Inugami

Multiple local origin accounts exist. A common folkloric origin attributes inugami to kodoku/kojutsu rites in which a dog is cruelly killed, buried, burned, or otherwise mistreated so that its grudges become a usable spirit that can be housed by a human practitioner; this kodoku practice was historically feared and is recorded as banned in the Heian period. Other regional narratives treat inugami as one variety among small familiar spirits related to kuda-gitsune or osaki and link them to legendary fragmentary origins (e.g., fractured monster-stone myths); sources therefore present kodoku as a primary folkloric production method but do not claim a single uniform origin for all inugami traditions.

Descriptions vary widely by region and text. Some accounts present an inugami as the spirit of a dog (the conceptual origin), while many local reports describe very small mammal-like creatures: mouse-sized with patches of black-and-white (Otogi Bōko), groups of many 'inugami mice' (Aishima), long-nosed house-mouse or shrew-like forms, weasel-like animals with black-and-white spots, or even bat-like bodies of about 1 shaku (certain district reports). Features sometimes noted include a split-tailed appearance and indistinct or hidden eyes. Accounts therefore record a range from tiny rice-grain–sized forms to small mammal or bat-like creatures rather than a single fixed dog-shaped apparition.

Inugami are reported to attach to people, livestock, and objects and to cause possession-like symptoms: jealousy of personality, chest pain, pain in arms and feet, sudden swaying, barking like a dog, and entering the body via the ears. They are said to follow family bloodlines, creating hereditary attachment that produces social taboos (avoidance of marriage into 'inugami' families) and discrimination. When intentionally created by kodoku, an inugami serves as a spirit-servant that will 'possess' and grant the wishes of its owner. Practitioners linked to creating or managing inugami in sources include miko, sorcerers, yamabushi, priests, and fuko.