Zashiki-warashi
座敷童、座敷童子　（ざしきわらし）
Tatami Room Child
other names: Zashiki-bokko 座敷ぼっこ, Kura-bokko 蔵ぼっこ, Kura-warashi 蔵童 (warehouse child), Kometsuki-warashi 米搗き童 (rice-polishing child), Usutsuki-warashi 臼搗き童 (mill-stone pounding child), Karako-warashi 唐子童 (child in Chinese clothes), Notabariko のたばりこ, Chōpirako ちょうぴらこ



A household spirit resembling a child of either gender from about three to twelve years of age. The name zashiki-warashicomes from the interior of Iwate Prefecture, but similar legends are found all over Japan. It is often said that when this being dwells in a house, its family will be prosperous, but when it leaves, the house will fall into ruin, and also that the zashiki-warashi is never seen, save for just as it is about to leave. Its presence however, is often marked by the mischief it does to sleeping people, such as moving pillows about and pulling on bedding.

There are different kinds of zashiki-warashiwhich vary in pleasantness, with thechōpirako variety said to be pretty and white in color, and the notabariko or usu-tsuki-warashi sort said to crawl out from beneath the dirt floor and creep about, making noises like pounding a mill-stone and causing unpleasant feelings. The latter sort seems to be connected to old infanticidal customs called mabiki (thinning-out), which often ended in burying unwanted infants somewhere in the house, such as under a dirt floor or a mill-stone.1