Kitaro is a yokai boy born in a cemetery, and aside from his mostly-decayed father, the last living member of the Ghost tribe. He is missing his left eye, but his hair usually covers the empty socket. He fights for peace between humans and yokai, which generally involves protecting the former from the wiles of the latter.

Written between 1959 - 1964, this manga is the original Kitaro story which later, would become the template for the more well-known and popular manga/anime; "Gegege no Kitaro".