Do you remember that night after the farewell party? The time when you were walking alone and you hear footsteps behind you. Then, when you turned around, nobody was there. Inititally, you may think that its your stalker. But, it is not. It is betobeto-san, everyone’s secret stalker.
Over hundreds of years, tales of betobeto-san has passed down as oral tradition. Interestingly, in these stories, it is without form. In fact, you can only hear mimicry of the clacking of geta. “Beto. Beto.”
Similar to okuri-inu, betobeto-san stalks a lone traveller along a mountain path. However, betobeto-san is a totally harmless. It just walks in sync with you. In fact, betobeto-san is everyone’s secret stalker.
Mimetic Words
The Japanese language has a lot of mimetic words, more popularly known as onomatopoeia. These sound symbolic words includes words that mimic sounds and those that depicts state of mind & body. The word “beto beto” is one of these words. Furthermore, “beto beto” has multiple meanings. Interestingly, the most common interpretation is stickiness. Hence, there are many mistranslation of betobeto-san as “Mr.Sticky”.
However, a more apt meaning of “beto beto” is the sound of walking wearing geta. The common footwear in times of past. Therefore, Mr. Footsteps is a better interpretation of betobeto-san. Interestingly, there is a similar yokai of the Fukui prefecture called bishagatsuku (びしゃがつく). It only comes out in winter. Furthermore, it walks in the snow, “Bisha. Bisha.”
the Japanese Way
Nonetheless, sometimes betobeto-san‘s hauntings can be unnerving. Sometimes, you just want to walk alone peacefully. As such, below are 3 simple steps to stop the annoying yokai:
- Step off the path.
- Politely bow down.
- Say “Betobeto-san, osakini okoshi”
「べとべとさん、お先にお越し」
Indeed, you have just politely said “Betobeto-san, please go ahead.” As a result, betobeto-san will walk on by and footsteps vanish into a whisper. Thus, manners maketh a gracious yokai.
Conclusion
Nonetheless, next time you hear footsteps behind you, do not ignore it. Please look back and check. Because, you never know, it could be your crazy ex stalking you.
Yokai Details
- name: betobeto-san ( beh-toh-beh-toh-son )
- katakana: べとべとさん
- meaning: mister footsteps
- abilities:
- malleable anatomy — able to modify their feet to mimic any types of footwear
