Tsurube-otoshi

A tsurube-otoshi (upper right), illustrated in the Kokon Hyaku Monogatari Hyōban (古今百物語評判)

Tsurube-otoshi (釣瓶おとし) is a creature from Japanese folklore. It lurks in the tops of trees and drops down on unsuspecting humans, and has various descriptions - sometimes it is some sort of oni or tengu, sometimes it is a disembodied head, and sometimes it is a fireball. Its name is an expression for "falling quickly" which literally means "a well-bucket dropping", and sometimes the tsurube-otoshi instead drops a well-bucket to scoop up its prey.

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