Bakeneko — Who It Is in Japanese Mythology
A bakeneko is a cat that has lived to a great old age and gained the power to transform. It walks on two legs, speaks in a human voice, and, in the darkest versions of the tale, can take the form of its dead master and take his place in the house. The most famous story of such a cat comes from the Nabeshima clan: a servant was executed after a quarrel, his grief-stricken mother died, and her cat, after licking up the blood, turned into a bakeneko and began to take revenge.
In the homes of old Japan, it was not so much the cat itself that was viewed with suspicion as its interest in the lamp: a cat caught licking fish oil from an andon lantern was suspected of having set out on the path to becoming a bakeneko.
Bakeneko: The Cat That Played Its Way into Superpowers
A bakeneko is an ordinary cat that has lived to a great old age: some say ten years, others thirteen. Another sign also works — an overly long tail. From that moment the cat gains supernatural abilities: it stands up on its hind legs, speaks in a human voice, and in the darkest versions of the tale takes the form of the master it has killed and lives his life, deceiving the family for months. In daily life, a cat caught licking fish oil from an andon lamp was viewed with suspicion: such behavior was read as the first sign of transformation.
- Signs: unnaturally long life, a long tail, a habit of standing on its hind legs.
- Abilities: human speech, walking on two legs, shapeshifting — sometimes into the master himself.
- Suspicious habit: licking fish oil from an andon lamp — in olden times this was read as a bad omen.
- Folk protection: cutting a cat's tail short to make transformation harder.
A Killer in the House, or Just Secretive
In classic kaidan, the bakeneko often literally kills its master and takes his place, deceiving the household for weeks or months — the most famous such story is connected with the Nabeshima clan. In modern retellings, the image is usually softened to that of a merely mysterious, secretive cat rather than a direct threat. For more on the general image of the cat shapeshifter in Japanese culture, see the separate breakdown.
化け猫 — “Transforming Cat,” and What Obake Has to Do with It
| Japanese | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 化け猫 | bakeneko · bakeneko | “Transforming cat” |
| 化ける | bakeru · bakeru | To transform, to take another form |
| お化け | obake · obake | A colloquial word for shapeshifters and ghosts in general |
| 猫又 | nekomata · nekomata | A related yokai with a forked tail |
| 行灯 | andon · andon | A paper oil lantern — the very lamp from the superstition |
Are Obake and Bakeneko the Same Thing?
Not quite: お化け (obake) is a general colloquial word for any shapeshifter or ghost, from an animated umbrella to a faceless spirit, while bakeneko is specifically a cat from that same category. Both words grow from the same verb 化ける “to transform”: obake is literally “that which has transformed,” and bakeneko is a particular case, “a transformed cat.”
化 — значение: to transform, to become — онъёми: カ、ケ — кунъёми: ば.ける、ば.かす、ふ.ける、け.する — 4 штрих(ов). 化 — “to transform, to become”: 4 strokes, on the left a person 亻, on the right an inverted person — together “a changing person.” The same character appears in 化学 (chemistry) and in the word お化け itself.
Write 化 along the guides and study the stroke order.
Bakeneko on the Kabuki Stage and in Modern Culture
- The legend of the Nabeshima cat became a popular kabuki play in the 19th century — performances were repeatedly halted after complaints.
- The artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi, known for his love of cats, eagerly painted bakeneko — scenes with cats on their hind legs in human clothing.
- Yokai franchises like “GeGeGe no Kitarō” and “Yo-kai Watch” continue the tradition, regularly including cat shapeshifters in their vast roster.
Why the Nabeshima Clan Legend Became a Centuries-Long Legend
The play about the Nabeshima cat was performed by various troupes for decades, and complaints about the productions came regularly. Historians see here not only a fear of a bad omen: before the Nabeshima, these lands were ruled by another clan, and the legend of the vengeful cat was long read as an allusion to that very past.
Bakeneko or Nekomata: Two Different Paths to Becoming a Cat Yokai
| Trait | Bakeneko | Nekomata |
|---|---|---|
| How it becomes a yokai | simply living long is enough; a tail is not required | the tail forks with age |
| Where it lives | almost always in a house, among people | the mountain variety — in forests; the domestic one — more rarely |
| Main trick | transformation and replacing the master | human speech, sometimes necromancy |
| Danger | cunning, acts stealthily while living nearby | the mountain variety is considered a serious, open threat |
In short: the bakeneko impersonates a human, the nekomata grows a second tail. If a yokai in a story passes itself off as the master of the house, it is a bakeneko; if it boasts a forked tail in the depths of the forest, it is a nekomata. A full breakdown of the nekomata, including the mountain and domestic varieties, is on a separate page.
FAQ
- What is a bakeneko?
- A bakeneko is a cat that has lived to a great old age and gained magical abilities: it walks on two legs, speaks in a human voice, and can change shape, even into the form of its dead master.
- How can you tell that a cat is turning into a bakeneko?
- According to folk signs — an unnaturally long life, a long tail, and the strange habit of licking fish oil from an andon lamp: in old Japan this was read as the first sign of transformation.
- How do you write “bakeneko” in kanji?
- 化け猫, read as ばけねこ: 化ける “to transform” plus 猫 “cat” — that is, “transforming cat.” A related, more dangerous yokai with a forked tail is called separately — 猫又 (nekomata).
- Are obake and bakeneko the same thing?
- No: お化け (obake) is a general colloquial word for any shapeshifters and ghosts, while bakeneko is specifically a transformed cat, one type of obake. Both words grow from the same verb 化ける “to transform.”
- How does a bakeneko differ from a nekomata?
- A bakeneko impersonates a human and replaces the master, while a nekomata gains its power from age and a forked tail, often living wild in the mountains. The first is cunning and stealthy, the second is more openly dangerous.
- What happened in the legend of the cat from the Nabeshima clan?
- According to the legend, a servant was executed after a quarrel with the lord, his grief-stricken mother died, and her cat, after licking up the blood, turned into a bakeneko and began to take revenge — the story ran on the kabuki stage for decades.
- Is a bakeneko an evil spirit or just a mysterious one?
- In old kaidan it is unambiguously dangerous, even to the point of killing and replacing its master. In modern retellings the image has softened to that of a merely secretive cat with no clear threat.
Sources
Updated: 2026-09-09