In Japanese folklore, the Keukegen is a small, shaggy spirit that lives in the neglected corners of ones home. They are most commonly found under your floorboards. You may have recognized these creatures in the film Spirited Away as the main inspiration of soot sprites, or susuwatari. Keukegens are shy creatures that settle in hidden areas where a lack of human activity creates a breeding ground for sickness. People will often fall ill or have sudden chain of bad luck because of them. This is why you will also see the clover spread out throughout my website, and of course cats. Both are symbols of good luck.

For my website, the name Keukegen is a play on words. One meaning suggests that what you're seeing is soft and harmless like the yōkai itself. The other suggests uncertainty... maybe something people don't quite believe in or tend to ignore like the prolonged suffering the yōkai causes.

This site leans into the second meaning. It focuses on things that are easy to dismiss at first like mental illnesses. They do not show up all at once, but by the time they do become visible, they have already taken hold of the person making it difficult to let go.

Please never fear the Keukegen. Take a clover and confront these ideas in their raw form.