The account preserved in the Edo-period ghost-story collection 'Kaidan Old Staff' describes an episode at a friend's house in Azabu. An old man stayed overnight to observe the phenomenon; when the room was quiet he heard a loud noise as if someone was stepping over the ceiling, followed by the sound of sowing beans that gradually grew in volume until it equaled the sound of a 'one-tooth' (about 18 litres) measure of azuki beans. Later the sounds of clogging and watering seemed to come from the garden, but when the man opened the shoji there was no one present.
No visible form is reported; sources explicitly describe Azukihakari as 'a monster that makes the sound of red beans in a house without appearing' and 'a monster with only sound.' Indirect physical effects are recorded: the tale notes it 'may drop dirt and paper waste from the ceiling,' indicating environmental disturbance without a manifest body.
Azukihakari produces distinctive household sounds associated with azuki (red) beans—sowing or measuring—that can increase in volume and shift perceived location within or around a house (from ceiling to garden). The tale sequence begins with noises like stepping on the ceiling, progresses to bean-sowing sounds that grow to the volume of a 'one-tooth' measure of beans, and later includes sounds of clogging and watering coming from the garden though no person is found there. Scholars cited in the source suggest a theoretical similarity to poltergeist phenomena because of audible disturbances and incidental physical effects without a visible agent.
Azimua
Azimua (earlier Ninazimua) is a Mesopotamian goddess attested from the Ur III period onward, primarily known as the wife/consort of the god Ningishzida and in some traditions functioning as an underworld-associated figure or scribe. She was worshiped in southern Mesopotamia (notably Ur and Umma) and appears in a fragmentary myth, Ningishzida and Ninazimua, which concerns an exchange of messages with her temporarily deceased husband.
Aziza
In West African traditional belief the Aziza are a beneficent class of small, forest-dwelling supernatural beings who aid people—especially hunters—by providing 'good magic' and practical and spiritual knowledge. They are associated with anthills and silk‑cotton (kapok) trees and are portrayed as helpful rather than hostile.
Azovka (Azov Girl)
Azovka, often called the Azov Girl in English summaries, is a female supernatural figure named in Pavel Bazhov’s Ural skaz tale "Beloved Name." The supplied sources identify her as a character from Ural-region folklore as represented in Bazhov’s miners’ tales but provide no detailed description or independent folkloric tradition beyond that tale reference.
Azrael
Azrael is the canonical angel of death in Islamic tradition and appears earlier in apocryphal Christian literature; portrayed as a high‑ranking, God‑ordained psychopomp who removes and transports souls, keeps a register of human fates, and acts only under divine command. In some extra‑Quranic and exegetical accounts he is depicted with vast, awe‑inspiring physical attributes and in a few apocryphal Christian texts he is associated with punitive afterlife functions.
Azukiarai
Azukiarai is a Japanese folkloric phenomenon — a yokai-associated auditory apparition characterized by the uncanny sound of azuki (red) beans being washed or ground near water. In stories the sound can lure listeners toward rivers or ponds; accounts vary between treating it as an unseen spirit, a grotesque short humanlike yokai, or the misattributed noise of trickster animals such as tanuki or weasels.
Azukibabaa
Azukibabaa (あずきばばあ, "bean hag") is a Japanese yōkai represented as an old-woman figure whose presence is signaled by the sound of azuki beans being handled (azukiarai). Found in regional folk narratives around Kantō and nearby prefectures, she lures or unnerves night travelers and in some localities is said to scoop up or swallow passersby.
Azumi-no-isora
Azumi-no-isora (阿曇磯良) is a Shinto kami of the seashore and the ancestral deity of the Azumi people. He is attested in late legends as a lesser sea deity who acted as a navigator in a story involving the loan of the tide jewels to Empress Jingū and is worshiped at several coastal shrines.
Azure Dragon (Qīnglóng)
The Azure Dragon (青龙 / 青龍 Qīnglóng) is one of the Four Symbols of Chinese constellations and a principal astral/territorial guardian associated with the eastern quarter of the sky and the season of spring. It functions as a cosmological and civic protective emblem appearing in temple iconography, tomb murals, and syncretic links to named Dragon Kings.
Aëdon
Aëdon is a mythic woman in ancient Greek tradition who, after killing (or attempting to kill) a child in a tragic episode of jealousy or madness, is transformed into the nightingale; the bird's plaintive song is presented as her eternal mourning for the lost child.
Aëtos
Aëtos (Greek: Ἀετός, 'eagle') is an earth-born youth in Greek myth who is transformed into the eagle that becomes the sacred bird and emblem of Zeus. In surviving accounts he functions etiologically as the origin/personification of Zeus's eagle and appears in narrations of Zeus's youth, the Gigantomachy, the torment of Prometheus, and the rescue by Heracles.
Añjanā
Añjanā (Sanskrit: अञ्जना; also Anjani, Anjali) is a semi-divine figure of the Ramayana cycle, described as an apsara reborn among the vanaras and the mother of the hero Hanuman. She figures both in pan-Indian epic narratives (as wife of Kesari and devotee of Vayu) and in regional cultic practice (notably a temple tradition in Himachal Pradesh) and is adapted in Javanese wayang as Dewi Anjani.
Aśvatthāmā (Ashvatthama)
Aśvatthāmā is a major human warrior-character in the Indian epic Mahābhārata, son of the teacher Drona and close ally of the Kaurava leader Duryodhana. In postwar narrative episodes he is depicted committing a nocturnal slaughter of sleeping rivals and attempting to use the cosmic weapon Brahmāstra, after which the sage Vyasa admonishes and curses him in the dramatic retellings cited.
Community Record
- [1]Azukihakari. Wikipedia, 'Azukihakari' entry (summary of 'Kaidan Old Staff' account)wiki
- [2]Azukihakari (yokai.com). yokai.com entry for Azukihakari summarizing Edo-period talefolk
- [3]List of legendary creatures from Japan. Wikipedia list placing Azukihakari within broader compendia of Japanese legendary creatureswiki