In the [tvtropes article on Youkai](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Youkai), the following remark is made on the meaning of “obake”:
>*Obake* is another Japanese word that can indicate some type of monster. Derived from the word for “to change”, it generally covers the subset of youkai that includes shapeshifting animals (hence the terms *bake-gitsune*, *bake-neko*, etc.) as well as [Animate Inanimate Objects](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnimateInanimateObject) 〔i.e. *tsukumogami*〕. Confusingly, however, the word *obake* can also be used to refer to ghosts, also known as *yuurei*.
[The Wikipedia article on Yōkai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%C5%8Dkai) contains the (unsourced) statement that
> *Yōkai* that shapeshift are known as *bakemono* (化け物) or [*obake*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obake) (お化け).
The [Wikipedia article on Obake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obake) contains the (unsourced) statement that
> Literally, the terms mean *a thing that changes*, referring to a state of transformation or [shapeshifting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapeshifting).
The implication that the *bakeru* root of obake/bakemono is related to the ability to shapeshift is a strong one at least as far as public opinion on the internet goes, despite the inconsistencies that can be noted with this etymology. In my estimation, the less incongruous root of the term would be that it refers to beings that *have undergone a change*; they might also (coincidentally) have shape-shifting powers. Many (perhaps not all) of the shape-shifting animals, which are considered *obake*, are transformations that happen when an animal has lived for a considerable amount of time (commonly 100 years); the *tsukumogami*, being items, commonly attain their status by considerable age as well, in particular by having been abandoned or forgotten or not well kept. In the case of *yurei*, the transition is that from the living to the dead. While this etymology seems to capture all of the cases that fall under *obake* (shapeshifting animals, animated items, ghosts), it would also exclude some other *yōkai* that are shapeshifters, but have not undergone a transformation, such as most prominently the *oni*, which ought to fall under *obake* if we considered it to refer to shapeshifting.
Is my reading of obake as referring to “transformed entity”, rather than to “shapeshifter”, a sensible one? Is there any support for it? Any credible scholarly sources that contravene it?
2 comments
as it says in the wikipedia article “In common usage, any bizarre apparition can be referred to as a bakemono or an obake whether or not it is believed to have some other form, making the terms roughly synonymous with yōkai”
化け物 is mostly just used as a generic term for “monster” or “ghost” now and doesn’t really say anything about it being a shape shifter. in some contexts it means the youkai specifically.
I didn’t know what Shapeshifter means but in my understanding, shapeshifter is one of Youkai/Bakemono genre, and my understanding doesn’t seem to largely conflict with the first two quotes. Look at [Shapeshifter in Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapeshifting) and it shows Kitsune (or in the term used in your first quote, Bake-gitsune) as an example from Japanese folklore, which is precisely what the definition of the word reminded me of.
It seems like much of your quotes focuses upon etymology or try to approach from literal meaning, but I think it’ll rather hinder the understanding. 化ける does mean changing the form from one to another, however the word is so simple and umbigous that it doesn’t imply that it’s about physical shape – it can be anything.
For example, the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear おばけ is ghost of deceased person – but how are they the representation of “changed being”? Is it referring to the representation of their soul changed form physical form to some certain levitating shade? Another thing that comes up to my mind is Youkai – but most of them aren’t “shape shifters”, as in many of them has one look and stay in that shape much like how frog stays a frog and dragon stays a dragon. I as a native don’t think much about etymology about words, and perhaps you don’t think about much of what the word ghost means, where it comes from, French, German, Latin, usage etc. What I mean is that probably you sholud focus on definition and examples rather than linguistic side of things.
If you want a response from Japanese then you may get more of that in r/AskAJapanese as well.