Aobōzu
is a Japanese  (spirit) found in a number of Japanese legends. Stories about , in particular the exact details of the spirit, vary widely.

As well as appearing in Japanese folklore, the  has also been depicted numerous times in traditional Japanese art; examples include one depiction of  found in Toriyama Sekien's {{|e-hon}} tetralogy .

In folk legends
Though the exact details of the  vary throughout legends, with differences often split along regional lines, the  is typically depicted as a large humanoid figure resembling a  (priest). The exact nature of the 's actions, or the nature of its haunting, also vary; though the  is simply said to appear in Minabe, Hidaka District, Wakayama Prefecture, in contrast, appearances of the  in Kaneyama, Ōnuma District, Fukushima Prefecture are said to be a weasel disguised as an . In Gifu Prefecture and Hiroshima Prefecture, appearances of the  are said to be a  disguised as an . Appearances and stories of the  also appear in other areas, such as Haibara District, Shizuoka Prefecture.

Nagano Prefecture
In Nagano Prefecture, a few variants of the  legend exist. In one, if a person stops breathing and spins around 7 times at the base of a certain pine tree, an  is said to appear and say "don't trample the rocks, don't snap the pine tree".

Shizuoka Prefecture
In Shizuoka Prefecture, it is said that in spring, children who come home late around the time of sunset and run across a wheat field may be kidnapped by an  appearing from the wheat. The legend is used in part as a reason for not letting children out into the fields at evening in springtime.

Okayama Prefecture
In Okayama Prefecture, an  with a blue body or blue clothes is said to appear in vacant houses and other places.

Yamaguchi Prefecture
In Yamaguchi Prefecture,  are said to be mountain gods () who have taken on the appearance of a small priest. In this legend,  are said to appear before people and suggest they take part in a sumo match with them; despite their small size, the , having the powers of a mountain god, is said to toss people easily if they overconfidently take them on.

Kagawa Prefecture
In Kagawa Prefecture,  are said to appear before women and ask, "how about hanging your neck?". In this legend, the  disappears if rejected, but if the woman ignores them without saying anything, the  forcefully attack the woman, rendering her unconscious before hanging her by the neck.

Yamagata Prefecture
In Yamagata Prefecture, it is said that the bathroom in one elementary school along the base of a mountain is haunted by an . In this legend, the face of a priest with a blue head appears from the toilet and stares at whoever is using it.

Fukushima Prefecture
Similar to Yamagata Prefecture, in Fukushima Prefecture, in the first half of the 1930s, it is said that an  would appear in an elementary school bathroom, and it is said that the students at the time were so fearful of it, they would not use the toilet.

In urban legends
Beginning in the Shōwa period, urban legends and school horror tales featuring the  became popular.

In the 

In Sekien Toriyama's tetralogy , a potential depiction of an  shows it as a one-eyed priest standing next to a thatched hut. Despite the similarities to the  legend in appearance, the , as an  picture book, did not come with accompanying explanatory text, meaning that the image may not show an , and instead may be intended to depict another , such as the  (one-eyed monk) commonly depicted in Edo period artworks, such as the  by Sawaki Sūshi. Toriyama, playing into the fact that the word for blue in Japanese () can refer to immaturity, may also have intended to depict an insufficiently trained priest as a .

See also 
 
 List of legendary creatures from Japan

References 

Yōkai
Japanese words and phrases