The is a yà Âkai that appears in Edo Period yà Âkai emaki such as the Gazu Hyakki Yagyà  and the Hyakkai Zukan. It is depicted with indistinguishable wrinkles on its face and body as a one head blob of meat.
In the emaki, it has nothing more than a name and picture, and there is almost no explanatory text, but from its name and the passage "there is a monster (bakemono) called nuppeppà Â. It has neither eye nor ear" (ã‹£ãºã£ã½ãÂÂã¨ãÂÂãµåÂÂãÂÂãÂÂã®æÂÂãÂÂãÂÂç®ãÂÂãªãÂÂè³ãÂÂç¡ãÂÂ) from the sharebon (silly tales book) Shingo Zade Hà Âdai Mà Âgyà « ("Shingo Left All You Can Eat Blind Cow") (æ°å¾左åºæ¾é¡Âç²çÂÂ) (1781), it is seen as a type of noppera-bà Â. In an old picture book manuscript (year unknown) held at the Shisui Library, Inui Yà «hei portrayed a yà Âkai called "nubbehhà Â" (ã‹£ã¹ã£ãÂȋÂÂ), and it is introduced with the words "it is called the disguised form of an old toad, similar to the fox or tanuki." This "nubbehhà Â" picture comes with the words, "a monster that's a very wrinkly sweet potato with four short limbs." The aforementioned Shingo Zade Hà Âdai Mà Âgyà « also writes, "it sucks the fat of the dead and eats to the fullest with a needle. In the past, they'd come disguised as a doctor, but now they just come as is......" (æ»人ã®èÂÂãÂÂå¸ãÂÂãÂÂéÂÂ大ãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂå°ãÂÂãÂÂæÂÂã¯åÂȏ ã«åÂÂãÂÂã¦åºã¦ãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂä»Âã¯ãÂÂã®ã¾ã¾åºã¦ãÂÂãÂÂâ¦â¦).
Also, the yà Âkai researcher Katsumi Tada notes that while in modern times, the nopperabà  is known as the yà Âkai with no eyes or nose on its face, in older times it was shaped like this nuppepà  with no distinction between face and body. It is said that it smears ("nupperi") itself with white face powder, called "whitening" (ç½åÂÂ), but this "whitening" has the meanings "pretending not to know, feigning ignorance," "deceive by pretending to speak frankly," "become open and unconcealed," "apply white facial powder," and "white monster," among others. It is said that as an embodiment of this "whitening," the nuppepà  would first impersonate a human (pretending not to know), come to a pedestrian and talk as if friendly (speaking frankly), and as that person is letting their guard down, they'd show their true form (become open and unconcealed) and show their original appearance (a white monster, as if having applied white facial powder).
In the literature starting in the Shà Âwa and Heisei periods, it was written to be a yà Âkai that appears near abandoned temples, but this comes from the passage "on the eaves of old temples would appear the nuppepà Â, almost like a lump of trouble itself" from the book Yà Âkai Gadan Zenshà « Nihonhen Jà  (å¦Âæªç»è«Âå ¨é æÂ¥æ¬篠ä¸Â) by the folklore scholar Morihiko Fujisawa, so it's been suggested that Fujisawa's statement of "appearing at temples" is nothing more than an original made-up creation imagined from the background in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyà Â. Also, some literature notes that it is a yà Âkai that is born as the changed form of dead meat, so when this yà Âkai passes through, it would leave the stench of rotten meat in its trail, but the original primary source for this is unknown.
In the Bunka period writing Isshà Âwa (ä¸Â宵話, "One Evening Story"), there is a story similar to the nuppepà Â.
In 1609 (Keichà  14), at the courtyard of Sunpu Castle, someone that looked like a blob of meat appeared. It had the form of a young child, and it had hands but no fingers, and it could even be called a . It was thought that someone like this who'd enter a high security castle would obviously be a yà Âkai, but when they tried to capture it, it moved so fast, it could not be captured. Tokugawa Ieyasu, who lived at Sunpu Castle at the time, ordered that person be driven out, so the servants gave up trying to capture it and instead just drove it from the castle into the mountains.
Someone who later heard this tale and was knowledgeable about pharmaceutics noted that this is the "Feng" (å°Â) mentioned in old Chinese texts, and it was also written about in the Bái Zé Tú, and regretted a missed opportunity because eating its meat is a panacea that grants great power.
The name "nuppeppà Â" is a corruption of the derogatory slang , used to describe a woman who applies too much make-up. This is most likely a reference to the creature's saggy appearance, which is similar to the sagging of a face under heavy make-up.
The nuppeppà  appears as a blob of flesh with a hint of a face in the folds of fat. Though largely amorphous, fingers, toes, and even rudimentary limbs may be attributed as features amidst the fold of skin. The origins of the nuppeppà  are unknown. However, it is sometimes described as constructed of the flesh of dead humans in a manner similar to Frankenstein's monster.
The nuppeppà  is passive and almost entirely harmless, but it has a repulsive body odor is said to rival that smell of rotting flesh. Those who eat the flesh of a nuppeppà  are described as being granted eternal youth.
The nuppeppà  aimlessly wanders deserted streets of villages, towns and cities, often at night towards the year-end, or graveyards or abandoned temples. It is usually a solitary creature, but there have reportedly been sightings of them in groups. If encountered, the nuppeppà  is unlikely to cause a human any harm. However, its lumbering stature and foul odor may cause shock and alarm.
Illustrations of the Nuppeppà  can be found as early as 1737 Hyakkai Zukan by author Sawaki Suushi and the late seventeenth century Bakemono no e. Later illustrations can be found in the works of Toriyama Sekien, starting with his 1776 publication Gazu Hyakki Yagyà Â.
The 18th century scribe Makibokusen wrote a scroll describing the appearance of a creature matching the description of the nuppeppà  at the castle of shà Âgun Tokugawa Ieyasu. According to the story, Tokugawa ordered that the creature be sent away to the mountains unharmed so that it could be kept safe and clear of human settlements. Tokugawa later learns that the creature is noted in Chinese literature as being a "sovereign specific", endowed with powers of restoration.