kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn Garment collars in hanfu#Youren (right lapel), left side wrapped over ri ...
in
seiza '' Seiza '' ( or ; ; ) is the formal, traditional way of sitting in Japan. It involves a specific positioning and posture in a Kneeling, kneeled position so as to convey respect, particularly toward elders. It developed among samurai during t ...
is put in front of the curtain. There's a rope behind the curtain and a female performer connected to it who shows only her face. As she stands and squats, the fake neck would stretch and contract, as if it were a rokurokubi. Explanations and pictures about what's behind this trick were written in magazines of the
Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
(1800s), giving a date for how early these shows first appeared. This was a time period when mystery phenomena were vigorously exposed by the scientifically-minded, so for magic tricks to be revealed is fitting with the
zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' (; ; capitalized in German) is an invisible agent, force, or daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. The term is usually associated with Georg W. F ...
. In the Taishō period, there were businesses arranging rokurokubi to appear in show tents in festivals and fairs at temples and shrines and they were quite popular.


Similar tales from other nations

The type of rokurokubi whose necks separate from the rest of the body is said to have derived from stories of the Chinese yōkai, the '' hitōban'' (飛頭蛮) a yōkai whose head separates from the body and floats about. Like the rokurokobi, the hitoban has a line around its neck. Chinese stories also tell of a yōkai called a ''rakutō'' (落頭) whose head comes off and floats about while the torso remains at rest on the futon. There is a tale that in the
Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...
period, an
Eastern Wu Wu (Chinese language, Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China and one of the three major sta ...
general,
Zhu Huan Zhu Huan (177–238), courtesy name Xiumu, was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Although he started his career early under the warlord Sun Quan, he did not receive any important responsibil ...
employed a female servant who was a rakutō. It's said that she used its ears like wings. Another tale relates that in the Qin era, there was a clan from the south called ''rakutōmin'' (落頭民) who could fly around with only their heads. There are legends of creatures including Palasik, Kuyang, and
Leyak The ''Léyak'' ( Balinese: ᬮᬾᬬᬓ᭄) balinese In the folklore of Bali is a mythological figure in the form of a flying head with entrails (heart, lung, liver, etc.) still attached. ''Leyak'' are said to fly trying to find a pregnant wom ...
from Indonesia,
Penanggalan The ''penanggalan'' or ''penanggal'' is a nocturnal vampiric entity from Malay ghost myths. It takes the form of a floating disembodied woman's head, with its organs and entrails trailing from its neck. From afar, the ''penanggalan'' is said to ...
in Malaysia, and
Krasue The ''Krasue'' (, ) is a nocturnality, nocturnal female spirit of Southeast Asian folklore. It manifests as the floating, disembodied head of a woman, usually young and beautiful, with her organ (anatomy), internal organs still attached and tr ...
in Thailand. The heads of these creatures would separate from the body and float about with the
entrails The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The tract is the largest of the body's systems, after the cardiovascular system. T ...
attached. The
Chonchon The Chonchon ( from ), also known as the Tue-Tué, is a mythical creature found in Mapuche religion, as well as in the folk mythologies of Chile and southern Argentina. Legend According to Mapuche myth the flying head is the result of someon ...
is a mythical creature of South America which takes the form of a human head flying around in the air, sucking the life out of people. The ''
manananggal The ''manananggal'' () is a mythical creature in the Philippines that is able to separate its upper torso from the lower part of its body. Their fangs and wings give them a vampire-like appearance. Mythology The word ''manananggál'' is deri ...
'' is a creature of Philippines mythology. This female monster is slightly different since its whole body from the waist up detaches and grows giant bat-like wings. The yōkai researcher, Tada Katsumi states that these stories arrived in Japan in the
Muromachi The , also known as the , is a division of History of Japan, Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially establ ...
to Azuchi-Momoyama periods, when there was still trade with southern China and Southeast Asia. In the Edo period, when Japan adopted an isolationist policy an original Japanese yōkai, the ''rokurokubi'' evolved.


In popular culture

* The rokurokubi was cited as an inspiration for the design of The Teacher in '' Little Nightmares 2''. * Jimmy Jupiter meets an old woman resembling a rokurokubi, albeit caucasian, in his first appearance in ''
Marvel Mystery Comics ''Marvel Mystery Comics'' (first issue titled simply ''Marvel Comics'') is an American comic book series published during the 1930s–1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. It was the first publication of Mar ...
'' #28 (February 1942). * The ''
Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...
'' family of Misdreavus and Mismagius is based on the nukekubi. * In '' Hellboy: Sword of Storms'', Hellboy has encounters with both nukekubi and rokurokubi. * In the video game ''
Tomodachi Collection is a Japan-only 2009 social simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It was followed up by the sequels ''Tomodachi Life'' for the Nintendo 3DS and the upcoming '' Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream'' for the ...
'', a
Mii A Mii ( ) is a customizable avatar used by Nintendo on their video game consoles and mobile apps, first being introduced with the Wii console in 2006. Since their introduction, Miis have also appeared on the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, the Wii ...
can have a
dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...
where they are a rokurokubi, their neck extending when interacted with by the player. * Sekibanki, the stage 2 boss of Touhou 14: Double Dealing Character is a rokurokubi. However, her attacks also show the ability of a nukekubi's head to fly freely.


See also

*
Dullahan The Dullahan (Irish: Dubhlachan; dúlachán, ) is a type of legendary creature in Irish folklore. He is depicted as a Headless Horseman, headless rider on a black horse, or as a coachman, who carries his own head. As it is not widely describe ...
*
Nure-onna is a Japanese yōkai which resembles a reptilian creature with the head of a woman and the body of a snake. They are also seen as a paranormal phenomenon at sea under the name of nureyomejo. In legends, they are often said to consume humans, b ...


Notes


References

* * * * * * * {{Japanese folklore long Female legendary creatures Mythological hematophages Mythic humanoids Yōkai