Tsurube-otoshi

Classical textual tradition (notably the Kokon Hyakumonogatari Hyōban) presents tsurube-otoshi as arising from large, old trees that, through transformations of ki in a five-phase framework, develop a yin 'fire' phase manifesting as downward-raining flame. Regional oral tales do not give a single origin narrative but consistently locate the phenomenon in venerable trees and treat it as a spirit/atmospheric manifestation associated with arboreal life.

Accounts vary by locality and source: some describe a bucket-like object dropping from tree branches; others report a severed head (notably in some Kyoto-area tales); classical and pictorial sources (e.g., Toriyama Sekien) link the phenomenon to a ball of fire or hanging ghost-light (tsurubebi). Local anecdotes include motifs such as ivy-wrapped trees and a shining koban-like lure at the tree base.

Reported behaviors include dropping from trees onto passers-by (reports say it 'would catch the eye of passers-by and drop buckets'), seizing or abducting victims into the dropped object, lifting them above the tree where they are menaced and sometimes devoured, and disappearing for intervals (e.g., 'two to three days' in some local tales). Some tales emphasize luring behavior (a shining object like a koban that tempts a reach). Classical commentary treats the phenomenon alternatively as an atmospheric fire/ghost-light raining from trees rather than a consistently corporeal creature.