MOKUMOKUREN

Lore

Mokumokuren takes up residence in tattered, disused shoji—those paper doors or sliding partitions found in traditional homes—and is most commonly encountered within abandoned buildings. At times, this yokai transfers itself from one shoji to another, especially when people attempt to discard or destroy the old partition.

If you ever dare to spend a night in a derelict house, you run a high risk of meeting Mokumokuren. Its multitude of staring eyes is more than enough to unnerve any traveler who seeks shelter there, disturbing one’s rest with an ominous presence that breeds fear and paranoia.

Certain accounts even claim it steals the eyes of those who slumber under the same roof; the victim awakens blind, while Mokumokuren’s shoji sprouts two new sinister eyes. This parasitic nature makes it a feared presence in the decaying structures of old Japan.