Nikujin

Nikujin is a shadowy figure from Japanese folklore, loosely translating to “flesh person” or “meat man,” described as a hulking humanoid that prowls mountain paths, attacking travelers with almost mindless ferocity. Unlike more ethereal yōkai, the Nikujin is portrayed as unsettlingly corporeal—massive, bloodstained, and driven purely by hunger. Some stories depict it as a tormented spirit of a hermit who resorted to cannibalism, forever cursed to haunt the wilderness. Modern cryptid enthusiasts sometimes connect it to rare bear attacks misinterpreted through a lens of old superstition. Still, the Nikujin’s blend of grotesque humanity and monstrous appetite ensures it endures in local ghost lore as a chilling reminder of what happens when isolation and desperation transform men into something far worse.