Yamabito

In Kunio Yanagita's interpretation recorded in Tōno Monogatari, yamabito are described as "descendants of a real, separate aboriginal race of people who were long ago forced into the mountains by the Japanese who then populated the plains" (Source: Tōno Monogatari summary quoted in Source 1). This ethnological framing is Yanagita's hypothesis and is disputed by critics such as Minakata Kumagusu, who argued that alleged sightings and stories were misperceptions or panicked reactions rather than evidence of a distinct aboriginal group (Source 1).

The provided sources do not supply a consistent canonical physical description. Yanagita's formulation implies a human-like population (an "aboriginal" people) but gives no systematic morphological traits. Minakata's skeptical anecdote records villagers describing startled mountain men as "monstrous," used there to argue misinterpretation of ordinary people (Source 1).

Yanagita links yamabito to kamikakushi—stories where people suddenly vanish and later reappear changed—so they function in the folklore as agents or focal points for disappearances and hidden otherworldly stay (quoted kamikakushi passage in Source 1). The cited materials do not ascribe specific supernatural powers such as shapeshifting, flight, or possession in a systematic way; the primary folkloric behavior recorded in the sources is association with mountain dwelling and with narratives of abduction/being hidden by kami/spirits (Source 1).