In Japanese folklore, tsukumogami describes a spirit formed when an old household object becomes animate.
The term is commonly associated with the belief that objects can acquire a spirit after surviving for a very long time, traditionally often stated as one hundred years. Such objects may include tools, utensils, instruments, and clothing. Once animated, they can behave mischievously or resent owners who discarded or mistreated them.
Tsukumogami appear in illustrated scrolls and popular tales, especially in early modern and medieval traditions. Their stories can encourage respect for possessions while also entertaining audiences with comic images of objects taking on faces and limbs.
Tsukumogami are a category of yōkai, not a separate species equivalent to fox spirits or oni. The hundred-year figure is a traditional motif rather than a scientific rule, and not every old object in Japanese folklore is automatically described as tsukumogami.