The Namahage (生剥) are demonlike beings portrayed by men wearing hefty oni (ogre) masks and traditional straw capes (mino) during a New Year’s ritual, in local northern Japanese folklore of the Oga Peninsula area of Akita Prefecture.
The frightfully dressed men impersonating the oni-demons wearing masks, dressed in long straw coats or mino, locally called kede or kende. They are armed with deba knives (albeit wooden fakes or made of papier-mâché) and toting a teoke (手桶, “hand pail” made of wood), march in pairs or threes going door-to-door making rounds of people’s homes, admonishing children who may be guilty of laziness or bad behavior, yelling phrases like “Are there any crybabies around?” (泣く子はいねがぁ, Nakuko wa inee gā?) or “Are naughty kids around?” (悪い子はいねえか, Waruiko wa inee ka?) in the pronunciation and accent of the local dialect.