 Tengu ( <unk> , " heavenly dog " ) are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion and are also considered a type of Shinto god ( kami ) or yōkai ( supernatural beings ) . Although they take their name from a dog @-@ like Chinese demon ( <unk> ) , the tengu were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey , and they are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics . The earliest tengu were pictured with beaks , but this feature has often been humanized as an unnaturally long nose , which today is widely considered the tengu 's defining characteristic in the popular imagination . 
