Reibyō (霊猫 Reibyō, Spirit Cat) is a cat-like yōkai.
Appearance[]
Reibyō is a cat-like creature with yellow fur, a white face and belly, and yellow spots.
History[]
Video Games[]
- Reibyō appears in GeGeGe no Kitarō: Yōkai Yokochō as a D-Rank yōkai.
Legend[]
Illustration of Reibyō
The Reibyō, also known as the Jakō-Neko (麝香猫, Musk Cat or Civet Cat), or Kara-Neko (唐猫, Tang Cat) is a tanuki-like animal introduced in the Chinese herbology book, Běncǎo gāngmù (本草綱目, Compendium of Materia Medica or Great Pharmacopoeia).
Reibyō live in the mountains and valleys of Southeast Asia, specifically Jakarta, Indonesia, Cambodia, and India, and have golden fur. Unlike other animals, they can reproduce with males of their species. The Reibyō and the urine it produces smell like musk, hence its other name.
When the Reibyō was introduced in Japan through the Wakan Sansai Zue (和漢三才図会, Illustrated Sino-Japanese Encyclopedia), it was deified into a spiritual animal, along the likes of the Lion, Elephant, Rhinoceros, Tiger, Shijin, Shachihoko, Kaichi, Dragon, Phoenix, Kirin, Baku, and Hakutaku. Images of these mythical creatures were often used in paintings, sometimes mixed with local real animals, as well as Shinto shrines.
Like most creatures included in ancient Chinese books, like the Baku, Shōjō, Hihi, and Fūri, the Reibyō seems to be a distortion of a real animal, in this case the Asian Palm Civet. Historically, these civets' urine has been used for perfume, which correlates with the musky smell of the Reibyō.