Nekomata (original form: , later forms: , , ) are a kind of cat yōkai described in Japanese folklore, classical kaidan, essays, etc. There are two very different types: those that live in the mountains and domestic cats that have grown old and transformed into yōkai. Nekomata are often confused with bakeneko. Mountain nekomata Nekomata appear in stories even earlier than in Japan. In the Sui dynasty, the words and described mysterious cats. In Japanese literature, the nekomata first appeared in the Meigetsuki by Fujiwara no Teika in the early Kamakura period: in the beginning of Tenpuku (1233), August 2, in Nanto (now Nara Prefecture), a nekomata () was said to have killed and eaten several people in one night. The nekomata was described as a mountain beast: according to the Meigetsuki, "They have eyes like a cat, and have a large body like a dog." The essay Tsurezuregusa from the late Kamakura period (circa 1331) asserts, "." However, many people question whether the nekomata really is a cat monster. Since people are said to suffer an illness called "", some interpret the nekomata to be a beast that has caught rabies. Even in the kaidan collections, the "" and the "," nekomata conceal themselves in mountain recesses; and there are stories that deep in the mountains they shapeshift into humans. In folk religion there are many stories of mountainous nekomata. In later literature, the mountain nekomata tend to be larger. In the "" nekomata captured in the mountains of Kii Province are as large as a wild boar; in the "" of 1775 (Anei 4), their roaring echos throughout the mountain, and they can be seen as big as a lion or leopard. In the "" of 1809 (Bunka 6), a nekomata that held a dog in its mouth was described as having a span of 9 shaku and 5 sun (about 2.8 meters). In Etchū Province (now Toyama Prefecture), in Aizu, at Nekomatayama said to be where nekomata would devour humans (now Fukushima Prefecture), nekomata that shapeshift into humans and deceive people, like Mount Nekomadake, the legends sometimes are named after the name of the associated mountain. Regarding Nekomatayama and altogether disregarding folklore, there are in fact large cats that attack humans. Domestic cat nekomata At the same time, in the Kokon Chomonjū of the Kamakura period, in the story "", an old cat raised in a villa