Noppera-bō and Mujina

The Noppera-bō (のっぺら坊 Noppera-bō^?), or faceless ghost, is a Japanese legendary creature.

They are sometimes mistakenly referred to as a mujina, an old Japanese word for a badger or raccoon dog.

Mujina (貉^?) is an old Japanese term primarily referring to the badger. In some regions the term refers instead to the Japanese raccoon dog (also called tanuki) or to introduced civets. Adding to the confusion, in some regions badger-like animals are also known as mami, and in one part of Tochigi Prefecture badgers are referred to as tanuki and raccoon dogs are referred to as mujina.

Like the tanuki and the fox, the mujina of Japanese folklore is an avid shapeshifter and deceiver of humans. One of the forms the mujina is purported to take, as popularized in a story by Lafcadio Hearn,^[1] is that of a "faceless ghost". This particular sort of monster is sometimes referred to by English speakers as a mujina, but the Japanese know it as noppera-bō.
 
Although the mujina can assume the form of the other, noppera-bō are usually humans.
Noppera-bō are known primarily for frightening humans, but are usually otherwise harmless. They appear at first as ordinary human beings, sometimes impersonating someone familiar to the victim, before causing their features to disappear, leaving a blank, smooth sheet of skin where their face should be.