Iriomote Cat
Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis
Status: Critically endangered, loss of habitat and competition from feral cat population
Critically endangered, loss of habitat and competition from feral cat population Japanese folklore is populated with Y?kai, supernatural spirits or creatures. References to spirit felines in writing can be found in some early literature in the 1100’s. The spirit nature of cats is evident in their characteristics, behavior, and the traits that they possess. They slink through the night, and caterwaul with sometimes human-like sounds. Their eyes glint and dilate rapidly to let them see in the dark. They pad silently on wood or dirt, slipping ghostlike through their surroundings until without warning, they pounce on unsuspecting prey with claw and fang.
Nekomata are mysterious feline spirit beasts that dwell in the mountains. They glide along the hidden paths, and hide in the craggy peaks. Some of them can speak, dance, or even disguise and pass as human. If a wanderer finds themselves alone on a mountain path, and a youth or young maid steps out to hail the traveler, they must beware that it might be a shape-changed nekomata. Sometimes they kill and take on the life of a human, only giving themselves away by forgetting to keep to the habits and characteristics of the one they are impersonating.
Since the Edo period there have been beliefs that ancient nekomata were once housecats, who, as they became aged, ran away from their human homes to become feral and powerful spirit creatures.
References:
Opler, M. E. (1945). Japanese folk belief concerning the cat. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 35(9), 269-275. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24530698
Marks, A. (2023). Japanese Yokai and Other Supernatural Beings: Authentic Paintings and Prints of 100 Ghosts, Demons, Monsters and Magicians. Japan: Tuttle Publishing. Pg83.
Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. (1911). Japan: Asiatic Society of Japan. 61-62.
Visser, M. W. d. (1909). The Dog and the Cat in Japanese Superstition. Japan: Asiatic Society of Japan. 21.