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and are a class of yōkai, preternatural creatures in Japanese folklore. Literally, the terms mean ''a thing that changes'', referring to a state of transformation or shapeshifting. These words are often translated as ''ghost'', but primarily they refer to living things or supernatural beings who have taken on a temporary transformation, and these ''bakemono'' are distinct from the spirits of the dead.〔Mayer p. 89〕 However, as a secondary usage, the term ''obake'' can be a synonym for ''yūrei'', the ghost of a deceased human being.〔''Daijirin'' and ''Daijisen'' definitions of ''obake''.〕 A ''bakemono's'' true form may be an animal such as a fox (''kitsune''), a raccoon dog (''tanuki''), a badger (''mujina''), a transforming cat (''bakeneko''), the spirit of a plant—such as a ''kodama'', or an inanimate object which may possess a soul in Shinto and other animistic traditions. ''Obake'' derived from household objects are often called ''tsukumogami''. A ''bakemono'' usually either disguises itself as a human or appears in a strange or terrifying form such as a ''hitotsume-kozō'', an ''ōnyūdō'', or a ''noppera-bō''. In common usage, any bizarre apparition can be referred to as a ''bakemono'' or an ''obake'' whether or not it is believed to have some other form, making the terms roughly synonymous with ''yōkai''.〔''Daijirin'' and ''Daijisen'' dictionary definitions.〕 ==In Hawaii== Due to the influence of a sizable Japanese immigrant population on the islands of Hawaii, the term ''obake'' has found its way into the pidgin vocabulary of the local people. Some Japanese stories concerning these creatures have found their way into local culture in Hawaii: numerous sightings of ''kappa'' have been reported on the islands, and the Japanese faceless ghosts called ''noppera-bō'' have also become well known in Hawaii under the name ''mujina''. This name confusion seems to have stemmed from a story by Lafcadio Hearn titled "Mujina", a story about a badger (mujina) which takes the form of a noppera-bō, rather than being one itself, which first introduced the faceless ghost to the Western world. Hawaiian folklorist Glen Grant was known for his ''Obake Files'', a series of reports he developed about supernatural incidents in Hawaii. The grand bulk of these incidents and reports were of Japanese origin or concerned obake.〔Grant〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Obake」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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