Soot sprites, also known as Susuwatari, are fictitious sprites that were devised by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, known from the famous anime-productions My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. They are small, black, fuzzy creatures with spherical bodies and white eyes with black pupils, and are conjured from soot itself. In My Neighbor Totoro, they are identified as "black soots" in early subtitles, as "soot sprites" or "dust bunnies" in the Streamline Pictures English dub, and as "soot gremlins" in the Walt Disney Studios English dub. In Spirited Away, they are shown to be capable of moving objects and are seen cleaning the bathhouse.
In Totoro, granny says the soot sprites meet to decide if the new inhabitants are good people or not, and if theyre good they wont hurt you. In Spirited Away, they are shown to eat konpeito, which is a type of Japanese sugar candy. Soot sprite cookie pops are also a popular food item inspired by the soot sprites.
