Jubokko

Kanji: 樹木子
Kana: じゅぼっこ
Pronunciation: jubokko

TRANSLATION: Tree child
ALTERNATE NAMES: Vampire Tree; Tree Child
ORIGIN: Modern; manga / Mizuki Shigeru

HABITAT: Old battlefields and forests where mass death once took place
DIET: Human blood

ABILITIES:

• Snatches passersby with long, finger-like branches
• Feeds on blood through hollow tube-like twigs
• Camouflages as an ordinary tree
• A branch taken from it is said to heal the wounded

WEAKNESSES:

• Fire
• Axes

OVERVIEW: Jubokko is a vampire tree yokai that grows on old battlefields where many people once lost their lives. It is mostly known from the works of manga artist Mizuki Shigeru.

APPEARANCE: From a distance, Jubokko looks like an ordinary tree. A closer look reveals long, jagged, finger-like branches and hollow twigs shaped like tubes. The leaves of Jubokko remain fresh and green even when other trees nearby turn brown. Bleached human bones remain in the grass at the base. The bark covers a slow and quiet hunger. When somebody takes an axe to the tree, red blood flows from the wound.

BEHAVIOR: Jubokko waits in silence for unsuspecting humans to walk underneath. The tree snatches the victim with its branches and raises them into the boughs. The hollow twigs go into the skin and feed on the blood of the body. After Jubokko is done, birds and insects eat what remains and only dry bones return to the ground.

INTERACTIONS: Travelers who stay beneath Jubokko never return. Local people fear forests where old battles once took place and stay away from lone trees with bones at the base. A branch taken from the tree is said to heal and clean the wounds of the injured. To protect themselves, humans attack the tree with fire and axes.

OTHER FORMS: Jubokko was once a normal tree. It became a yokai slowly as its roots took in the blood of fallen warriors. In some later retellings, the host tree starts as a beech, cherry, oak, or magnolia.