"...Thirty years had passed, yet her body remained that of an eternal child. Her eyes alone told the story of her age, staring out from under her doll-like curls, with a questioning that will one day need an answer..."

Sometimes at night a heron will be seen with its eyes burning and its white feathers glowing with a supernatural light. From a distance, the bird appears like a fireball.

I like birds

Spoon

The kitsune- A multi-tailed fox of japanese folklore. Wiki

--The Trickery of Kitsune--
There once was a Kitsune that fell in love with a man- and so she took on the form of a human so that she could marry him. As time went by the two of them married and had a child. But the child was not Kitsune nor human! It was a mix between both and had no powers to switch between forms. The husband was of course shocked and so the wife had to finally tell him the truth.. So she took him out to the forests so that nobody could hear them. "I'm a Kitsune," she confessed as she returned to her foxy form. The husband was still shocked, but since he loved his wife so, he forgave her for lying and promissed not to tell of her secret. Eventually though, the people found out about their half kitsune, half human child and thought it to be evil. One night, the wife went out into the forests to collect fire wood and returned to find that her house was set on fire. Her child and husband were both killed. In anger and pain, the kitsune screamed- vowing to seek revenge.. To be continued? *shrug*

The fat lady is laughing at you.

lascaux shat.

?Gy?ki

also known as: Ushi-oni, Uwajima-no-ushi-oni

The gy?ki of Shikoku seems to share some common origin with the great ushi-oni that lurks in the Sea of Japan. Their names are written with the same characters and are in fact completely interchangeable, and aside from that they share a ferocious nature, a tendency to lurk in deep water, a horned head like a fantastic, demonic ox, and a connection to apparitions of women. But the gy?ki is usually conceived of as having a more wholly bovine shape, and prefers to live in fresh water, especially the deep pools underneath waterfalls. While it loves raw meat and has been known to devour men and livestock, it seems to have a slightly less bloodthirsty nature than its saltwater cousin, and in festivals sometimes even takes on a protective function, said to ferociously drive away more malicious spirits.

It's a Tanuki. According to the Japanese legends, they have large testicles. I'm not drawing that in; don't ask me to!

They also carry sake (?) bottles and wear cone-shaped hats.

The Tanuki is also the only Youkai I'm familiar with. I think it's just because of the testicles.

Heres the 1st one i did a while ago

http://cellosoft.com/2draw/view/42576/

Theres still a few lil bits i wanna tidy up but wanted to submit it b4 i ran outa time.

Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others � as foxes in folklore often do � others portray them as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives.