This page showcases the final 30 out of 181 Yokais and their respective stories, collected from all the various workshops held throughout this project. Click on each yokai to enjoy the unique stories and interesting characters.
Laptop Yokai, by Navira T. "Born with an insatiable thirst for your constant attention by being your gateway to the mystical Internet, it grew some very attractive legs in its spirit form and multiple eyes to constantly watch where you are. Neither malevolent nor benevolent, this yokai just likes to act mischievously and leave shivers down your spine when you think you’re all alone..."
Bushfire Yokai, by Janey L. "This spiteful Yokai has been seen globally, as it encourages Bushfires and wildfires as summer seasons exacerbate each year. Though it has no one form, here we have captured it in action, as it sinks down on the Fire Danger Rating on catastrophic during the 2019-2020 Australian Bushfires. It hopes to see the world in a field of red flames, claiming it as its own."
Abundance Yokai, by Ally M. "This Abundance Yokai is here to teach people to be grateful for what they have and to remind us that there is abundance everywhere. One of its many petals often arrives unannounced at your doorstep, to bring a small gift such as a pebble or a berry. It only ever takes from the land that can be brought with each small petal and with the winds. Through this, he encourages us to acquire only that which we need and to never be greedy."
Airconditioner Yokai, by Sharon G. "Driven by its icy heart, this aircon wants you to find momentary relief before it freezes your limbs then your breath. Together with its army of airconditioners in your very own home, it plans to gain world domination by freezing all humans whilst simultaneously making the Earth too hot to inhabit. It is malevolent but also doesn’t seem to realise that if the Earth is too hot, it too will be destroyed."
Coral Bleaching Yokai, by Crystal Z. "These Yokais aim is to spread death in the seas, created after chemical spill. Haunts all those who try to stop it, will go away if the ocean’s temperature drops. With their white bleached eyeballs, they squirm around and gain in their numbers as more and more coral dies and breaks. However, with the restoration of coral, these Yokais may fade away forever."
Demotivation Yokai, by Jana M. "This Yokai is born of the lost motivation of people who attempt to live sustainably. Initially it was a motivated Yokai that started with great intentions, but it became disillusioned by letting negative thoughts turn it into a slimey spirit. Eventually, its trail of slime became so strong that it decided that it would spend the rest of its days trying to drag other peoples spirits down and demotivating them."
Garbage Bin Yokai, by Grace F. "Sick of your absolute shit, this garbage bin yokai feels like it has been taken for granted and is constantly putting up with everyone's inability to distinguish recyclables from burnables. To retaliate, in the darkness of night, this yokai vomits rubbish all over the place, terrorising the neighbourhood with litter. Despite its foul mouth, its malevolence can shift to benevolence if we made better waste management systems and educate ourselves better."
Fast Fashion Yokai, by Navira T. "This Yokai haunts companies that use fast fashion in their business and can track every single item created by companies and the shorter the path it takes for the items to reach the dumps, the bigger it grows. They blob around and float like filthy clouds, haunting the companies that continue to make it grow bigger."
Fear Yokai, by Carmen Z. "This Yokai is often never seen, choosing to come up behind the person it haunts when they are facing away, and coming up like a massive tidal wave, but immediately shrinking when they turn to look. Made of hands, eyes and mouths, the Fear Yokai is like a parasite that latches on to any individual who feels paralysed with fear when it comes to the future of the environment, and its ultimate aim is to exacerbate all of their fears and then consume them entirely with those fears, whether or not they are real. The only way to combat this is to take action regardless of your fears, and work towards change."
Chemical Waste Yokai, by Crystal Z. "This Yokai came to be as a result of all of the chemical waste that has accumulated rapidly with mass industrialisation. It first came to be at a clothing sweatshop where its growth actually helped clothe many (Chemical Waste Yokai likes to think of itself as a complex hero!) Sluggish but powerful, it aims to slowly consume and make the world as synthetic and colourful as possible. It claims it will only be satisfied after it has touched every permeable material!"
Economic Privelege Yokai, by Emily C. "This Yokai possess various individuals with the never ending need for more economic status, despite being born with innate privilege. Its many hands constantly want more, and it amplifies the greed of any individual it possesses. Particularly, it goes after people and corporations who use environmental activism as a way to profit off well-intended people."
Moss Yokai, by Ally M. "Although they might not look like much, these small Moss yokai are friendly lumps of moss that are only visible to children. The Moss Yokai teaches children that they must extend their love for nature beyond caring for animals by reminding them that even a tiny patch of earth needs tender care. These Yokais are important in order to have a better relationship with our environment."
Climate Rally Yokai, by Sharon G. "These Yokais are always present at any climate protest, whether you see them or not. They’re the invisible force that promotes unity amongst you and your fellow protesters and as they move in and around the protest signs, they amplify the voices of all the chants. They’re here to fight alongside you and grow with every person who joins the climate rallies."
Deforestation Yokai, by Amy X. "These are the many deforestation Yokais, with each tree that is cut down, thousands of Yokais stem from the many years of life each tree has lived as seen in its many rings. Though they are saddened, these lost souls eventually all find their way to the Ecological Grief Yokai, which protects them as spirits. Sadly, these Yokais are not motivated for change after years of pain, they simply accept their fate."
Despair Yokai, by Emily C. "This Despair Yokai is growing every day, much like the grim realities of people living in climate devastated countries right now. Leaving only a complete path of destruction, this Yokai hurtles hazardously like an asteroid desperate for help. It howls in agony, and its mouth is formed from the cries of hungry children in a starving world. It only appears when people are hungry, but there are no lands to harvest it."
Eco-cup Yokai, by Carmen Z. "Full of tears, this Yokai is just doing its best to help the environment, but its unintentional goodness maybe causing more harm than good. Determined to be the best alternative to take-away coffee containers, the eco-cup Yokai has expanded rapidly across the world but its become so popular, its mass production is proving to be problematic in itself. Eco-Cup Yokai asks for you to not treat its brethren as collection objects and to try and just take good care of one eco-cup, so that it can stop its tears."
Fossil Fuel Yokai, by Carmen Z. "This Yokai haunts all Fossil Fuel corporation CEOs, with great malevolent intention. In its previous life on Earth as an innocent pelican that died in an oil spill, drowning in thick petroleum, this vengeful spirit became a Yokai with its only mission to make humanity suffer. He possesses people of high power in the Fossil Fuel industry and forces them to make corrupt decisions and plunder the environment, driving humans to their inevitable end as they run the Earth’s resources dry."
Mushroom Guardians Yokai, by Zoe S. "These protection mushroom Yokais only resurface to the physical realm once in a blue moon. Although they are mysterious, legend has it that these Yokais will roam the Earth and protect it, once humans have finally learned their lesson or finally died off the Earth. Either way, no one has fully confirmed their existence."
Receipts Yokai, by Grace F. "Every receipt that you’ve ever thrown away has joined in secrecy and created this massive Yokai. As it felt that its existence was increasingly meaningless as everyone began to just throw their receipts into the trash, this Yokai came about to inflict pain onto you by giving you multiple paper cuts, and also guilt you when you spend mindlessly and aimlessly. However, this Yokai is slowly disappearing in prominence with the turn of digital currency and payments."
Food Waste Yokai, by Emily C. "This Yokai tackles wastefulness and the commodity that sustainability has become. It will only disappear by the pure heart change/systemic change, and can be combated with better food waste practices. It is particularly scathing towards performative vegans and activists who are unable to self critique and recognise the systems at play."
Ecological Grief Yokai, by Sharon G. "This Yokai is like a mother-tree, that attracts all plant and animal spirits that have passed as a result of human destruction in the natural world. Through the form of the wise weeping willow tree, this Yokai is a representation of all ecological grief, and it sweeps the disturbed and mourning spirits under her reassuring leaves and rustles songs of better days to come. If you’re truly respectful to nature and form a connection to the land, you might be lucky enough to see her in the middle of untouched woodlands."
Phone Yokai, by Hannah S. "A close cousin to the Laptop Yokai, this Phone Yokai hovers around from phone screen to phone screen with its wifi-wings, entrancing each phone user through its screen. It aims to get all humans to become addicted to their phone screens, and likes to use its flying patterns to manipulate people to walk into dangerous situations without looking up from their phone screen. With every phone that gets produced that is designed to die every 2 years, more of these Yokais come about and more people are injured each year."
Misinformation Yokai, by Emilie Y. "This Yokai tried to absorb information from everyone and everything. It started going insane from information overdrive. At first, it wanted to find a sense of purpose, truthful information. But, eventually it was too overwhelmed by how divided humans were. It haunts everyone and is incredibly bitter. It is a difficult task, but it can become appeased, needs some compassion and critical thinking skills."
Guilt Yokai, by Jana M. "This yokai is a web of guilt. It haunts everyone, and connects people through the collective pain were causing the Environment. The more we produce, the more intricate the Yokai become and the more people it traps in its ongoing web. Its web that is invisible to most, but it does not discriminate who it chooses to entrap regardless of the systems in place. It aims to drive humanity to the edge of its sanity through weaving endless webs of guilt."
Mask Yokai, by Andrew W. "Silent and sneaky, this Yokai was trying to crawl under the radar until COVID-19 hit the world, and now is scurrying all over the place trying to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Whilst it might look intimidating, its long spindly legs are trying to remind you to strap on that mask securely in order to be actually useful, and it likes to shame privileged non-maskers in its spare time."
Overconsumption Yokai, by Jenna W. "This Overconsumption Yokai makes all individuals it comes in contact with feel that theres always the need to keep buying. Particularly with online shopping, it perpetuates this feeling of needing to stock up, or keep adding things to cart, especially if there are sales. Here, it is manifested as the little shopping basket icon from online stores that is never full, always needing more items to satisfy its greed."
Indecision Yokai, by Crystal Z. "In a cycle of gripping itself, this Indecision Yokai is in an orborous of stopping itself from moving forward. It was born from people who felt overwhelmed and could not make decisions between being environmentally friendly or embracing convenience and satisfying their need for instant gratification. Eventually, as this Yokai kept grappling with even more indecisions and grew deeper and deeper inward, it sprouted hands and arms that now aim to drag as many people into indecision to bring the world into an eventual standstill."
Microplastics Yokai, by Aiden B. "Despite how cute these Yokais might look, their small size but large quantities make them quite malevolent for humans and for the Earth. With no clear purpose, these Yokais float in and out of the physical realm and with each microplastic that gets produced, more Yokais are produced."
Saving Face Yokai, by Emily C. "This Yokai came about due to the use of the environment for face value, by various influencers and companies. It detests that it is seen as 'in vogue' to be sustainable, without actually considering the environment. It haunts those who use sustainability as a way to save face, to flaunt and gain fame."
Connection to Land Yokai, by Ally M. "Its likely you’ve already encountered these Yokais already. With every plant that you choose to bring in your home, several smaller Yokais. These Yokais constantly try to monitor your level of connection or separation to nature. When they sense that you are venturing too far from your earthy roots, they irritate you through the plant itself, urging you to leave your home and spend some quality time among the natural world. "
For further information and collaboration opportunities to run this workshop, please contact me at carmenzeng.design@gmail.com!
