Yokai Quiz
Kasa-obake (Umbrella Spirit)
You hop into view on one leg and surprise people just as you are — one eye, no disguise.
The kasa-obake is an old paper umbrella that has turned into a yokai. In Japan there's a long-held belief that a tool used for many years can take on a spirit of its own, and yokai of this kind are called tsukumogami. With one eye, a long tongue and a single leg it hops about on, it has appeared in Edo-period pictures and on traditional picture cards.
The kasa-obake doesn't transform to trick anyone. It stays an umbrella and simply jumps out in front of you for a surprise. It's said to be a yokai known more through pictures than through legends, and there's something lovable about the way it looks. You don't hide yourself — you bounce out in front of people as your usual self.
Since it started out as an umbrella used for years in someone's home, here we treat it as a yokai that lives close to people. You're at your best popping out in front of people you know, in a lively town or at home. On the other hand, when a situation calls for changing how you come across to suit someone's tastes, you can be unsure how to act.
Strengths
- You can talk to people you've just met in your usual, unpretentious way
- In the bustle of home or town, you can brighten the room in an instant
- You say what you think with no hidden side, so things get settled quickly
Where you may stumble
- Even somewhere formal, your usual manner comes out and you stand out a little
- A joke meant as a playful surprise gives someone a real fright
- Somewhere with no one around, there's nobody to hop out at, and it feels a bit flat
Sounds familiar, Kasa-obake (Umbrella Spirit)?
- On rainy days, you twirl your umbrella as you walk
- You still haven't grown out of jumping out from behind things with a “Boo!”
- Whatever shop you go into, the staff remember you by the same pet phrase
Where you shine
At a neighborhood get-together full of familiar faces, or on a day when everyone gathers at someone's home, the Kasa-obake's straightforward cheer tends to reach people most easily.
Tips for “Kasa-obake (Umbrella Spirit)”
- Before you surprise someone, check once that they enjoy that kind of thing
- Somewhere formal, try matching the other person's tone for just your first few words
- Every so often, make time to spend quietly somewhere with few people around
Matches
See every match in the Yokai Quiz compatibility chart →
Ittan-momen (Flying Cloth) — The Ittan-momen swoops down from the open sky right up to people. The umbrella hops around town and the cloth dances through the air — you both step out in front of people, but in different places, so you never compete for the spotlight and can share your best surprise stories.
Zashiki-warashi (House Spirit) — The Zashiki-warashi also stays as it is, in the form of a child, without disguising itself. Neither of you puts on a face, so you're at ease together — and even under the same roof, it naturally splits into the umbrella who jumps out and the house spirit who watches from the back.
Rokurokubi (Long-Necked Yokai) — The Rokurokubi lives as an ordinary person by day and stretches its neck only at night. The Kasa-obake, who always pops out just as it is, finds it hard to follow that switching, and to the Rokurokubi, an umbrella that acts the same everywhere can seem not to read the room.
Close neighbors
These differ from this one on just 1 of the 3 axes. If one of your axes was near the middle, you may have their side too.
Which one are you? 18 everyday situations, about 3 minutes.
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