Nekomata walking on its hind legs, illustrated by Toriyama Sekien. was an 18th century scholar and Ukiyo-e artist of Japanese folklore.

A bakeneko (化け猫, bakeneko^? "monster cat") is, in Japanese folklore, a cat with supernatural abilities akin to those of the fox or raccoon dog. WikipediaManual of Style (spelling, articles should conform to one overall spelling style of English typically the one most linked to the article topic (if it is geographic is the Japanese word for the Japanese raccoon dog ( Nyctereutes procyonides viverrinus) A cat may become a bakeneko in a number of ways: it may reach a certain age, be kept for a certain number of years, grow to a certain size, or be allowed to keep a long tail. In the last case, the tail forks in two and the bakeneko is then called a nekomata (猫又, nekomata^? ,猫叉, or 猫股 "forked cat"). This superstition may have some connection to the breeding of the Japanese Bobtail. The Japanese Bobtail is a breed of Cat with an unusual 'bobbed' tail more closely resembling the tail of a Rabbit than that of an ordinary feline

A bakeneko will haunt any household it is kept in, creating ghostly fireballs, menacing sleepers, walking on its hind legs, changing its shape into that of a human, and even devouring its own mistress in order to shapeshift and take her place. When it is finally killed, its body may be as much as five feet in length. It also poses a danger if allowed into a room with a fresh corpse; a cat is believed to be capable of reanimating a body by jumping over it.

In popular culture

Japanese popular culture contains a large number of two-tailed cat characters based on the nekomata. Some of these include:

• In the anime series Ayakashi(3rd arc) and Mononoke (last arc)
• Kirara, the pet of Sango in InuYasha. is a character in the Manga and Anime series InuYasha. Sango is a highly skilled Yōkai Exterminator, or demon slayer full title ( romanized as INUYASHA
• In the manga Shaman King, Hao Asakura's spirit ally from 1,000 years ago is a nekomata named Matamune. ˈmɑŋgə is the Japanese word for Comics (sometimes called komikku コミック and print Cartoons In their modern form manga date from shortly is both an Anime series and a Manga series by Hiroyuki Takei. Hao Asakura (麻倉葉王 Asakura Hao, also written as ハオ Hao) known as Zeke Asakura in the English anime is a Fictional character Matamune is a character in the Shaman King mangaMatamune who appears in volume
• In the manga/anime series Hyper Police the character Natsuki Sasahara is half-human/half-nekomata. (anime in Japanese, is the name of a Manga and Anime series created by Minoru Tachikawa under the Pseudonym MEE
• In the anime Inukami!, the character Tomekichi is a benevolent nekomata who honors an obligation to a deceased priest who once took care of him. is a Japanese Light novel series written by Mamizu Arisawa, with illustrations by Kanna Wakatsuki.
• In the Pokémon game series, the psychic pokemon Espeon is a lavender cat-like creature with a forked tail. If you came here to express your personal opinion about Pokémon please go somewhere else At the core of the multi-billion dollar Pokémon Media franchise of various electronic games, ongoing anime, several manga series,
• In the video game Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, the Skill Nekomata is an agile, human-like cat sporting a long tail. is an Action role-playing game in the Megami Tensei franchise published by Atlus for the PlayStation 2 in 2006
• In the video game Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne Beast Nekomata appear as recruitable allies in Ginza and Ikebukuro. Ginza (銀座 is a district of Chūō Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and
• In the video game Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, Nekomata is one of the main Protagonist's summonable Personas. is the third Video game in the Persona console RPG series The game was developed and published by Atlus for the Sony PlayStation 2
• The character Yurine in the animation Karas appears as both a human and a white cat with a forked-tail. is a six-part Original video animation of the Henshin genre (a kind of Japanese superhero
• In the series Claymore, Luciela, the abyssal one of the South, has an awakened form resembling a two-tailed cat demon. is a Dark fantasy Manga series written and illustrated by Norihiro Yagi.
• In the video game Battlefield 2142, the PAC (Pan Asian Coalition) has a futuristic hover tank named the Type 32 Nekomata. Battlefield 2142 is a First-person shooter computer game developed by Digital Illusions CE and is the fourth game in the ''Battlefield'' A tank is a tracked, Armoured fighting vehicle designed for Front-line combat which combines Operational mobility and tactical
• In Ninja Sentai Kakuranger there is a Yokai called Bakeneko. translated into English as Ninja Squadron Hidden Ranger, was TOEI Company Limited 's eighteenth production of the Super Sentai television
• In the video games Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories, the player has the ability to create nekomata characters. is a tactical role-playing Video game developed by Nippon Ichi Software and published by Nippon Ichi Software in Japan, Atlus USA Inc is a Tactical role-playing game developed and published by Nippon Ichi Software for the PlayStation 2 video game console
• The Bakeneko was featured in episode 10, 11, and 12 of the series Mononoke.
• Chen, from Touhou Project, is a nekomata shikigami. Shikigami (式神 are a kind of spirit summoned to serve a practitioner of Onmyōdō, much like a western familiar.
• In the Miyazaki film, My neighbor, Totoro, an unnamed character appears as a catbus. is a is a 1988 Japanese anime film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. For public transportation in Raleigh NC - CAT busses - please see Capital Area Transit (Raleigh. Bake neko are mentioned in several Studio Ghibli films. is a Japanese Animation Film studio, and previously was a subsidiary of Tokuma Shoten.
• In the games Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn there is a tribe men and women who have feline ears and tails as well as the ability to transform into large cats for combat purposes. (Lyre, Lethe, and Ranulf. )
• In the series Naruto Kakuzu and Hidan find the two-tailed bijuu which has the appearance of a giant nekomata when fully materialized. is an ongoing Japanese Manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto with an Anime adaptation
• An artist by the name Nekomata Master is present in multiple Konami related video games, especially in the BEMANI series. () is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys Trading cards, Anime, Tokusatsu, Slot machines is Konami 's Music video game division Originally named the Games & Music Division, or simply G
• In the anime Ouran High School Host Club, a teenage yakuza leader makes a futile attempt to diminish his intimidating atmosphere by wearing cat-ears, leading his friends to call him a bake-neko as he is even scarier than before

References

• Casal, U. is a Manga series by Bisco Hatori, serialized in Hakusensha 's LaLa magazine since August 5 2003 A. (1959). "The Goblin Fox and Badger and Other Witch Animals of Japan". Folklore Studies 18: pp. 1–93. Asian Folklore Studies, Nanzan University. doi:10.2307/1177429. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document.  
• Mizuki, Shigeru (2003). born March 8, 1922 in Sakaiminato Tottori, is a Japanese manga author, most known for his Shōnen Japanese horror manga Mujara 3: Kinki-hen. Japan: Soft Garage, p. 108. ISBN 4861330068.  
• Mizuki, Shigeru (2003). born March 8, 1922 in Sakaiminato Tottori, is a Japanese manga author, most known for his Shōnen Japanese horror manga Mujara 2: Chūbu-hen. Japan: Soft Garage, p. 88, 117. ISBN 486133005X.  

External links

• Obakemono Project Article on Bakeneko