In Japanese folklore, what cat-like yokai has a forked tail and supernatural powers? The answer is a nekomata.
A nekomata is a Japanese cat yōkai associated with a divided or multiple tail and powerful supernatural abilities. Folklore describes two broad forms: a mysterious mountain beast and an ordinary domestic cat that grows old, transforms, and becomes a yōkai. Later traditions especially emphasized the idea that an aging house cat could develop two tails.
Nekomata are often portrayed as malevolent. Some stories credit them with shapeshifting, necromancy, strange fires, human speech, or revenge against people who mistreated them. In certain tales, they raise the dead and control them through ritual dances. The older and more abused the cat, the greater its supposed power.
Nekomata are frequently confused with bakeneko. The distinction varies by source, but a common folkloric rule is that nekomata have multiple tails and are more malicious, while bakeneko usually retain one tail and are often mischievous. Nekomata illustrations became especially common in Edo-period yōkai books.