Invisible wall blocking the night road
Nurikabe
A night road with nothing on it becomes a wall. Do not strike high. Sweep the darkness at your feet, and the road returns.
Overview
Nurikabe is a yokai that suddenly blocks a traveler's path at night like a wall. Its visible form is uncertain; the experience of being unable to move forward is the center of the tale. Yanagita Kunio records that sweeping low with a stick makes it vanish.
Encounter
On dark roads in coastal Onga and similar places, the way ahead suddenly becomes an impassable wall. Going around does not work, and striking high does nothing. The fear is strongest where there is little room to escape, such as a seashore or mountain road.
Lore
Yanagita Kunio recorded Nurikabe as a tradition from Onga District in Yokai Meii, later included in Yokai Dangi. Related tales in Oita attribute the same blocked-road phenomenon to tanuki or weasels.
Traits
It cannot be seen, yet the wall is felt clearly. It holds back the panicked traveler until the person sweeps low, sits, or pauses. It is not a foe to break by force, but a wall that traps haste itself.
It disappears if one sweeps low with a stick; sweeping high does no good.
Yanagita Kunio, Yokai Dangi