41) Japan - 18. Nurikabe

The name literally translates to 'mud wall.' It's a yokai that suddenly appears before someone walking on a dark night road and blocks their path. It can appear as a giant wall with sleepy eyes, or as a four-legged beast with three eyes and large ears, or sometimes its form is invisible, and only the smooth texture of a wall can be felt. Even if you try to go around it, it's said to stretch endlessly, making it impossible to pass no matter how far you walk. When encountering a Nurikabe, it's said to disappear if you tap the lower part of the wall. Conversely, tapping the upper part is said to be useless. According to some legends, you can escape by stopping for a break or by taking a different route altogether. Nurikabe was considered a nuisance yokai that didn't directly harm people but rather blocked their path, preventing them from moving forward or causing them to get lost. In Fukuoka, a story is told of a person returning home late at night who was blocked by an invisible wall and couldn't take a single step forward, along with the tip of escaping by taking a detour or fumbling their way out by feeling the ground.