Zashiki

The zashikiwarashi is a Japanese child spirit that’s supposed to bring good luck, and it’s supposedly been caught on video!

The zashikiwarashi is a popular yokai, or supernatural spirit, that appears in folk legend with origins in the Tohoku area, particularly in Iwate Prefecture. What’s interesting about these mythical beings is that they’re not considered a scary type of ghost. Instead, they take the form of a child, usually appear to be about five or six years of age — hence their name, which literally means “parlor child” in Japanese — and are thought to bring good fortune to the family if one of them takes up residence in your house. While they may like to play a bit of mischief with inhabitants of the home they choose to “live” in, they’re essentially considered to be spirits of good luck. In fact, it’s said that just seeing a zashikiwarashi can be a fortuitous sign.

Well, that’s all in the realm of folktales and legends, or at least that’s what we thought until now. We’ve recently come across footage shared by Facebook user Masahiro Ito, who claims he has captured one of the legendary spirits on video.

As they say, a picture is worth a hundred words, so here’s the video, which was captioned “Succeeded in recording a zashikiwarashi on video! Those of you who see this will be lucky … maybe.”

Okay, so it’s not exactly a shining example of video journalism, but it’s a bit of good fun and, besides, it’s supposed to bring you luck! With tickets for the huge end-of-the-year takarakuji lotto now being sold across Japan, we know that plenty of people in the country will fervently be wishing for good fortune to come their way!

At least we now know what we can expect a zashikiwarashi to look like if we ever happen to come across one in Northern Japan. Oh, and if you do meet any of these yokai, just make sure not to offend it, because if a zashikiwarashi is unhappy with how it’s treated and decides to leave a home it’s been occupying, it can bring grave misfortune on the household. Here’s hoping the video brings luck and happiness yourself!

Source: Facebook/ Masahiro Ito via grape
Photo: Facebook/ Masahiro Ito