Azukibabaa

Sources present variant and localized origin-claims rather than a single origin myth. Some tellings treat Azukibabaa as an autonomous yōkai tied to the domestic auditory omen of azukiarai; a Miyagi (Nishi Narita, Tomiya City) account explicitly says her true form is a kitsune (fox spirit). A Showa-mura account (Gunma region) reports her being called mujina or itachi (regional animal spirit identifications). Yōkai scholar Kenji Murakami is cited in local reporting as suggesting the Yamanashi Azukibabaa is related to the tree-associated Tsurube-otoshi; that comparison is grounded in similar behavior (scooping or dropping people from trees) rather than an asserted definitive single origin. The supplied sources therefore show fluid local attributions: transformed animal (kitsune, mujina/itachi) in some locales and a tree/ambush yōkai related to Tsurube-otoshi in others.

Descriptions vary by locality but cohere around an old-woman visage. A Tokyo account describes initially hearing a "small voice" at a brook in autumn moonlight — "One red bean, two red beans..." — and later at dawn seeing an old woman in a white outfit holding a basket who disappears into the mist. Kawagoe City (Saitama) lore links the sound to rainy evenings near an abandoned temple and parents' warnings. In Miyagi (Nishi Narita, Tomiya City) she appears as an old woman in a stream at dusk; that account adds that her true form is a kitsune. Yamanashi (Nakamaru Kakigihira) describes her living in a large tree near Suwa Shrine and using a large basket to scoop people into the tree. Other sources report the generic image of "an old woman polishing azuki beans." There is no consistent non-human anatomy attested across sources.

The primary and most consistently attested ability is producing the sound of azuki beans being stirred, polished, or washed (azukiarai) as an auditory lure at night or in damp/liminal settings. Regional vocal lures are recorded: in Gunma she reportedly sings, "Would you like to wash or eat the red beans?" while producing azuki sounds near a stream by Takasaki Castle and is said there to swallow passersby. In Tokyo the lure takes the form of a small counting voice, "One red bean, two red beans..." Some local traditions report predatory abduction — scooping or lifting people into a basket or tree (Yamanashi) or swallowing travelers (Gunma) — echoing behavior associated with tree-ambush yōkai like Tsurube-otoshi. Sources also record shape/identity ambiguity, with some locales identifying her as kitsune, mujina, or itachi, indicating conflation with other trickster/animal yōkai in local taxonomy. Beyond the auditory lure and occasional abduction, no grand cosmic powers are attributed in the supplied material.