Kechibi

Local sources record two principal origin types for kechibi. One type is described as emanating from the flesh at the instant a human dies—a postmortem emergence of a luminous onryō-like light. The other type is said to issue from living humans while they sleep, projecting outward as a light that may correspond to dreams or nightmares. These dual accounts are attested in regional collections (Rinichihara Ichihara as cited) and are reflected in folktales from Kōchi in which a kechibi chased by a passerby corresponds to a sleeping man's fearful dream.

Kechibi are reported as balls of fire—luminous, mobile orbs often described with human features visible within the flame. One common remark in sources is that "the face of a human floats in the fire." In some accounts kechibi appear above water, aligning them with water- or boat-related ghost-lights in certain tellings; elsewhere they appear along roads or beside rivers in nighttime narratives.

Kechibi are portrayed as mobile and evasive lights that move away when approached; in one tale a roadside kechibi "started rolling around" as a man drew near and was chased into a house. Lore from Kōchi records vernacular techniques to summon or beckon a kechibi—beating a zōri three times or putting saliva on a zōri and calling for it—attested in local legend sources as actions ordinary people might perform. Some tales record harmful consequences from capturing or handling a kechibi: for example, a man named Kumaani Saitō who captured one was reported to develop a fever and die the next day. Sources present such cases as attested stories rather than universal causal laws.