Umibōzu

Here’s my take on an Umibōzu, a gigantic and mysterious marine yokai. His name can be translated as "sea monk", although he is also known as Umihōshi (the "sea wise man"), and Uminyūdō (the "sea priest").

These yokai generally appear on the open sea, and sink ships unfortunate enough to attract their attention. Umibōzu also appear to have an influence on weather, as they can emerge from the ocean even in calm waters, while being preceded by a sudden storm. As for their methods of sinking boats, there are two : the first consists simply of breaking the hull of the ship from below, by violently bursting from the waters. Their second, more sneaky technique, involves asking the crew for a barrel, then using it to fill the ship with seawater, little by little, until it sinks. To fool these umibōzu, handing them a bottomless barrel remains the best way ; By the time the “sea monk” realizes the deception, the sailors just have to return to the coast as quickly as possible. It is likely that, if the crew simply refused to give the monster a barrel, it would be content to accomplish its purpose in a more direct manner...
Another legend tells that, if a crew of fishermen catches well but forgets to leave their first catch to the umibōzu, several of them will burst out of the water to sink the ship and/or take the captain with them. According to several superstitions of Japanese sailors, it is strongly recommended to close your eyes and keep your mouth shut in the presence of an Umibōzu. It is also told that you can avoid seeing your boat destroyed by these yokai, by not saying “what is that? » when seeing one of them emerge.

Their exact nature is not clear : sometimes they are seen as the ghosts of monks who drowned after being thrown into the sea by angry villagers, sometimes they are seen as pure sea monsters, coming from the depths of the Seto Inland Sea.
They are almost always depicted as vaguely humanoid, hairless beings, with blackish, slippery skin like that of a cetacean, with large bright eyes as the only notable facial feature ; moreover, their body is never visible in its entirety. This appearance was made popular by the artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861), also famous for his print depicting a Gashadokuro. However, in the Bakemono no e ("Illustrations of Supernatural Creatures"), believed to have been produced between the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Umibōzu, although still having large, round eyes and blackish skin, looks more like a monstrous catfish, whose pectoral fins resemble human hands.