Another mischievous Yokai is a long forgotten and slightly OCD sandal, who is sick and tired of being mistreated and ignored so has come to life to steal your socks and play tricks on you in hopes of you taking better care of your foot ware. He is called the Bakezori! A traditional Japanese sandal (a “Zori”) made out of woven rice straw, when he becomes a Yokai on his 100th birthday. He has little arms and legs, one big eye and a long protruding tongue. Much like the Karakasa Kozo, he isn’t usually considered dangerous, and haunts by way of playing tricks. If you have ever walked down your hall way at night and swear you have heard someone walking behind you, only to turn around and there be no one, that’s when you know you have a Bakezori in your house.
Generally motivated by both boredom and frustration at being discarded by their owners that they served so faithfully, or jealousy and revenge towards other, newer items (particuly Geta, the Zori’s wooden, more noble cousin) they love to pester humans, and often team up with other Tsukumogami to do this. They’re known to be organised, and will rearrange your shoes you so carelessly kicked off at the entrance of your house, and organise the shoes in your cupboard from small to large. If you’ve ever made the assumption that you have a “sock monster” in your house, you may in fact have a Bakezori. Super jealous of socks (they prefer the skin to sandal contact of a foot directly on them), they can often be to blame for your missing or worn out socks. Continued neglect of these sensitive beings will lead them to feel incredibly left out, and they will simply run away and find a new place to live.
