Originally, the English word "rap" meant 'to pound something', and from there it came to mean, among other things, communicating with spirits through sound.
Today, however, a rapping noise refers to the sound of something creaking, bursting, or hitting something indoors, even though no one or nothing is around.
In Japan, too, it seems to have happened frequently that houses would creak and squeak on their own, and it was believed that this was the work of a yokai called "Yanari". [Lit. "Roof-crying"]
Rapping noises can be caused by a variety of factors, such as wind or a weak earthquake causing the building to resonate and produce a sound, wood drying and splitting, or water freezing somewhere inside the building and producing a bursting sound.
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