Kainade - かいなで - [Yokai | UrbanLegend]

•About this Yokai•

Kainade - かいなで - A ghostly hand that was said to appear on Setsubun night (Feb 3rd) it reaches a hand or tongue to lick you when you're on the squat toilet...

To avoid an uninvited wet willy down under, its said that one should chant "White paper, Red paper" - The “white paper, red paper” chant likely stems from cleaning customs related to a kami known as "Benjo-gami" (aka Kawaya-gami - The restroom god: 厠神) - In the edo period they used to put up “Akakeshi.” Red & White dolls [& Flowers!] to scare away illness & yokai which brought small pox (such as Hosogami.) - As these custom died out, it seems a Yokai was born & over time Kainades legend seems to splinter off into Hanako-san, Akamanto among many, many other restroom spooks. - Since its said that Kainade sometimes licks you, he could just as easily also stem from Akaname as well.

Not to be confused with Kurote: another yokai that sticks his fuzzy black hand up through the toilet and winds up getting it chopped off by a samurai. - Trying to say ‘which came first’ might spark a ‘chicken vs egg’ level debate, either way, it seems that they’re distinct yokai that came about around the same period!

Kainade is also the 'true origin' of the potty hand from legend of zelda.

Sticker Art by @Samkalensky (yo, thats me!) - Part of my Night parade of 100 Demons - Yokai & Japanese folklore sticker collection, weather resistant 4" sticker. Check my shop & follow @samkalensky for many more!