Namahage

In the long ago, Emperor Wu of Han came from China to Japan. He brought with him five demonic ogres. These rambunctious demons stole crops and unwary youths. The clever citizens wagered that these namahage could not build a flight of stone steps — one thousand steps in total — stretching from the seashore to the top of the mountain. If the demons could do this all in one night, the citizens said, the village would supply the ogres with one lovely youth a year. Slavering, the namahage set to work. The demons were nearly finished with their labour when a villager mimicked a rooster cry. Grumbling, the namahage slunk away, believing they had failed.

Listen, sweetling? Can you hear them cry? “Nakuko wa inee ga?” “Waruiko wa inee ka?” The namahage still roam the shadows of Japan. They are not allowed to take everything they want by force, but the old laws allow them to claim children who have misbehaved badly enough. See them stalk the streets in twos, a face of red and a face of blue. Lines of naughty children being led into the night.