21) Japan - 10. Makuragaeshi

The name literally translates to 'pillow flipper,' and it's a yokai that flips or moves a sleeping person's pillow, changing their sleeping direction. According to some legends, it flips the pillow to the north. In Japan, there's a custom of laying the deceased with their head facing north, so simply flipping a pillow northward was considered ominous, believed to bring death. In the past, Japanese people believed that the soul left the body during dreams. They thought that if the body's orientation changed while the soul was away, the soul might not be able to return, causing eternal sleep. Therefore, even the simple act of moving a pillow was feared as an omen of death or illness. In Toriyama Sekien's Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, it's depicted as a small Niō statue. It's also sometimes portrayed as a child or a monk. In some regions, it's considered an animal's prank and depicted as a tanuki, monkey, or cat. There's also a tale from Hidaka District, Wakayama Prefecture, about seven woodcutters who felled an old cypress tree. That night, Makuragaeshi appeared and killed all seven of them.