Mujina (貉?) is an old Japanese term primarily referring to the badger. In some regions the term refers instead to the Japanese raccoon dog (also called tanuki) or to introduced civets. Adding to the confusion, in some regions badger-like animals are also known as mami, and in one part of Tochigi Prefecture badgers are referred to as tanuki and raccoon dogs are referred to as mujina.
Like the tanuki and the fox, the mujina of Japanese folklore is an avid shapeshifter and deceiver of humans. One of the forms the mujina is purported to take, as popularized in a story by Lafcadio Hearn, is that of a "faceless ghost". This particular sort of monster is sometimes referred to by English speakers as a mujina, but the Japanese know it as noppera-bō.
Read more about Mujina: Sightings in Hawaii, Other Uses
Other articles related to "mujina":
... The term can also refer to the following "Mujina", a short story relating to the above legends, found in Lafcadio Hearn's book Kwaidan Stories and Studies of Strange Things Mujina-no-yu is a onsen ...
... Japanese faceless ghosts called noppera-bō have also become well known in Hawaii under the name mujina ... seems to have stemmed from a story by Lafcadio Hearn titled "Mujina", a story about a badger (mujina) which takes the form of a noppera-bō, rather than being one itself, which first ...
... May 19, 1959 Honolulu Advertiser report of a mujina seen in Hawaii ... gave more details on the event, including the previously unreported detail that the mujina in question had red hair ... Grant himself later reported on a number of other mujina sightings in Hawaii, from ‘Ewa Beach to Hilo ...
... A character in Rumiko Takahashi's series InuYasha was named Mujina and happened to be one herself ... The Mujina appears as a monster of the week in Ninja Sentai Kakuranger and was adapted as Artistmole in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ...
... state of Hawaii and where the term "mujina" vice "noppera-bō" is most deeply ingrained ... Honolulu Advertiser reporter Bob Krauss reported a sighting of a mujina at the Waialae Drive-In Theatre in Kahala ... her hair in the women's restroom, and when the witness came close enough, the mujina turned, revealing her featureless face ...