The Kasha Doesn't Just Steal Corpses

The Kasha Doesn't Just Steal Corpses written by TheDarkCat97
What says “Halloween” more than an evil cat, right? Well, if you thought witches’ black cats were scary, you haven’t seen anything. Japanese cats are far scarier than anything the West has cooked up, and this story’s is a perfect example. I also think it’s a good counterbalance to all of the bird yokai we’ve looked at recently…

Kasha is a kind of bake-neko, or monster cat. It’s name translates into “fire cart,” which is a more than little confusing… not only is there no cart made of fire, there are a number of other yokai who seem to be much more deserving of the name “fire cart;” wanyuudou, for one, and its cousin the katawaguruma come to mind, as well as a yokai not yet featured on this blog called hi-no-kuruma, which actually translates into “fire cart” as well, and is even written with the exact same kanji as kasha.

Nevertheless, the yokai most commonly referred to as kasha is this one. It is a large, roughly man-sized demonic cat who preys on newly deceased corpses, stealing them and dragging them to… somewhere. To hell? To the land of the dead? Or do they just eat them up? Similar yokai like the ones I mentioned above take their victims back to hell… while other bake-neko like to eat humans. Some stories refer to them as messengers of hell, or as messengers of gods, others imply that they are acting on their own… So it could be any of those reasons. Kasha generally tend to target people who were wicked in life and thus perhaps deserve whatever that fate is, but there are always exceptions to any rule…

Kasha are found all over in Japan. They are fast and strong, and can leap from rooftop to rooftop with their snatched corpses. They can appear in the middle of a thunderstorm, and vanish with the corpse in a flash of lightning. It is pretty much impossible to retrieve one’s remains after they have been taken by a kasha; the best defense against them is to be prepared. As such, temples all over Japan in areas where kasha are said to prowl have devised their own ways of defending against these monster cats:

In Yamagata prefecture, clever priests have taken to holding two funeral ceremonies for the deceased. The first ceremony is a fake: the casket is filled only with rocks, so if a kasha comes for the body it will end up with nothing. In Ehime prefecture, a head shaver is placed on top of the coffin as a ward to keep kasha away. In Miyazaki prefecture, the funeral procession chants “Baku ni wa kuwasen” and “Kasha ni wa kuwasen” (“Don’t be eaten by a baku, don’t be eaten by a kasha”) two times in front of the coffin, which supposedly keeps kasha away. (I don’t know why baku, who eat bad dreams, would be included in this chant…) In Okayama prefecture, the priests play myohachi, a type of cymbal used in religious ceremonies, in order to keep the kasha away.

Whatever their true nature is, it is pretty undeniable that kasha are bad. Cats, in fact, have long been considered evil beings in Japan. Since ancient times, folk wisdom tells us, “Don’t let cats near dead bodies,” and, “If a cat jumps over the coffin, the corpse inside the coffin will rise!” If a simple house cat is evil enough to raise the dead, just imagine what a giant monster cat like the kasha could potentially do…

But, to me though, I think whoever believes that cats are evil are fucking insane.

Matter of fact, I think any person who kills animals for his or her own religion are fucking insane. Of course, there are some people who get a kick out of this, but it's because their fearmongering preachers who would delete comments, throw tantrums, or lash out at people like angry children who aren't getting their own way, all because they have a different opinion on the matter. Trust me, I've been living in the Izumi region all my life, and I've never seen any Kasha in the local cemetery at night. By this point, you're probably wondering if I actually ran into this specific creature. If you have, I'd say... maybe? I dunno. I'm just as confused as you are to be honest. Whatever it was, it did make me think twice about what happened in the apartment I live in. It all started when I was about eleven-years-old, my dad and my younger brother, Eiji (meaning: The Second Born One), were sitting in front of the television around 8:38 PM on a Saturday night, and the weather man said that a thunderstorm is coming, and it changed to the news about the recent robbery around Tokyo. My dad, being the Buddhist that he is, believed that the Kasha is coming to town, and that we should be prepared - no questions asked.

We locked all the doors and windows, and hid under the bed as we waited for the demonic creature. After hearing the thunder and lightning for what felt like eons, we waited, and waited, and waited. Nothing. Not even a single sound. Just the sounds of booms and crackles mixed in with the hard tapping of rain on the glass. I awoke in the middle of the night at about 11:45 to see something casting a dim, orange glow around the rain. I looked out my bedroom window and saw a fiery object coming towards our apartment, fast. It was hard to make out, but it looked like a carriage of some sort... I passed this off as a comet passing by, or my childish mind playing tricks on me, seeing that I was still tired. My mind was racing from one thought to another as I began to hype myself up for the impossible.

I'd stopped watching the window and had begun to daydream about our mother coming home from a hard day of work, until the stamping of feet on the stairway outside interrupted my thoughts. I heard loud, heavy thumps this time as it got closer to the apartment door.

We heard the door's handle begin to shake, creating a rattling noise as what I assumed to be mom entering the home. My final thought before exiting our bedroom and seeing what came next was "How has no one noticed all of this?" Through the door and through the rain protruded a large, feline, inhuman hand with five clawed, stubby fingers. As the rain and flashes of lightning continued, the rest of the figure was revealed.

The thing was muscular, supernaturally tall with dark grey skin and several glowing scars around it's body. It had glowing red, orange, and yellow large eyes with a brass-colored armlet on it's right arm in the shape of a dragon, and it's legs appeared cat-like, akin to one of those hairless cats you'd see on television. In fact, everything about it was hairless, showing wrinkles around it's entire body. In my own words, it kind of reminded me of Beerus from DragonBall Super, but with Luciferian qualities. It wore nothing but a tattered loin cloth, has a long whip-like tail, and it's fangs were so long that they almost seemed to stick out of it's mouth. And it's gums were black as tar, and it was so tall that it's head would've bumped the ceiling if it jumped.

I couldn't believe my eyes... I-I must've had a nightmare, I must have been! Sure I've seen videos about numerous Japanese legends like Kuchisake-Onna and Teke Teke, but nothing prepared me for the beast that is the Kasha.

It moved around the room with such speed that I was caught off guard. This thing looked about 7 feet tall, and because of that it towered over everything in our apartment. It went over to our room, in which, me and Eiji exited when looking to figure out who was at the door. We were hiding under the kitchen sink and never came out until the Kasha was gone. We can hear it searching around our bedroom, fumbling with our pictures, looking through the bed, and opening and closing the closet. Until we heard our dad entering the room and began to say, "ここには力がなく、立ち去り、二度と戻ってこない！(You have no power here, leave and never come back!)"

After that, I swear to Christ, the abomination spoke... Let me repeat that, it, fucking, spoke! It was the deep, stony baritone with unmistakable menace. "あなたは十分なトラブルを引き起こしたと思いませんか？(Don't you think you caused enough trouble?)

I tried to scream with all my might but no sound would escape my mouth. As I finally was able to choke out "お父さん！(Father!)" Screams had already filled the room. Our dad came running out of his room screaming his head off as blood trickled from his face and arms! The creature's long, twisted arm reached out from the room and grabbed our dad's leg, pulling him back into the room! With that the door slammed shut, leaving us scared out of our minds! I managed to gather up as much courage as possible and attempted to lure the Kasha out of our bedroom. I faked a heart-attack, and laid on the floor, and waited for the beast to open the door to whisk me away. In which, it did.

It walked towards me, and gazed upon me for what felt like hours. Then, for some miracle, it seemed to fall for my ruse. But, I didn't expect it to grab me, carry me outside, and place me on it's fiery carriage. I saw the flames on the cart, and I also saw the amount of burning bodies inside. But, the flames didn't burn me, which was bizarre for me. Guess it's because I was still alive. I then heard the monster go back inside for what felt like hours, then exit outside with my dad's mutilated corpse. The site of my dead father made me want to cry, but I kept it all inside, trying not to blow my cover.

I can then feel the stormy wind blowing in my face as the Kasha whisked me away up into the blackened sky - rain covering my eyes as I tried to see where it was taking me, or, taking the numerous bodies along with me. I clung onto the rails of the cart, trying not to fly off. It was that fast. Then, the rain stopped, and I can then see fire everywhere, filling the surrounding area in the same orange glow as the cart. I then felt the cart come to a complete stop, and I went back to pretending to be dead as the beast hauled me and my dead father out of the cart, and carried us inside what looked like a huge temple guarded by two ogre-like demons. The Kasha then carried me downstairs into some large room in a basement, which looked like the inside of a slaughterhouse; large meat hooks dangled from the ceiling in chains as instruments of torture hung on the walls on racks. What made it so eerie was that it was dimly lit by some candles on a table in the middle of the room, and... a pool of dry-and-or-fresh blood were all over the floor around wooden tables, with either rotten corpses laid, or they would be vacant for someone's corpse to lay on for whatever nightmarish autopsy would be performed on them.

I tried not to vomit, not just by the grizzly site, but by the smell of flesh, blood, urine, fecal matter, or both.

The Kasha then placed me on one of the tables, and then placed my father's corpse on another in the other section of the room. Then I can hear it come back to check me out, then it padded around my pants, and felt my dad's iPhone in my pocket. It somehow knew how to turn it on, type in the code, and go to YouTube through Google. It fumbled around my dad's phone for what felt like seconds, 'till it went to a video of one of those music videos. I can tell it was the music video for Rob Zombie's Superbeast, and I can tell it enjoyed the music. It carried the phone to my dad's corpse, the music fading as it went. This was my chance...

I hopped off the table and crept towards the stairs of the basement, trying so hard not to get caught. I couldn't believe that the Kasha's actually a fan of Rob Zombie. I had no idea where I was now, but it was dark and it was a bit gothic. I think it's where the creature lives... or works at. I opened the door to see more demons. I also saw many creepy looking monsters and other creepy specters. The door behind me closed and I was emerged in total  darkness. I didn't need a flashlight as the torches on the walls barely lit my way. I snuck past a monk with a scary face, I crept past a geisha with snake-like characteristics. I found a lot of spider-like abominations on the ceiling, paying me no mind. I thought it was like Satan's rejected butcher shop until I found the word "モルゲ (MORGUE)" smeared in red paint next to a skeleton.

I was terrified someone else was caught in that room before. When I got closer to the skeleton, it jumped towards me and yelled "遊びたい？(Wanna play?)" I got really scared and jumped back as the skeleton let out a scary laugh.

I heard scurrying and footsteps of other corpses from all around. I started catching the dead people and ginger other skeletons turning their heads as I ran along the walls trying to relocate the door. I found another message on the wall: "私を殺して… (Kill me...)" was scratched into the wall by something. I wanted nothing more than for this night to end.

When I located the door, I bolted for it as soon as I saw it, and left before it was to late. I ran from the dark room, closed the door behind me, and leaned on it for a while to catch my bearings.

I walked to an open door and poked only half my head out to scan the perimeter of the room. It lead to a large room that had various whips, saws, and various other torture devices. I kept in and kept to the wall. I spotted three dark wooden doors amongst the darkness and concrete walls. I also found a window, and the flames outside was still present along with the wails of millions of people burning in agony. So gut-wrenchingly loud and pitiful. Two doors were on one large wall, opposite of the window, and the other was on the wall to the right of the window. I first tried on one of the doors on the long wall, but had decided beforehand to go to the door right of the window thinking it would lead me closer to a door out or something. The walls were lined with racks, and racks were lined with hellish masks. Some had horns, some had three eyes, some had tusks, some had patches of skin, some had horns, one was painted messily in white. It was so strange. The room was so large, the other door led to the same room. I left with out moving the door in fear that closing the heavy door would create noise and would lead the creature to me.

I walked along side the wall to avoid the equipment, straight to the only door I had left. I opened the door slowly and with caution. The first thing in the room I noticed was a strange painting, that looked like a portrait of a short Oni with a beer bottle. Around it was two torches with black flames.

There was another window in this room, but it was on the same side as the last. There was an open doorway that led to a hallway that T'd off and two signs labeled the directions. The right one said "監視室 (Serveillance Room)" and the left one said "ケンネル (Kennel)." I went to the kennels thinking I might be able to fend off the Kasha with the dogs there and be able to escape. After all, the Kasha is a cat, right? Of course, it seems like a silly plan now in hindsight. I opened the kennel door and awful smells invaded my nostrils immediately. There was blood and body parts on the floor as well. The dogs there are horned, dog-like, demonic monsters with blazing red eyes and powerful bodies. They resembled the Terror Dogs from the movie Ghostbusters, but with different skin colors, hell some were even reptilian.

They noticed me and began to growl. It wasn't like an actual growl from the dogs from our realm... what I heard was the most bone-chilling sounds any human being ever heard on God's green Earth.

I decided petting one of them was out of the question and began searching for an exit. I realized the only door to the room was the one I came from. I looked all over the room looking for some other way out and saw the reason for the heat. The top crease and upper part of one wall was missing and led outside. It was far too high to reach. I left the kennel and went into the surveillance room. The handle warm as I slowly opened the door. The room like all the rest, large. One wall was covered with monitors. The bottom, middle monitor stuck out more than the rest and had a keyboard below it. A chair was also pulled up to it. Each screen had various people on it, some in dreadful conditions, others minding their own business. No sound came from the monitors, but I started to notice I was hearing a ticking noise. A clock above the door I came in read "5:45". The wall opposite of the monitors had many names scratched into it. I wondered if Akio's name was scratched into the wall. He was the school bully after all.

A door that read "出口 (EXIT)" was to the right of the monitors, but the computer said "検索名 (Search Name)."

I sat in the large chair and saw that one of the demons had already typed in my dad's name... Haruto Koriyama.

I saw a picture of an angel being painfully torn from his wings... resembling like my father. I sat frozen in aw for a moment. Tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks. The ticking of the clock seemed to turn into clopping as I sobbed. I was crying more than I ever cried before. I cried so hard I'd began hearing a ringing. Than the chair I was in was spun around and I was face to face with Kasha.

It looked menacing and insidiously sinister. It's hands and torso were partly covered in blood, and it's eyes burned like never before. It waved his long, sharp, bony finger at me and tsk'd. "いたずら、いたずら (Naughty, naughty)." He chuckled cruelly and mockingly. It licked my face with his tongue, then I utilized my time to throw some purple powder into it's eyes, and ran toward the exit. I felt the ground shake directly behind me as padded feet shook the floor violently in their wake. I felt the creature's hot breath on the back of my neck. I pushed the door open and ran into the blazing heat as my pursuer followed suit. I ran until the air grew hotter than Hell's basement, until a lanky hand gripped me and started dragging me back. The hellish sky slowly lit as a bright light started to emerge from the sky.

The Kasha stopped dragging me. It dropped me and stared briefly at the light. "すぐに来ます (I'll come get you soon.)" It said as he dropped my leg and retreated to it's lair as I lay on the ground. A silhouetted figure came from a distance. I closed my eyes for what felt like seconds, but when I opened my eyes, the sun was higher in the sky, and the figure was closer. I could make out that he was handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he is by no means unattractive, than I passed out again.

I opened my eyes to see an outstretched hand. It belonged to a man wearing gold. "仏 (Buddha)?" I weakly inquired.

"Ssshhh 子 (Child)," he said in a soft soothing voice. "家に帰りましょう (let's take you home)."

The next thing I remember was waking up in my bed at home. My dad was "kidnapped" in the middle of the night, I found out from the neighbors who already told our parents and the cops. I tried to tell them what really happened but no one believed me, they only got mad when I tried to explain it to them. So I gave up on trying to tell them.

I never believed in the supernatural before, but, now that I have... I just don't know what to think of it. If you live around Japan, and you know who the Kasha is, it doesn't just steal corpses. It takes them to be surgically and spiritually transformed into other demons for Satan's army. This is why the Kasha does what it does, it steals the corpses of wicked people and, for some deranged reason, takes them to Satan to sign up and join his military to attack other mortals. I know it sounds crazy, but that's what I saw during my childhood, and it sure as hell scarred me for life. Now that I'm a young adult, I am recently getting a college degree in Tokyo. It's not the best college out there, but thankfully I learned to speak and type in English.

There's a storm outside my home right now, I can hear the thunder booming. I gotta go lock my door and window, don't want Kasha coming into my dorm room. If you're reading this article and are from Japan, I suspect you do the same.