Daki (Japan)

Daki are female yokai with insatiable thirst for human blood. The word "daki" translates to “cliff” in Japanese, and as the name suggests, they lurk along the rocky ridges by the sea in Saga Prefecture. In appearance, daki are unassuming—hideous women dressed in plain clothes, but they are always on the hunt for fishermen.

When a daki sees fishermen cooking lunch on the seaside rocks, she approaches them and asks for fish. It doesn’t matter how they respond. She will use any means necessary to get close to her targets so she can drain their blood.

The fishermen of Saga Prefecture are so terrified of daki that they have a specific method of securing their boats when stopping on the islands. Instead of using mooring lines to tether their boats to the shore, they drop anchor to keep their boats in place. This way, they can quickly cut the anchor rope and escape if they run into a daki.  

A folktale set on Kakarashima (Kakara Island) tells the story of a fisherman who narrowly escaped the clutches of a daki. One day, a man went out to sea with his two children to fish. Unfortunately, they hadn’t caught a single fish until lunchtime. Hungry, they stopped at Kakarashima to cook their lunch before heading back to the sea. After arriving on the island, they started a fire to prepare their meal. Suddenly, a mysterious woman approached them and demanded, “Give me a fish.”

The father, aware of the daki legend, remained cautious. He calmly turned to his children and said, “Go to the boat and bring back some fish.” The children knew they didn’t have any fish on the boat. However, sensing the eerie aura of the approaching woman, they obeyed their father and went to the boat. From the boat, they called out, “Father, we can’t find any fish!” 

Hearing this, the father exclaimed, “What? It can’t be. Let me see...” As he said these words, he was already making his way back to the boat. Once he and his sons were safely on board, the fisherman cut the anchor line and hastily rowed the boat to escape.

The daki, realizing that she’s been deceived, and swore at the fleeing fisherman from the island.