Kunitsu-Gami Game Design Commentary 6: Shibakaki(シバカキ)

■第6回　感情を煽る！！しばかき
地上、空！とくれば次は遠距離だ！！開発初期なので割と軽いノリです。モチーフは”石”を何処からともなく投げてくる妖怪しばかき。恐ろしい、危ない。餓鬼とは違う雰囲気にしなきゃと意識しました。… pic.twitter.com/7VTeYepyTx

— 【公式】 祇（くにつがみ）：Path of the Goddess (@Kunitsu_Gami_JP) April 29, 2026

■第6回　感情を煽る！！しばかき

地上、空！とくれば次は遠距離だ！！開発初期なので割と軽いノリです。モチーフは”石”を何処からともなく投げてくる妖怪しばかき。恐ろしい、危ない。餓鬼とは違う雰囲気にしなきゃと意識しました。

遠距離攻撃するだけでは見た目的には面白くない…離れているので印象に残らない。遠くで「姑息な感じは感情を煽るよね」が頭に浮かんだので、動きは主人公達を挑発する感じにしようと決意。

挑発と言えば舌で”べろべろ”してると腹立ちますよね。からの舌飛ばし攻撃、気持ち悪い、妖怪っぽい。

顔は上下反対にしても成立する様にして、横から見ると弓矢っぽいシルエットを意識しつつデザイン。

出来上がりは、動きが良い感じに感情を煽るので良かったなと。一時の感情で深追いするのは危険です。

■Round 6: Stirring Emotions!! Shibakaki

Ground, air! So next up is long-range!! It's early in development, so the vibe is pretty lighthearted. The motif is the yokai Shibakaki, who throws stones at you out of nowhere. Scary, dangerous. I made a conscious effort to give it a different vibe from the hungry ghosts.

Just doing long-range attacks wouldn't be visually interesting... Being far away, it wouldn't leave much of an impression. The thought "a sneaky vibe really stirs up emotions, right?" popped into my head, so I decided to make its movements feel like it's taunting the protagonists.

Speaking of taunting, sticking your tongue out all "bleh bleh" is super annoying, right? From there, tongue-flinging attack—gross, very yokai-like.

For the face, I designed it so it works even if flipped upside down, while aiming for a bow-and-arrow-like silhouette when viewed from the side.

The end result turned out well—the movements nicely stir up emotions in a good way. But chasing that fleeting emotion too deeply can be dangerous.

Plaque Lore:

遠くから自身の舌を飛ばしてくる畏哭いこく。 シバとは「芝しば」を指しており、芝しばが生えているような路傍ろぼうから 引っ搔かくような音を出しながら舌を飛ばしてくる様子が 名前の由来という説がある。

The Shibakaki attack from afar using their own tongues as projectiles.

Legend has it, their name comes from the word for grass, as they typically hide in verdant roadsides where passersby hear a scratching noise just before they get assailed with the Shibakaki's tongue.

You can really in these images how it looks like a man bending over backwards. Creepy.

These guys are such pests.

Kunitsu-Gami Game Design Commentary 5: Coccoons

■第5回　怪奇な世界を演出！穢れと優曇華
蟲が村人にとり憑き、そのまま硬化＞蛹化と言う割と直球の発想です。
（薄らぼんやり、一般的なこなきじじい感）
顔には呪をモチーフとした文字柄があります。
無数の腕で動けなくされ、頭をすっぽり覆われて最後に呪が付く。… pic.twitter.com/0MkRqaSrgY

— 【公式】 祇（くにつがみ）：Path of the Goddess (@Kunitsu_Gami_JP) April 27, 2026

■第5回　怪奇な世界を演出！穢れと優曇華

蟲が村人にとり憑き、そのまま硬化＞蛹化と言う割と直球の発想です。

（薄らぼんやり、一般的なこなきじじい感）

顔には呪をモチーフとした文字柄があります。

無数の腕で動けなくされ、頭をすっぽり覆われて最後に呪が付く。

呪いと呪い（まじない）で対比してます。

優曇華架空の花の方から着想。先に描いてあった、ラフ画を元に具体化。シルエットになった時に無数の”人っぽい何かが集団で拝んでいる”を作りたかったんです。

フォトモードで寄った時に無数の優曇華が群生しているのを見て「ヒヤッ」となりますね。

喉の方が本来の顔で、おでこは拝んでいる顔っぽい何か。動きもコマを飛ばして怪しい表現できたので、独特な不気味さが出たと思います。デザイン的にはお気に入り。

■Round 5: Staging a Bizarre World! Filth and the Udumbara

It's the idea of bugs possessing villagers and then hardening > pupating—a pretty straightforward concept.

(A vague, hazy, general old man with a white beard vibe)

The face features text patterns inspired by curses.

They become immobilized by countless arms, their heads completely covered, and finally, the curse is applied.

It's a contrast between curse and incantation (spell).

The udumbara inspiration comes from the fictional flower side. I started with a rough sketch I had drawn earlier and fleshed it out. When it turns into a silhouette, I wanted to create an image of countless "human-like somethings" gathered in worship.

In photo mode, when you zoom in and see the countless udumbaras growing in clusters, it gives you a little chill, right?

The throat area is the original face, while the forehead looks like some kind of worshiping face. By skipping frames in the movement, I was able to create a creepy expression, which I think brings out a unique eeriness. Design-wise, it's one of my favorites.

Bugs possessing the villagers...

The name Udumbara is the Udonge plant. उडुम्बर ( uḍumbara )

Wikipedia link here.

Buddhist scriptures say that the Udumbara flower blooms once every 3,000 years, and at that time, the Wheel King appears in this world. The Golden Light Sutra , Chapter on Praising the Buddha, states, "Rare, rare, the Buddha appeared in the world, appearing once like the Udumbara flower." It also appears in the Lotus Sutra and the History of the Southern Dynasties. In classical Japanese literature, it can be found in works such as The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter , The Tale of Genji (Wakamurasaki ) , and The Tale of Utsuho .

In modern literature, examples of its use can be found in works such as Okamoto Kidō 's "Hanshichi Torimonochō: Ningyō Tsukai , " Kambara Ariake's " Senjinshō to Hanabi no Kanshō ," Saitō Ryokuu's "Kakurenbo," Izumi Kyōka 's "Hakkin no Ezu , " Tayama Katai's "Michitsuna no Haha," and Natsume Sōseki's "Gubijinsō."

In modern literature, examples of its use can be found in works such as Teru Miyamoto's "Hotarugawa." From classical to modern literature, it has always been used to refer to a fictional flower, that is, the flower that blooms only once every 3,000 years. This is because it first circulated as the name of a fictional flower, and later came to be used as the name of an actual plant.

Wheel king. The name reminds me of how Nanamagi looks, his hands spinning like a wheel behind him.

The Wheel King

While it is said that a Chakravartin (wheel-turning king) turns a wheel, there is no established theory about its origin. Some theories suggest it represents the wheel of a chariot symbolizing the power of the god Indra, the sun that illuminates the world, the chakram (a wheel-shaped weapon), or a mandala.

According to Buddhist scriptures, the concept of a Chakravartin (universal monarch) is roughly as follows: The world goes through cycles of prosperity and decline. During times of prosperity, the human lifespan is 80,000 years, but as human virtue is lost, lifespans shorten, becoming 10 years in the dark age when all good is lost. After that, human virtue is restored, and a new era of prosperity arrives with a lifespan of 80,000 years.

I'm quoting this because in one google translation of the script of the Kunitsu-Gami play, it said that human lifespans were only a week. Or something like that. (I will edit this once I find it)

But I recall that their lifespans had dramatically been reduced, something I didn't understand until now.

The translation I wasn't sure of though as Google makes mistakes and went on to translate the same passage differently.

Pensive Maiden.

Found this pretty picture it the demo files. 

Kunitsu-Gami Game Design Commentary 4: Hitoban (飛頭蛮ひとうばん)

■第4回　ひとうばんはろくろ首
敵の機能として、餓鬼が地上なら空中も必要。と当たり前の流れでデザインを起こしはじめる。
空中か…そういえばろくろ首って伸びる以外にも飛ぶってあったよね…からの着想です。
ただ、顔が飛んでくるのも芸がないと感じ、考えていた所。… pic.twitter.com/dgXdNEUX4X

— 【公式】 祇（くにつがみ）：Path of the Goddess (@Kunitsu_Gami_JP) April 24, 2026

第4回　ひとうばんはろくろ首

敵の機能として、餓鬼が地上なら空中も必要。と当たり前の流れでデザインを起こしはじめる。

空中か…そういえばろくろ首って伸びる以外にも飛ぶってあったよね…からの着想です。

ただ、顔が飛んでくるのも芸がないと感じ、考えていた所。

一旦は敵の機能を先に詰め、飛んでくる、弓が必要だ！だけでは、色々と不備が出そうだったので、

降りて来て、攻撃するけど、ゲーム的には他ユニットを止める動きがあっても良いかなと考え、

現在の飛ぶ、降りる、呪詛でユニットを惑わせ止める。

となり、ここまでくれば飛ぶ時は、泳いでるニュアンス、降りてきて呪詛唱えるときに顔になる！

となって、落ち着きました。

■Round 4: The Number One Is Rokurokubi

As an enemy function, if gaki are on the ground, then aerial ones are needed too. And so, in that perfectly natural flow, I started fleshing out the design.

Aerial, huh... Come to think of it, rokurokubi don't just stretch—they're said to fly too... and that's where the inspiration came from.

But having just the face flying in felt a bit too gimmicky, so I was mulling it over.

For a bit, I focused on pinning down the enemy functions first: it flies in, needs a bow! But that alone seemed like it'd leave a bunch of gaps,

so I thought, it comes down, attacks, but game-wise, maybe it should have a move that halts other units too,

leading to the current setup: it flies, descends, and uses curses to confuse and stop units.

At that point, it clicked—when flying, give it a swimming vibe, and when it descends to chant curses, it turns into a face!

And with that, it settled into place.

Plaque Lore:

顔が見られることを嫌きらい、手で覆おおい隠かくし恥はじらう者がいた。 ある村人は、どうしてもその顔が見たいと思った。 満月の夜、村人がその者とすれ違ちがう際に無理やり手をどかせたところ、 顔はなく代わりに手の平に顔らしきものがあり、 それを見た村人は呪のろいをかけられてしまったと言う。

Once upon a time, there was a man who was cursed for prying into what was not his to know. One day, this man met a shameful villager who resolutely hid their face behind their hand. Determined to reveal that face, the man took the hand in the light of a full moon and wrenched it away.
Eager to appease his curiosity, he took in the sight in front of him, only to find that mysterious face not on their head, but on their hand.

They disappear from their cards! (Kunitsu-Gami beta?)

I found this video in the Kunitsu-Gami files. It looks to be an earlier version of the game. 

The Spirit Path looks different and the Woodcutters disappear from their cards once placed. (very cute)

Is it just me or does Soh also look a bit smaller?

Kunitsu-Gami Game Design Commentary 4: Gaki (餓鬼がき)

■第3回　始まりの、がき・餓鬼
緊急事態宣言の真っただ中。企画立案中に描いた第一号畏哭。
同時に畏哭の設定を考えつつ、デザインをしつつ、行ったり来たりと。
ゲーム中のカメラが離れているので、顔は大きくして。
空洞に空洞って何か得体の知れない怖さがありますよね…… pic.twitter.com/eOlsqwrsjH

— 【公式】 祇（くにつがみ）：Path of the Goddess (@Kunitsu_Gami_JP) April 22, 2026

■第3回　始まりの、がき・餓鬼

緊急事態宣言の真っただ中。企画立案中に描いた第一号畏哭。

同時に畏哭の設定を考えつつ、デザインをしつつ、行ったり来たりと。

ゲーム中のカメラが離れているので、顔は大きくして。

空洞に空洞って何か得体の知れない怖さがありますよね…

気持ち悪さと可愛さを狙ったんですよ。えっ？ホントに？ホントです。

舌で穢れ土壌の味と耳頼りに確認しながら目的地に向かう、鳥居にとり憑きひたすらに穢す。

鳥居にとり憑いた後は蝉の抜け殻の様な痕跡が残る等、餓えの執着として餓鬼としました。

後に色違いだったり、大きくなりボスへと定番の進化で最初から最後まで活躍しましたね。

■Episode 3: The Beginning of the Gaki/Hungry Ghost

In the midst of the state of emergency. The first Ikoku I drew while planning the project.

At the same time, I was thinking about Ikoku's setting and designing it, going back and forth.

Since the camera in the game is far away, I made the face big.

There's something unsettling about hollows within hollows, isn't there...

I was aiming for both creepiness and cuteness. What? Really? Really.

It heads towards its destination, confirming the taste of the defiled soil with its tongue and relying on its ears, possessing the torii gate and relentlessly defiling it.

After possessing the torii gate, it leaves behind traces like a cicada's exoskeleton, representing the obsession of hunger, hence the hungry ghost design.

Later, it evolved into different colors, grew larger, and became a boss, a classic evolution that played an active role from beginning to end.

Plaque Lore:

口にしようとしたものは全て燃えて塵ちりとなってしまうため、 食べることは叶かなわない。常に飢うえと渇かわきに苦しんでおり、 少しでも満たされようと生きているもの全てを貪むさぼろうとする。 舌と耳により人の手がかかったものを判別する。

Unable to eat as everything turns to dust in their mouths, Gaki are constantly suffering from never-ending hunger and thirst. They try to devour anything living in hopes of alleviating their appetites, using their senses of taste and sound to seek out traces of humans.

Kunitsu-Gami Game Design Commentary 2: Seethe Concept

■第2回　妖怪よりちょっと怖くしたい！！畏哭
国津罪のイメージから考え始め、そこから山で暮らす人々のローカルな民間信仰、伝承が生まれ…という形で作っていきました。

概念として、
罪穢れを気枯れと捉え
痩せている（渇きのイメージ）
人間の様子が残っている… pic.twitter.com/0Y7i8x0n3t

— 【公式】 祇（くにつがみ）：Path of the Goddess (@Kunitsu_Gami_JP) April 20, 2026

■第2回　妖怪よりちょっと怖くしたい！！畏哭

国津罪のイメージから考え始め、そこから山で暮らす人々のローカルな民間信仰、伝承が生まれ…という形で作っていきました。

概念として、

罪穢れを気枯れと捉え

痩せている（渇きのイメージ）

人間の様子が残っている

きれいさときたなさ（色合いと醜い造形）

耳口はあるが目はない

人が罪を犯したことによって起こる具体化された現象。

これらを踏まえて、次回からは個々の畏哭について記していきます。

オリジナルで考えた物や、元ネタから拡張して考えたり様々。

畏哭の名称は一般的な妖怪名で落とし込めるように意識していったのが祇（くにつがみ）となります。

■Part 2: I Want to Make It a Little Scarier Than a Yokai!! Aikoku

I started by thinking about the image of Kunitsutsumi (a type of sin), and from there, I created it by drawing on the local folk beliefs and traditions of people living in the mountains.

Conceptually,

Sin and defilement are seen as a lack of vital energy

Skinny (image of thirst)

Remains of human form

Beauty and ugliness (color and ugly form)

Has ears and a mouth, but no eyes

A concrete phenomenon that occurs as a result of a person committing a sin.

Based on these, I will write about individual Aikoku in the next installment.

There are various types, including original creations and those expanded from existing sources.

The name of Aikoku was chosen with the intention of being easily recognizable as a common yokai name, resulting in Kunitsuga. 

Kunitsu-Gami Design Commentary 1: Defilement/Impurity

■第1回
祇（くにつがみ）・畏哭についてのデザインの解説を書き留めていたので、この場をお借りして紹介が出来ればと思います。（川田）
全30回お楽しみ下さい。

■畏哭と穢れについて
村や生活を脅かす穢れは天津罪から着想。
人の作り上げたものに暮らしの妨げになる様に寄生してゆく。… pic.twitter.com/rZDoccUwg1

— 【公式】 祇（くにつがみ）：Path of the Goddess (@Kunitsu_Gami_JP) April 17, 2026

■第1回

祇（くにつがみ）・畏哭についてのデザインの解説を書き留めていたので、この場をお借りして紹介が出来ればと思います。（川田）

全30回お楽しみ下さい。

■畏哭と穢れについて

村や生活を脅かす穢れは天津罪から着想。

人の作り上げたものに暮らしの妨げになる様に寄生してゆく。

人の手が入った場所には少なからずとも影が落ち、畏哭達の道しるべにもなっている。

欲しい物を取る、奪う等の連想から、手をモチーフにデザインを上げていきました。

夜になると爪を立てて、動き出し進行している感じや、手の動きで同族を応援している。

露骨な気持ち悪さ（スプラッタ的な）では無く怪奇性、指や手は具体的にそれ以外は抽象化。そんなイメージです。

アニメータと背景の方々の頑張りにより、背景としても動きがあり。

とても怪しい夜の祭り感が出たかと思います。

■ Part 1

I had previously jotted down some design commentary regarding *Kunitsugami* and the *Ikoku*, so I would like to take this opportunity to share it with you here. (Kawada)

We hope you enjoy this 30-part series!

■ On the *Ikoku* and "Defilement"

The concept of "Defilement"—the force that threatens the village and its inhabitants—was inspired by the notion of *Amatsutsumi* (Heavenly Sins).

It acts by parasitizing objects created by human hands, gradually encroaching upon them in a way that disrupts daily life.

Wherever human hands have left their mark—no matter how slight—a shadow inevitably falls; these shadows serve as signposts guiding the *Ikoku* on their path.

Drawing associations from acts such as "taking" or "seizing" desired objects, I developed the designs using the human hand as a central motif.

At night, they extend their claws and begin to stir, conveying a sense of creeping progression; they also use hand gestures to rally and encourage their fellow *Ikoku*.

Rather than aiming for overt grotesqueness (in the splatter-horror sense), I sought to evoke a sense of the uncanny. The fingers and hands are rendered with concrete detail, while the rest of the form remains abstract—that was the general vision.

Thanks to the hard work of our animators and background artists, the backgrounds themselves are imbued with a sense of motion.

I believe we successfully captured that distinct atmosphere of a truly eerie, nocturnal festival.

Commentary on Kunitsu-Gami art! I'm excited for more.

Wasn't the final boss of Okami also a hand(its true form)? And it represented the damage done by human hands?

Miniature Kunitsu-Gami.

■第1回
祇（くにつがみ）・畏哭についてのデザインの解説を書き留めていたので、この場をお借りして紹介が出来ればと思います。（川田）
全30回お楽しみ下さい。

■畏哭と穢れについて
村や生活を脅かす穢れは天津罪から着想。
人の作り上げたものに暮らしの妨げになる様に寄生してゆく。… pic.twitter.com/rZDoccUwg1

— 【公式】 祇（くにつがみ）：Path of the Goddess (@Kunitsu_Gami_JP) April 17, 2026

There was an event by the person who crafted all the Kunitsu-Gami sets!

https://x.com/tokuken20091

From someone who visited: 

この前の道は霊道を引く道ですね！
農家の様子とか、お堂とか、ゲームじゃなくても見てて楽しい〜
門からの眺めなんてミニチュアに見えないよ
さりげなくイッヌが置いてあるのも嬉しい🥰
大鳥居には畏哭の手とか付いてそう pic.twitter.com/KS3zyEb0LG

— ガンダム試作1号機@モンハン中 (@GP01_Fb) April 18, 2026

Former Spirit Stone Maiden.

A look at the former Yoshiro in a video!

Spirit Stone 3.0

It's (a)Yoshiro.

This means Maidens all look the same and are likely named Yoshiro, after the term 'yorishiro'.

Yoshiro's Japanese biography says she comes from a lineage of Maidens with the same power. 

Is she praying to the Goddess within the stone or is she praying to her ancestor, the former Maiden?

Or both, and this directly contributed to the mixing of the Maiden and Goddess?

This spirit stone body is very different to our Yoshiro, who is covered in cherry blossom motifs(from pieces breaking off). In general, she looks like normal stone more than 'spirit stone'.

Forgotten God has both this bland stone and spirit stone, so perhaps this spirit stone is devoid of Goddess power? And the shiny appearance of spirit stone is what marks it as containing the power of the goddess.

If Nanamagari pulled the Goddess power out of the spirit stone, then it would just become plain stone?

For comparison, our Yoshiro:

Why's some of her foot not crystallized? 

More images of the spirit stone below the cut.

Flowers for the Maiden!

A video just to provide flowers for Yoshiro. :)