is a mountain god, spirit, and yà Âkai in Japanese folklore; the term "yamabiko" also refers to the echo that occurs in mountains, after which the yà Âkai is named. Literally translated, the term means "mountain boy". It is the yà Âkai responsible for the natural phenomenon in mountains or canyons. Living deep in the mountains, direct encounters with the yamabiko are rare. Often they are heard, but never seen. The small and elusive yokai wasn't officially classified until the Edo period in Japan. Instead the bizarre noises coming from the mountain were attributed to a natural phenomenon, like birds, and not given any spiritual significance. It is usually depicted with gray fur, peach-colored belly, floppy ears, large grin, and arms outstretched as though it is caught mid-shrug.
The yamabiko is a small creature that resembles a cross between a dog and a monkey.
The term "yamabiko" is also used to describe the phenomenon of a delayed echo in mountains and valleys, and is thought to be the spirit answering. In this case, it is written as 幽谷é¿. This anomaly is also sometimes called "kodama", when it is thought to be the answering voice of a tree spirit (æ¨é or æ¨éÂÂ).
In Tottori, Tottori Prefecture, a or a that lives in the mountain is thought to give out the yamabiko's voice. In Kusuyama of Hashikami village, Hata District, KÃ Âchi Prefecture (now Sukumo), regardless of whether it was day or night, when a sudden dreadful voice is heard deep in the mountains, this strange phenomenon is called "yamahiko".
They are sometimes seen to be the same as the yamawaro, spoken of in Western Japan, as well as the yamako in the Wakan Sansai Zue, and as it is thought that tree spirits would cause yamabiko to occur, they are also seen to be the same as the yà Âkai penghou that lives in trees. In collections of yà Âkai depictions like the Hyakkai Zukan and the Gazu Hyakki Yagyà Â, the yamabiko that looks like a dog is thought to be based on the yamako or the penghou.
The aforementioned yobukodori of Tottori is said to take on the appearance of a bird, and other than that, there is also a small rock mountain in Kitaazumi District, Nagano Prefecture called the "yamabiko rock" that return people's words, among other appearances of the word "yamabiko", and thus it can be seen that the yamabiko as yà Âkai are not uniform in either origin or what kind of yà Âkai they are.