Bakeneko

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A Bakeneko (化け猫, Bakeneko^?) is, in Japanese folklore, a cat with shapeshifting abilities akin to the kitsune or tanuki. It is often confused with the nekomata, and the distinction between the two is vague. There are legends about bakeneko everywhere in Japan, and the story of the bakeneko of Sagahan is especially famous.

The bakeneko is often imagined licking the oil out of andon lamps, and as lamp oil used to be made from fish, this may have been based on actual feline behavior.

There were a few ways in which an ordinary cat could become a bakeneko. A pet feline that had lived for many years was thought to be able to transform into a human. Additionally, a cat that had already become a nekomata might become a bakeneko after living a bit longer, but sometimes this order of transformation was reversed. A cat might also become a bakeneko in order to aid a human to whom it owed a favor.

A bakeneko might resemble an ordinary cat, except walking about on two feet. It could also take the form of a human, and sometimes it was said to have three or seven tails. A bakeneko with a forked tail (or two tails) is said to be transformed into a nekomata.

Another belief is that the Bakeneko could turn into a cat-like version of an object it sees, like Catbus in My Neighbor Totoro.