Ōnyūdō

Ōnyūdō is a yōkai, or supernatural monster, told about in parts of Japan.

Their name has the meaning of "big monk", but depending on area, there are various legends where their actual appearance is that of an unclear shadow, simply a giant rather than a monk, among others.

[2] The ones that look like a monk (bōzu) are also called ōbōzu.

There are also stories where they are foxes (kitsune) or tanuki in disguise, or something that a stone pagoda shapeshifts into, but many of them are of unknown true identity.

[2] In Azashiro, Takawagawara village, Myōzai District, Awa Province (now Ishii, Myōzai District, Tokushima Prefecture), by leaving rice in the water wheel of the creek, an ōnyūdō with a height two jō and eight shaku (about 8.5 meters) would appear, and is said to hull the rice for that person.