900 days with Japanese Folklore - level 60 in Summer 2026

WaniKani
1

First of all, Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it, and for those who do not - Happy New Year! I hope you have a nice time.

With the year 2023 coming to an end, it feels only appropriate to set new long-term goals. Why not spend them while also learning something interesting in the process?

Do you know of some rarely mentioned yokai that makes you giggle? Have you attended a festival in Japan, the history behind which amazes you? Or perhaps there’s a kami you like so much that you can write entire poems for them?

Let’s share this precious and interesting knowledge with each other while we’re on our long way towards level 60, and by the time we reach our goal, not only can we accumulate a great deal of knowledge in the Japanese language but in Japanese culture as well.

Goal: 12 June 2026.

That is the date 900 days from now on.

This post is inspired by Let’s climb Tokyo Skytree and Luminaries and uses the already familiar format from them.

How to join:
Copy this line: |Username|Current Level|Original Level|Speed|Date Joined|Date Achieved|

Click on the orange pen icon on the top right of this post and click “edit wiki”.

Paste the line in your group, add your details and don’t forget to update your position in table as you level up.

:shinto_shrine: Leaderboard (Levels) :shinto_shrine:

Username Current Level Original Level Avg. Speed Date Joined Date Achieved
\color{gold}\text{Level 60}
ssotoen 60 52 21 days 2024-01-29 2024-05-14
Luis™ 60 28 7 dpl 2023-12-25 2024-06-08
Rehanmalik 60 39 7-14 days 2024-04-07 2024-08-17
araigoshi 60 30 ~11 days 2024-01-03 2024-10-10
\color{silver}\text{Levels 50 – 59}
hotdogsuplex 54 27 25 days Dec 25, 2023
\color{deepskyblue}\text{Levels 40 – 49}
taiyousea :tropical_fish: 49 23 :desert_island::question::tropical_drink: 2023-12-25
ekg 49 48 7-14 2023-12-26 -
Otoko68 46 32 8-15 days May 4th 2024 :hole:
monlitt 45 20 7-10 days 2024-01-09 �
emiyake 44 44 ~13 days 2024-05-29
Arkraptor 44 44 10-20 days 2024-08-17
koudani 43 42 ~14 days 2024-04-16
\color{mediumblue}\text{Levels 30 – 39}
old_friend 39 3 10 days 2024-01-25
Lilyshell 37 30 7-10 days 2024-03-24 TBC
ironwaw 34 19 11 days 2024-02-06 �
thatoddhaystack 33 31 ~10 days 2024-01-03
gaya_424 32 23 ~14 2024-05-18
rua27 31 31 8 days 2024-12-27
\color{darkorchid}\text{Levels 20 – 29}
Thubanshee 28 10 7-8 days 2024-04-10 いつか…きっと…
MeitanteiKyoko 27 11 ~9-10 days 2023-12-29 -
Dyuun 27 25 ~14 days May 2nd, 2024 -
cheeriofriend 26 22 ~7 days but slowing down 2024-12-15 �
Marifly 24 3 ~19 days 2024-01-22
meepity 25 25 ~18 days 2024-08-29
soggyboy 24 12 ~24 days 2023-12-26
finnra 22 16 ~28 days 2023-12-25
macalys 21 9 ~ 8-9 days 25.12.2023
Lady_Dragon 21 21 ~?~ 2024-02-24
Tatum 21 3 ~7 days 2024-01-01
NeoArcturus 20 5 1 level/week 2023-12-25
\color{deeppink}\text{Levels 10 – 19}
yvan_in_flames 19 3 ~7 days 2024-01-02
rachiewru 17 17 ~20 days 2024-01-03
MothKau 17 17 2024-04-08
SugarRushing 16 2 15 days 2024-09-14 -
maddness 15 4 ~ 7-10 days 2024-09-24 tbd
Jezzieangel 16 16 :woman_shrugging: 2024-05-09
gilm27 16 9 ~28 days 2024-04-07
_Ciel 15 15 13 days 2024-01-26
Izabelle 13 14 7 to 8 days 24-04-7
Szystedt 13 6 ~ 8 days 2024-07-26
niegrozny 12 9 8 days 2024-1-9
LastDivanTruther 12 11 14-21 days 2024-02-12
Dan-NS27 12 9 ~14days 2023-12-25
emmajosephine 12 11 ~21 days 2024-03-14 -
Kbreuckman97 11 11 ~?~ 2024-1-17 -
fengduoyin 11 3 ~ 10 days 2023-12-25
pinemarten 11 7 2024-02-28
KennethDK 10 7 8 days 2024-04-04 �
IanWitkowski 10 10 ~?~ 2023-12-31 -
cmayn 10 7 8 days 2024-01-01
ahypnotiser 10 9 ~16 days 2024-01-27 -
Citrusy 10 1 ~ 10 days 2023-12-27
VitaGtm 10 3 11 days Jan 26, 2024
readling29 10 2 14 days 2024-01-05
Suok 11 9 12-16 days 2025-01-05
\color{black}\text{Levels 1 – 9}
Chrisgonal 9 6 ~16 days 2024-01-06
danyramdas 9 4 62 Days 2023-12-26
Miphaonthemoon 9 8 ~23 days 2024-01-13
nconti 9 9 ~8 days 2024-08-07
SteenJ 9 4 14 Days 2023-12-25
cenku 8 6 ~10 dpl 2023-12-26
hepzkat 8 6 ~ 25 days 2023-12-26
Mercuridi 8 1 ~ 21 days 2023-12-31
Evelia 6 6 tbd 2024-02-12 tbd
trickster-saf 6 2 ~ 10 days 2024-01-10
extebrute 5 5 33 days 2024-04-02
paul31 5 1 :dog: 2024-01-26
Akeras 3 2 Unknown 2024-03-01
pudgypanda 3 2 ~22 days 2024-02-14
3lsesar 3 2 ~10 Days 2024-09-10 -
JuanOfTheDead 2 1 Unknown 2024-01-27
onlygoodthoughts 2 1 unknown 2024-01-06
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Main post is a now a wiki! Feel free to edit it as you join and update your info.

And while we’re at it, allow me to contribute some trivia on 雪女 who, I belive, is just the kind of youkai to read about on a cold winter day.

Yuki-onna (雪女) is a spirit in Japanese that is often depicted in literature, films or animation.

She may also go by such names as yuki-musume (“snow daughter”), yuki-onago (“snow girl”), yukijorō (雪女郎, “snow woman”), yuki anesa (“snow sis”), yuki-onba (“snow granny” or “snow nanny”), yukinba (“snow hag”) in Ehime, yukifuri-baba (“snowfall witch” or “snowfall hag”) in Nagano. They are also called several names that are related to icicles, such as tsurara-onna, kanekori-musume, and shigama-nyōbō.

Yuki-onna appears on snowy nights as a tall, beautiful woman with long black hair and blue lips. Her inhumanly pale or even transparent skin makes her blend into the snowy landscape (as famously described in Lafcadio Hearn’s Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things). She often wears a white kimono, but other legends describe her as nude, with only her face and hair standing out against the snow. Despite her inhuman beauty, her eyes can strike terror into mortals. She floats across the snow, leaving no footprints (in fact, some tales say she has no feet, a feature of many Japanese ghosts), and she can transform into a cloud of mist or snow if threatened.

There are several variations of Yuki-onna throughout Japan, through which one can fill a whole book only about this yokai. Some notable of them are described below:

  • Water Beggars: This variation hails from Tottori Prefecture, where it is said that Yuki-onna travels on wind and appears on the days with a light snowfall. She walks swinging a white Gohei wand and shouts whoever she meets saying, “Please give me water-hot or cold.” If anyone gives cold water, she swells in size but if anyone gives hot water she melts and disappears.
  • The Moon Princess: This variations hails from Yamagata Prefecture where it is said that Yuki-onna is the princess of lunar world, living on the moon. Her life was filled with luxury, but it was extremely boring for her. She was fascinated to see the planet Earth below. So, she snuck out one night and fell down to Earth, travelling on snow. However, coming to Earth was easier for her than going back, and she got stuck on Earth. She used to appear on full moon snowy night, pining for her old home.
  • The Snow Vampire: This version of Yuki-onna hails from four Japanese provinces; Aomori, Gunma, Niigata, and Miyagi. Here it is said that Yuki-onna is a dreadful snow vampire, haunting the snowy forests, looking to feed. She lives by sucking the vital energy of human body, which is mentioned as seiki. She is said to extract the seiki first by freezing victims to death and then sucking the seiki through the dead victim’s mouth. Especially in Niigata prefecture, it is said that Yuki-onna likes the seiki of children, so the mothers are warned over there not to let their children play on snowy nights near a forest.
  • The Talking Snow Women: This version hails from Ibaraki, Fukushima, Akita & Fukui prefectures. Here, the Yuki-onna engages her victims in conversation in order to attack. When she meets someone on a dark and snowy night, she calls out to them. If the person answers her greeting, she attacks. But in Fukushima and Ibaraki, it is said that Yuki-onna attacks those who ignore her, whom she grabs and throws into a nearby ravine.

Wikipedia (EN) Wikipedia (JP)

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@mods could you help making the OP a wiki? :slight_smile:

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sure thing, done!

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Thank you!

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Sounds cool, I’m in too :slight_smile:

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Count me in!

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Alright, let’s do this :smiley: I wish everyone the best of luck at achieving his goal :heart:

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Yay, I’ve been wanting to join one of these lately!

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懐かしいわ This takes me back to when the Olympians thread was active.

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Hello everyone :raising_hand_man:t2:

Is there a limit to enter?

I’m running like crazy in the Study Buddy Race 2023 thread. Now Lvl 28, going full speed at 7 dpl. I expect to finish before mid 2024.

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I’m in. My main goal for the year is level 25 so let’s see how it goes.

Good luck everybody.

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Indeed!
I wasn’t around back then to participate in that race specifically, but I have fond memories of Tokyo Skytree one. ^^

Hi there!

No, there’s no limit for participation, you can join and finish at any time that is comfortable for you. :slight_smile:

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I have joined! ^>^

Yuki Onna Durtle
Yuki Onna Durtle838×866 201 KB

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I joined :full_moon_with_face:

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Lets gooooo!

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Count me in.

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Welcome-welcome! 頑張りましょう！

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I’ll give this a try, seems really fun! Starting from lvl 1, let’s gooo!! :smiley:

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First level up in three days already :eyes: I hope I’ll reach level 60 in 2024 already :wink:

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