In Japan cryptids take the form and name Yōkai (妖怪): supernatural spirits, demons and monsters of Japanese folklore. The Kappa is an amphibious yōkai and a trickster-like menace to those it approaches.
Roughly the size of a child and humanoid in shape, the Kappa is said to generally have green skin, webbed hands and a turtle-like shell on its back.
Atop its head is a strange plate/bowl filled with water that represents the Kappa’s life-energy. Should the liquid ever spill, the Kappa will lose its powers and possibly even die!
While this little monster may look like a harmless turtle-friend, don’t be fooled. The Kappa are known for as little as looking up women’s kimonos to full blown assault and murder of women and children. There’s even tales of them eating human flesh!
The multiple sightings and myths of the kappa has led to a variety of looks for this cryptid.
It can have yellow to green to blue skin, look more or less human (an in contrast, more or less like a turtle-creature), and has different body plating.
There isn’t as many readily available eye-witness accounts or notable recordings of sightings (at least for an English-speaker like myself)… However, the Kappa is pervasive throughout Japanese folklore and through historical (and mythological) accounts. Due to this, I still qualify this creepy turtle trickster yōkai as a fellow cryptid!
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