Japanese Urban Legends

Bake-Neko

This urban legend is about a cute little cat... or at least that's what it is at first.

A Demon Cat, or a Bake-neko is a spiritual creature featured in much of Japanese folklore. It is an ordinary cat that was transformed into a yōkai. It is said that when a cat lives to an old age, it slowly begins to develop supernatural powers and becomes a Bake-neko. As their powers increase, they get larger and can grow to about the size of a full grown human.

The name it got, Bake-neko, means "Monster Cat" or "Transforming Cat". This is due to the superstition that these demonic cats can shapeshift and take the form of a human. Along with this ability, it is said to be able to walk on two legs and have enormous arms that reach through doorways. It can also steal the identities of humans. How does it do this? By devouring the human, and then shapeshifting into their victim afterwards. This leads many people to believe that you can be living among these monster felines without even knowing it.

It is also believed that an owner can have a Bake-neko without even knowing since they can look identical to normal house cats. This can cause the owner to be in great danger, because Bake-nekos can easily eat their owner and shapeshift into them, taking their identity.

It is not said that all cats can become Bake-nekos, and only certain cats do. Many of them can get their powers from curses or magic, but a natural Bake-neko is said to come from a cat living over 13 years, weighing over 8 pounds, and licking up large quantities lamp oil. The lamp oil is because people back then used to believe that you could tell if the cat was a Bake-neko if it licked oil from an oriental lamp. However, the cats at the time probably were attracted to the fish and sardine oil, which caused them to try licking it every now and then.

There is a famous story about a Bake-neko, called "The Devil Cat of Nabeshima". It goes like this:

One night, a prince was walking in the palace gardens with his favorite geisha, a beautiful girl named O Toyo. They chatted the time away, and admired the blooming flowers around them. Little did they know, a shadowy creature was watching them while they walked. It was a notorious Bake-neko, spying on the pair with crafty eyes.

When the prince and geisha parted, the prince went into his bedroom while the geisha walked to her apartment. The Bake-neko secretly followed the geisha home and waited until she was asleep. As soon as she drifted into a deep sleep, the cat slipped into the room and pounced on her. It strangled the poor girl to death and dragged her body to the palace gardens. Afterwards, it dug her a shallow grave under the flower beds and buried her corpse.

After shoveling the final pile of dirt onto the grave, the cat shapeshifted into the geisha. Remembering how O Toyo talked to the prince when it spied on them, it mimicked her speech to fool everyone including the prince himself. It would act just like her and even went on walks with the prince. However, when nighttime would come, it would sneak into the prince's room and drink his blood.

Soon enough, the prince started to complain about horrible dreams he was having. He then developed a mysterious illness, becoming weaker and paler each day. The doctors were shocked, and had no clue what was wrong with him. Suspicious about the cause of this, guards were ordered to watch over the prince's room while he slept.

At first, many of the guards would find themselves feeling extremely drowsy, and would fall asleep just before the culprit slipped in. However, a young soldier heard of the strange events and volunteered to become a guard. He was determined to solve the mystery and stay up for the entire night. As midnight approached, each guard around him fell asleep, and he started to nod off as well. Desperate to solve the case, he took out his dagger and stabbed himself in the thigh to keep himself awake. Whenever he felt drowsy, he would twist the dagger to increase the pain and stay awake.

Finally, the soldier saw something odd. The sliding doors of the prince's rooms parted, and the cat disguised as the beautiful geisha silently crept inside. Before it could reach the prince's bedside, it noticed the soldier staring at it, holding up a knife. The geisha quickly left and closed the doors behind it.

For the next three nights, the dutiful soldier watched over the prince and stabbed himself to stay awake. The prince's health got much better over the days. But whenever the soldier told him about the geisha, the prince refused to think she was the culprit. He told the soldier he would never question the loyalty of his wonderful girlfriend. Fed up with the prince's denial, he made plans to get rid of the geisha himself.

That very night, the soldier knocked on the geisha's apartment door. He told the geisha he had a message from the prince, and that it was extremely urgent. As soon as the geisha opened the door, however, the soldier suddenly threw his dagger towards it and tried to stab it. The geisha dodged his attack and transformed back into a monstrous Bake-neko. From there, it pounced on the soldier, hissing with fury and rage.

Fortunately, the soldier was able to defend himself and escaped into the mountains nearby. The next day, he told the prince about the account, and the prince was bewildered. Before he could say anything, the palace gardener entered the room, and gave horrible news; he found the body of the real O Toyo under the flower beds. Grief-stricken, the prince ordered every guard to hunt for the Bake-neko that murdered his love. After a few days went by, it was finally killed by the soldier that originally discovered its evil secret.

The main reason that many cats out there are seen as yōkai such as the Bake-neko may have to do with the appearance that they have. Similar to snakes and foxes, their illusive habits cause people to see them as mysterious, and possibly even supernatural. An example of how they seem off is how their irises change shape, and how they can be extremely quiet at times. Also, they have been seen licking blood, are nocturnal, and have sharp claws and fangs. This gives the impression that they have dark abilities, which is most likely why Japanese people, while writing folklore and legends, could not help but think of a sly and crafty cat as one.

Either way, this is definitely an interesting one. They're mentioned quite frequently in certain Japanese folklore and legends, especially anything involving felines. Maybe you cat lovers out there will enjoy this one- unless you think you own a Bake-neko yourself, that is.