Oh my goodness! Thank you so much for your kind and thorough comment.
More than folklore, I watched Thermae Romae a few years ago, and the premise kind of stuck with me, so that might have subconsciously inspired the feel of things to a certain extent.
I was going for an Oedipal kind of thing with the bath scene. Plus hair in soup is gross, and hair in general is just kind of scary for me (thanks, Ju-On).
The statue was just a tanuki statue haha
I'm so glad you enjoyed our game. You and the rest of your team made my day.