In Japanese folklore, the ghost whale demon that appears with strange birds and brings calamity is Bake-kujira.
Bake-kujira is a yōkai associated with western Japan, especially the Shimane coast and the waters around the former provinces of Izumo and Oki. It is commonly imagined as a vast white whale skeleton, without flesh or skin, rising offshore on a rainy night. Fishermen who mistake it for living prey find that their harpoons pass through it harmlessly.
The apparition is accompanied by unfamiliar fish and strange birds. In the best-known story, the entire supernatural procession retreats with the tide, leaving witnesses to interpret the whale as the vengeful spirit of an animal killed by whalers. Later versions connect its appearance with plague, fires, poor catches, and other misfortunes. The legend reflects both the economic importance of whales and the spiritual unease surrounding their slaughter.
Bake-kujira should not be confused with a funayūrei, which is the ghost of a drowned person haunting ships, or an umibōzu, a shadowy sea apparition. “Bake” can suggest something transformed or ghostly, while “kujira” means whale. Modern yokai books and the artwork of Shigeru Mizuki helped establish the skeletal whale as its familiar image.