Nuribotoke

The Nuribotoke or "painted Buddha" 塗仏 This yokai is called this due to the creature’s purplish-black skin and resemblance to the Buddha. Their eyeballs gruesomely hang out of their sockets, and they have the tail of a fish. They also exude a terrible odor. Buddhist homes and temples many times have a Buddhist shrine called a butsudan, basically a decorative cabinet containing a small shrine. Butsudans are typically closed at night since it’s believed that spirits can use it to enter the material world. When a butsudan is poorly cared for or left open at night, it is believed Nuribotokes can enter this world and dance around at night.