In Showa 4 (1767), in the kaidan collection Shinsetsu Hyakumonogatari, there were stories that told of how in Nijugawara in Kyoto (near the Nijo-ohashi bridge in the Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto), a monster called noppera-bō appeared and those that were attacked by it would have several thick hairs attached to their clothing, indicating that it was the disguise of some kind of animal. Often, a noppera-bō would not actually exist, but was the disguise of a mujina, a fox kitsune, or a tanuki.
FACELESS SAMURAI SKIN
They appear at first as ordinary human beings, sometimes impersonating someone familiar to the victim, before causing their features to disappear, leaving a blank, smooth sheet of skin where their face should be. Noppera-bō are known primarily for frightening humans, but are usually otherwise harmless. Lafcadio Hearn used the animals' name as the title of his story about faceless monsters, probably resulting in the misused terminology. Such creatures were thought to sometimes transform themselves into noppera-bō in order to frighten humans. Although the mujina can assume the form of the other, noppera-bō are usually disguised as humans.
They are sometimes mistakenly referred to as a mujina, an old Japanese word for a badger or raccoon dog. The noppera-bō ( のっぺらぼう), or faceless ghost, is a Japanese yōkai that looks like a human but has no face. Depiction of a noppera-bō (by Asai Ryōi in his Otogi Boko, early Edo period)
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