Monster of the Week: Jubokko

On the edge of the forest surrounding the sites of great battles and bloodshed, the trees may look a little different. If so, you may want to keep your distance or risk falling victim to the Jubokko, the vampire tree of Japan.

A jubokko tree at night with a light in its branches and blood soaked in its roots. — *I created this image using AI technology and submit it to the public domain for common use. Please do so responsibly*—*and let me know! I want to see what y’all get up to.*

What are Jubokko?

Jubokko are a tree-shaped Japanese yokai. Though often translated into “ghost” or “spirit,” the term seems to encapsulate all manner of supernatural being. In the case of jubokko, this fluid double meaning is particularly fitting.

Jubokko begin their lives as regular trees. However, when their home forest or nearby clearing becomes the site of a mass casualty, they change. Their roots, soaked in the blood of the dead, become addicted to the taste, and they transform into jubokko. Once that happens, they have the ability to change their branches into giant tubes that suck the blood from unsuspecting travelers* that happen by. This nourishes and rejuvenates the tree, keeping it hale and hearty for the next innocent victim.

Fun fact: The English translation of “jubokko” means “tree child.”

Honestly, I’m not sure what conclusions to draw from that. I just thought it was a legitimately fun thing to know.

*Why do so many bad things happen to unsuspecting travelers? And why are travelers so unsuspecting all the time? Let this be a lesson to us all: when you’re in a strange place far from home, ABS: ALWAYS BE SUSPECTING (TM).

Jubokko Origins

Everything I can find says this concept originated with the work of legendary manga artist Shigeru Mizuki in his Kitaro series. I haven’t been able to pinpoint the exact issue in which the Jubokko appears yet, but since the series started in 1960, I believe this is our youngest monster to do (other than the ones I made up, of course).

That said, sourcing the origins of cryptids is rarely this straightforward. Most of the time I find at least three different accounts of how the creature came to be. In this case, I’ve found literally no other theories. This would make me question my research savvy if not for this anecdote, which I’ve also found in multiple places:

“A group of yokai researchers, consisting of [mystery author] Natsuhiko Kyougoku, [mythology author/editor] Katsumi Tada, and [mythology author] Kenji Murakami, that the Jubokko is an invention of Shigeru Mizuki since they could not find traces of the vampiric plant in folklore records, legends, and old literature.”

I’m not about to argue with Japanese mythology scholars. Also, Mizuki himself admitted that he created about two-and-a-half dozen yokai for his series, though he declined to specify which ones. Good for him–now there’s no way to know which ones are fake and which ones we should actually be afraid of.

How to Defeat a Jubokko

I mean, it’s a tree. Just chop it down and move on. You don’t mind a little bit of blood on your hands, right? Oh, I should have mentioned–when you cut into the branches, it bleeds human blood.

If we were talking about one isolated incident, I’d say that’s a perfectly reasonable solution. Which brings me to our Trivia Question of the Day: When was the last time the world went twenty-four hours without someone somewhere being at war?

If you guessed “a long-ass time ago,” you’d be close to right. According to London’s Global University, the real answer is never.

Be honest: that makes the whole “tree child” fact seem a lot more fun. Simpler times, am I right?

You don’t defeat the Jubokko, and you definitely don’t destroy it. You look at it every day, you think about what it’s doing there, and, while this may see futile given that cheery little truth bomb I just dropped, you do what you can to make sure the world never sees the birth of another one.

A Message for Memorial Day

Given the trajectory some of these posts take on occasion, your probably strapping in for a nice long rant about the military industrial complex. But honestly, I don’t have the energy for all that. Not today. So instead, let me just say this, in as clear a way as I can:

I respect the hell out of those serve, regardless of their reason behind the decision, whether it’s a family thing, a principle thing, for a chance at a better life, or because they literally had no other choice. Soldiers willingly take a job that has a greater than average chance of ending in their own death, even when they enroll during peace time and even after they leave the war. That’s amazing to me. Maybe I could have done that at one point in my life too, but I didn’t. I left that job to other people, and now they’re dead or injured and I’m here, safe and mostly sound. What else can I do but respect that?

For Those That Survived

I hope you get everything they promised you when you enlisted, whether that was money or an education or a house or health care. I hope your life after the army is better than it was before you went in, and I hope you have the resources to heal any scars you came back with, physical and otherwise, to the greatest degree possible.

For Those That Didn’t

I hope you’re at peace, and I hope you felt it was worth it.

And For Those That Start These Wars

To the ones that use foreign specters to distract us from the monsters at home terrorizing our fellow citizens…

The ones that fly our flag while spewing hate and bigotry and discord…

The ones that get fat and rich on the blood of others…

To the real vampires…

…you look stressed. Might I suggest a nice, long walk in the woods?

Happy Memorial Day, monsters!