Kasha.

Kasha (火車, かしゃ) is one of the clearest examples of a yōkai whose body changes over time. In older Buddhist imagination it is a burning vehicle or hell-chariot sent to drag away the sinful dead. In early modern tale literature the being becomes more creature-like, appearing as a black cloud, thunder demon, or ogre linked to funerals and divine punishment.

By the Edo period, however, the kasha most people recognize is a monstrous cat. It may be huge, bipedal, wrapped in fire, or accompanied by lightning and storm wind. This feline form is not a trivial detail. It reflects the merger of Buddhist fire-cart imagery with long-standing Japanese fears about cats, corpses, and the dangerous transformations of aged household animals.

Kasha attacks at the moment a community is most vulnerable, during the wake, the funeral procession, or the burial itself. Coffins suddenly grow light, black clouds roll in, thunder strikes, and the dead body is snatched away before the mourners can react. In some traditions the kasha only comes for the wicked. In others it is simply a corpse-thief, a terrible test of whether the dead are being guarded with enough ritual seriousness.

Because the danger is ritual as much as physical, folklore preserves many defenses. Priests throw rosaries, chant over the coffin, or stage decoy funerals. Razors, knives, stones, reeds, cymbals, and spoken formulas all appear as protections in regional custom. Kasha therefore belongs not just to monster lore but to the social choreography of death, mourning, and communal fear.