Yokai Quiz
Rokurokubi (Long-Necked Yokai)
By day you blend into everyday life, and at night you stretch your neck to quietly see what's going on.
The rokurokubi is a yokai whose neck stretches to great lengths. Edo-period essays and ghost-story collections record a number of tales of someone who lives an ordinary life by day, but whose neck slides out long while they sleep at night. Some tales even say the person has no idea.
Changing completely between day and night — this story fits someone who can change how they come across to suit the place. Rather than stepping forward and standing out, you slip smoothly into your surroundings, and, as if stretching your neck, quietly take in what's happening even far away.
Most rokurokubi stories are set among people living in town houses or inns. You feel most settled close to the bustle of everyday life, where you're good at showing a different face to each person. But when that keeps up, you can run out of places to let your guard down. Some time alone to stretch your neck, as it were, at the end of the day makes things easier.
Strengths
- Even somewhere new, you can watch how things go and quickly fit in with the local ways
- From somewhere unnoticed, you can pick up on what's happening across the whole room
- Even in a crowded town, you can find your own way of staying settled
Where you may stumble
- Fitting in for too long, you run out of places to unwind
- You miss the chance to mention what you've noticed, and later hear, “If you knew, why didn't you say?”
- Out in the mountains or by the sea with no one around, you actually feel less at ease
Sounds familiar, Rokurokubi (Long-Necked Yokai)?
- In a crowd, you stand on tiptoe and crane your neck to see ahead
- When you wake up, your head is a surprisingly long way from the pillow
- Just from the sounds around the house, you can roughly tell who's doing what
Where you shine
At a busy gathering in town where someone needs to quietly keep an eye on how everything's going, the Rokurokubi's watchfulness tends to come in handy.
Tips for “Rokurokubi (Long-Necked Yokai)”
- Each day, put one thing you noticed into words
- At the end of the day, make time when you don't have to fit in with anyone
- Visit a quiet place once with someone you're comfortable with, before going alone
Matches
See every match in the Yokai Quiz compatibility chart →
Yamabiko (Mountain Echo) — The Yamabiko also stays out of sight, matching its voice to whoever calls. You're both good at fitting in, so you can sense each other without needing to say anything. For a Rokurokubi who lives in town, hearing about the voices in the mountains makes a nice change of pace.
Zashiki-warashi (House Spirit) — The Zashiki-warashi also lives quietly in people's homes. Neither of you steps out front, and you both live indoors in the village, so you don't disturb each other's peace under the same roof. You can quietly fill it in on what you saw outside when you stretched your neck at night.
Kasa-obake (Umbrella Spirit) — The Kasa-obake pops out anywhere, just as it is. To a Rokurokubi who moves only after seeing how things are, that way of jumping out is a bit dazzling, and to the umbrella, the Rokurokubi seems to spend all its time watching and never come out.
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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