化ける[ばける] (bakeru)

女おんなの人ひとはお化粧けしょうをすると化ばける

Women look different in makeup.

猫ねこは化ばけると言いわれる。

It is said that cats can change shape.

忍者は老人や病人などの弱者に化けることも多かった。

Ninja often disguised himself as a weak person such as an old person or a sick person.

大器晩成たいきばんせいの大物おおものと言いわれて久ひさしいけど、彼かれ、いつになったら化ばけるのかね。

I haven't heard anyone call him a late bloomer in a while. But I do wonder when he's going to grow up.

閻魔大王や鬼の類がシテを勤めるもの（人が鬼に化ける話もこれに含まれる）。

Oni Yamabushi Kyogen is a Kyogen in which the performer playing the role of Enma Daio (the King of Hell), Oni (ogre), or others assumes the role of "Shite"; it includes programs with the story that people turn into Oni.

また一方でゴイサギはキツネタヌキや化け猫のように、歳を経ると化けるという伝承もある。

On the other hand, there is also a legend that young night herons disguise when they become old, similar to red foxes, raccoon dogs, and bake-neko (a monster cat).

四方髪（よもがみ）とは、忍者が用いる忍術の一つで、自分の身を守るために、複数の人物に化けること。

Yomogami is one of ninjutsu (ninja art) used by ninja, disguising himself as multiple persons in order to save himself.

自身の変装だけでなく、西洋文学のカフカの『変身』や、狼男になった人が満月の夜に変身してしまうという西洋の伝承などから、日本においても、時代劇の水戸黄門（ただの爺が、印籠により徳川御三家の副将軍の一人に変身すると採れる客観からの設定）や仮面ライダーやウルトラマンまで、時代や洋の東西を問わず「変身する化ける」ということに、ある種の願望や好奇心がある。

Humans not only desire to change themselves but also some kind of wish and interest in 'changing and transforming' more generally, regardless of the time and country: a piece of European literature "The Metamorphosis" by Kafka, and a western tradition that a man transforms into a wolf on nights of the full moon, for example; also in Japan, there are costume dramas like Mito-komon (a drama in which the audience's impression of an average old man changes once he shows his inro and it is revealed that he is one of the vice-shoguns of the Tokugawa gosanke [three privileged branches of Tokugawa family]), Kamen Rider (the Masked Rider) and Ultraman.

お化けには、大化けという表現があるように、総じて大きさや効果が増大する現象をいう場合が多いが、日本の民間信仰でもある古神道も、同様の価値観があり、大きいものほど宿る神霊の位が高いとする価値観があり、巨木や巨石を信仰するものとして、神籬（ひもろぎ）・磐座（いわくら）があり、大きく成長した木または、通常より大きい岩に神が宿る（化ける）とされる。大化け

(obake: big changing in the literal meaning): it's often the case that obake generally means phenomena whose size and effect have increased; Ancient Shinto, which is connected with Japanese folk belief, has a concept of value by which it is thought that the higher ranking divine spirits reside in bigger things, such as himorogi (temporarily erected sacred space or "altar" used as a locus of worship) and iwakura (dwelling place of a god, usually in reference to a large rock): a tree which has grown to a greater extent than others or a rock which is larger than others can be a house of (bakeru [change to]) the divine spirit.