All about yokai: Onibi
Onibi are interesting yokai, and ones which are very dangerous. Seen throughout the country in similar forms, they are to be avoided at all costs, if you want to keep your life.
These yokai are different to most I have written about, and yet the moment I learnt of them, I knew I had to write about them. They are one of my favourite yokai, and also similar to will-o’-the-wisps.
Onibi
鬼火 - おにび
Translation: Demon Fire
Onibi are fireballs which are usually blue (compared to a pine torchlight in the Wakan Sansai Zue—an illustrated encyclopedia from the 1700s), however there are also red and yellow onibi, though they are uncommon. Onibi can range in size from a candlelight to around thirty centimetres wide and they often appear in groups of around twenty to thirty floating around one or two meters from the ground.
What makes onibi dangerous is that if a person or animal gets too close, they will drain the energy from their victim. Their lights often lure people closer, imitating lanterns.
Onibi are often to be found in natural areas such as forests and wetlands, but will also show in graveyards and rarely in towns also. They are seen most often in the spring and summer, especially after rain.
It is said onibi are born from dead bodies or uncommonly through intense grudges. There is also a story of sougenbi (叢原火 / 宗源火 "religion source fire") where an onibi was created through Buddhist punishment to a monk who stole. In the onibi his anguished face would float around.
As soon as I learnt about the onibi and how dangerous they could be, a story appeared in my mind of them luring people to their deaths. I enjoy how unlike other yokai which are complex, these only have a few actions, they are created, they want to lure people in, and they want to drain their victims. I built upon these for my story, giving them a little more power. My onibi can manipulate a thick fog to disorientate their victims, so long as the conditions are there to create the fog. I wanted a sinister energy with pure intentions, ones which they wouldn’t stop for because of feelings and emotions, like other yokai.
In my story, One, Two, Three, I wanted to also show them as their own force of nature. That once you get too far, there is no escape. The only way to avoid being killed by onibi is to stay far away. So, when I introduced Iga-san who patrolled the town, there became a deep conflict. With him thinking there could be danger or someone hurt, he had to investigate despite his gut telling him otherwise. Duty overcame instinct.
Despite being so dangerous, there are instances of onibi appearing and acting in strange ways. There is a story of an onibi that appeared above Hakone mountain which split into two before flying around, combining, and splitting again. And another that appears below the castle and above the sea in Kōchi. Just like the one above Hakone mountain, it flies around splitting and combining, and also appearing very close before flying far away. These onibi can be known as Asobibi (遊火 "play fire")
Similar to the onibi, kitsunebi can be considered a type of onibi. Kitsunebi is also known as fox fire, the fire that comes from kitsune.
There are also similar blue orbs which can be mistaken as onibi called hitodama. They are the visible souls of humans which appear in the same colours of blue, orange, and red. They also float around slowly off the ground, however unlike onibi, hitodama leave behind tails of light. These hitodama are not dangerous at all.
Despite there not being lots of information about onibi, I really enjoyed being able to build upon the folk tales and information noted down by Japanese people. I tried hard to keep them accurate and what I added in line with everything I’d learnt and I definitelt enjoyed writing about them.
If you’d like to read my story about them, they can be found in One, Two, Three.
So fascinating. The similarities to will-o-wisps are very striking.