What?! A vampire cat? Oh yes dear readers, today’s vampire lore post is about a vampire kitty. The cat of Nabeshima is an old Japanese tale that never fully died like many old myths and legends.
The Cat of Nabeshima is a horrible vampire demon from Japan that took the shape of a cat, murdering a courtesan and then focusing its furry evil on the prince of Hizen, a member of the Nabeshima family.
This bad kitty took down the concubine (aka mistress) O Toyo and then took the form of O Toyo. In the form of this woman the vampire then spent every night with the prince, putting a spell on him and draining him bit by bit. The prince of course he grew more ill with each passing day. His doctors were unable to find a medicine that would help him, but they did notice that he got worse at night (hmm wonder why). Guards were then posted to keep watch at night but they kept falling asleep. Turns out our catty vampire was putting a sleep spell on them. The dying prince noticed a lowly soldier named Ito Soda praying for him, the soldier then begged the prince to let him stand guard. When the magic sleeping spell fell upon Ito Soda, he stabbed his thigh to keep himself awake and he saw a lovely young woman enter the prince’s chamber.
Soda’s presence worked against the vampire’s spells and she was unable to feed from the prince. She tried to make Soda fall asleep but failed, she left and the prince began to recover. Clever Soda was convinced that O Toyo was a vampire and he went to her apartment, gaining entry by saying he had a message. As he got close to the vamp, he lunged with a dagger but she flew across the room, grabbed a weapon and attacked him. Lucky for Soda this vampire failed at fighting. When she finally realized she wasn’t going to win she turned into a cat, jumped to the roof and escaped into the mountains. The poor locals were super scared until the prince led a great hunt to find her. The vampire cat was found and killed, but ever after the people of Nabeshima have been afraid of the beast, last reported seen in 1929.
- Moonlight
Related Reading:
The Complete Vampire Companion: Legend and Lore of the Living DeadA chronicle of the origins, legends, and habits of the world's vampires, including Southeast Asia's viscera suckers and Eastern Europe's walking dead, explores the evolution of the vampire of folklore into the compelling anti-hero of literture and film.
Discovery Atlas: Japan RevealedDiscover the fascinating make-up of Japan -- from bullet trains, neon lights, and mobile phones to ancient temples, kimonos and cherry blossoms. Japan... Read More >
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I wonder if the prince was cute…
lol probably not. Royalty back then were rarely good looking thanks to loads of inbreeding and whatnot ;)
[...] that had their ideas on vampires and cats but also Asia. I already mentioned the cat of Nabeshima here, but there was more than just that. The people there thought that a hair on a cat’s tail had [...]
I love cats! Vampire cats just adds on the love from me. =D That myth is freaking awesome. I wonder why the vampire failed at fighting. I also wonder if the demon is coming back for its revege *says dramaticly*…….
That is definitely cool. I’d bet money my cat is a bloodsucker. Once he bit my brother’s wrist and wouldn’t let go and when I pried my cat off of him there were bite marks just like a frickin’ vampire’s. It was weird.