Nuppeppo

Nuppeppo is a lump of flesh with a vague, indistinct face, said to appear in ruined temples. It is described as the wandering flesh of the dead and said to carry the smell of a corpse.

Anyone who takes shelter for the night in an abandoned temple may hear footsteps along the corridor after dark. Waking to look, they find a lump of flesh, neither clearly face nor back, shuffling toward them. It is also said to wander out into town, watching onlookers flee in fright with what seems like quiet satisfaction, before continuing on its aimless way.

Toriyama Sekien's Gazu Hyakki Yagyo includes a picture of it under the name "Nuppefuho," but with almost no accompanying text — only the name and image survive. The 1781 sharebon Shingosa Dehodai Mekura Ushi contains the line "without eyes, without ears," suggesting it was once told of as a form akin to the noppera-bo. Its association with ruined temples appears to be a later addition from modern popular retellings rather than an old, established detail.

It is a lump of flesh with no clear boundary between head and body, its facial features present but blurred and indistinct. It never answers when spoken to and shows no sign of attacking; it merely shuffles along corridors and night roads. No one knows what, if anything, it is looking for.