Abura-akago
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Description
Abura-akago is translated from Japanese (油赤子) - "butter baby".
A Japanese spirit taking the form of a small fireball or a child who drinks oil from lanterns. This yokai lives mainly in the Japanese province of Omi.
It is believed that abura-akago first appear in the form of mysterious fiery spheres floating aimlessly through the night sky from house to house and, having flown into one of them, turn into babies. In this guise, they lap up oil from oil lamps and paper lanterns known as "andon".
The author of the illustration, Toriyama Sekien, apparently based his description on a story from the Sokoku Ridzin Dan, published in 1746. In this story, a merchant from Otsu steals oil from a statue of Jizo at an intersection, for which, as punishment, after his death, he is turned into a wandering fiery ghost.
