Story Notes

Now this particular tale I came across when doing research into the yokai from the Konjaku Hyakki Shūi by Toriyama Sekien.

And notes alongside this creature in the book I was using also led us down a rabbit hole and now we have something for a future main episode surrounding a man known as Minister Kibi due to the inclusion of a go board in the background of the creatures illustration (but that is for a later date).

However, let us dive into the short tale surrounding the Demon Candlestick, the full tale of which can be found in the Wakan Sansai Zue.

In Japanese this creature is called the Tōdaiki. It wasn’t always a candlestick, in fact it was a first a man known as Minister Karu (軽大臣). He was sent to China as an envoy, however there he found himself poisoned by one of the Ministers there. Following this, the poisoner colours the mans body and places a candlestick upon his head which transformed him into this poor creature.

The story goes on to say that his son eventually came to find him, a man by the name of Chancellor Hitsu (弼宰相) and when his father sees his son it is said he bit his finger and composed a poem which went as follows:

I am from Japan; we share the same family name.
我元日本華京客　汝是一家同姓人
(私は元々日本より来た。同じ姓を持つおまえとは同族の者である）

A vow from a previous life made us father and child. Across the sea and mountains, my life has changed terribly.
為子為爺前世契　隔山隔海変生辛
(子となり親となった前世の契りは、海山を隔てても変わることはない）

For years have I cried in this weed-choked place; all I can think about are my previous parents.
経年流涙蓬蒿宿　遂日馳思蘭菊親
(こんな粗末な家で涙を流しながら年月過ごし、立派な家に住む日本の親に思いを馳せる日々）

I have been transformed into a candle-stick demon in this foreign village, but I only want to return home.
形破他郷作灯鬼　争帰旧里寄斯身
(他郷でこの姿を燈台鬼に変えられてしまったが、どうにかして故郷へ帰り身を寄せたい)

Following all of this his son then attempts to take his father home, however, he passes away before reaching the island of Iwo Jima. And so Minister Karu found himself buried on an island known as Kikaigashima (Demon Realm Island).

To this day you can find a shrine in his memory at the base of Mount Inamuradake on Iwo Jima.

And that is the tale of the Demon Candlestick.

Header Image: Burning Candles from Pixabay.

References

• Yoda, H. and Alt, M. (2016) “Japandemonium: Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopaedia of Toriyama Sekien.”. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
• Excite Blog, Japanese translation of the poem by Oshiragami.

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Story Notes

A long time ago, in the province of Tamba, there lived a rich merchant named Inamuraya Gensuké. He had a daughter called O-Sono. As she was very clever and pretty, he thought it would be a pity to let her grow up with only such teaching as the country-teachers could give her: so he sent her, in care of some trusty attendants, to Kyōto, that she might be trained in the polite accomplishments taught to the ladies of the capital. After she had thus been educated, she was married to a friend of her father’s family—a merchant named Nagaraya;—and she lived happily with him for nearly four years. They had one child,—a boy. But O-Sono fell ill and died, in the fourth year after her marriage.

On the night after the funeral of O-Sono, her little son said that his mamma had come back, and was in the room upstairs. She had smiled at him, but would not talk to him: so he became afraid, and ran away. Then some of the family went upstairs to the room which had been O-Sono’s; and they were startled to see, by the light of a small lamp which had been kindled before a shrine in that room, the figure of the dead mother. She appeared as if standing in front of a tansu, or chest of drawers, that still contained her ornaments and her wearing-apparel. Her head and shoulders could be very distinctly seen; but from the waist downwards the figure thinned into invisibility;—it was like an imperfect reflection of her, and transparent as a shadow on water.

Then the folk were afraid, and left the room. Below they consulted together; and the mother of O-Sono’s husband said: “A woman is fond of her small things; and O-Sono was much attached to her belongings. Perhaps she has come back to look at them. Many dead persons will do that,—unless the things be given to the parish-temple. If we present O-Sono’s robes and girdles to the temple, her spirit will probably find rest.”

It was agreed that this should be done as soon as possible. So on the following morning the drawers were emptied; and all of O-Sono’s ornaments and dresses were taken to the temple. But she came back the next night, and looked at the tansu as before. And she came back also on the night following, and the night after that, and every night;—and the house became a house of fear.

The mother of O-Sono’s husband then went to the parish-temple, and told the chief priest all that had happened, and asked for ghostly counsel. The temple was a Zen temple; and the head-priest was a learned old man, known as Daigen Oshō. He said: “There must be something about which she is anxious, in or near that tansu.”—“But we emptied all the drawers,” replied the woman;—“there is nothing in the tansu.”—“Well,” said Daigen Oshō, “to-night I shall go to your house, and keep watch in that room, and see what can be done. You must give orders that no person shall enter the room while I am watching, unless I call.”

After sundown, Daigen Oshō went to the house, and found the room made ready for him. He remained there alone, reading the sûtras; and nothing appeared until after the Hour of the Rat.^[1] Then the figure of O-Sono suddenly outlined itself in front of the tansu. Her face had a wistful look; and she kept her eyes fixed upon the tansu.

The priest uttered the holy formula prescribed in such cases, and then, addressing the figure by the kaimyō of O-Sono, said:—“I have come here in order to help you. Perhaps in that tansu there is something about which you have reason to feel anxious. Shall I try to find it for you?” The shadow appeared to give assent by a slight motion of the head; and the priest, rising, opened the top drawer. It was empty. Successively he opened the second, the third, and the fourth drawer;—he searched carefully behind them and beneath them;—he carefully examined the interior of the chest. He found nothing. But the figure remained gazing as wistfully as before. “What can she want?” thought the priest. Suddenly it occurred to him that there might be something hidden under the paper with which the drawers were lined. He removed the lining of the first drawer:—nothing! He removed the lining of the second and third drawers:—still nothing. But under the lining of the lowermost drawer he found—a letter. “Is this the thing about which you have been troubled?” he asked. The shadow of the woman turned toward him,—her faint gaze fixed upon the letter. “Shall I burn it for you?” he asked. She bowed before him. “It shall be burned in the temple this very morning,” he promised;—“and no one shall read it, except myself.” The figure smiled and vanished.

Dawn was breaking as the priest descended the stairs, to find the family waiting anxiously below. “Do not be anxious,” he said to them: “She will not appear again.” And she never did.

The letter was burned. It was a love-letter written to O-Sono in the time of her studies at Kyōto. But the priest alone knew what was in it; and the secret died with him.

Header Image: Japanese Writing from Pixabay.

References

• Hearn, L. (1904) “Kwaidan: stories and studies of strange things”. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York.

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Story Notes

We return to Kyoto as we often do on our show, this time to a temple known as Kōzan-ji. It is not really a centralised temple in Kyoto, located in the north-west outskirts of the city. Settled more in the wilderness it is a rather beautiful temple and it is one I hope I can visit when I go next to Kyoto; hopefully with Heather.

Now the temple was once the location of a collection of important picture scrolls, now housed in the Kyoto and Tokyo National Museums. And reproductions can be seen at the temple should you visit.

These scrolls are known as the Chōjū-giga (鳥獣戯画, literally “Animal Caricatures”) or sometimes as Scrolls of Frolocking Animals.

Looking into the authorship of these scrolls, we find that once it was thought a Toba Sōjō was the author of them, or at least some of them; this man living from 1053-1140; but we will see why shortly that this is unlikely.

So what are these scrolls? Well they are four scrolls, using ink but with not text. In size they are not too large, 31cm high and only 1 metres long. We also have several small fragments of them from private collections and it is likely that these private fragments also formed part of the original.

These 4 scrolls of the Chōjū-giga have no special name attributed to them and are simply labelled as scrolls A through D. And what is fascinating about them is that they are unique, they show animals with human characteristics, and no other scrolls have been found that do this. They are a good example of the use of monochrome wash, known in Japan as Hakubyō, and the use of only ink and its fluid link were a prefigure to the rise of ink monochrome as a major mode of later Buddhist paintings.

Looking at the first scroll to give you all some idea of what they portrayed we see rabbits, frogs and monkeys all frolicking as if they were in fact human. We see rabbits and monkeys bathing and swimming in a lake and further along on the scroll we are shown rabbits and frogs making bows and arrows. Events not explained are shown, with rabbits and foxes bringing pots and boxes to a gathering of some sort.

Celebrations are shown with frogs dancing, rabbits shown walking passed monks with their cattle. And we can also see a monkey being chased by a rabbit with a large stick. Perhaps the monkey stole something from the rabbit? We are even shown a funeral with a frog praying infront of a frog shaped Budai (a semi-historic Chinese monk) as well as animal in wrestling matches. It is very fascinating to look at.

Scroll B contains a continuous landscape with animals in pure enjoyment with lions also shown roaring and scratching their backs. C brings together a collection of games and contests between monks and laymen; this includes a tug of war wth people using their heads and additionally shows a group of monkeys attacking an ox cart. And to finish it off D shows clerics undertaking rituals as well as amusements and smoking their pipes.

A quote from George Sansom from his book Japan: short cultural history from 1931 says:

The work belongs to the decline of the Fujiwara period, but it expresses in one of its best aspects the artistic spirit of their age. The artist is a delightful draughtsman. His pictures of animals disporting [themselves] in the garb of monks are alive with satirical fun. They are a true fruit of the native wit; they owe nothing to China beyond a vague debt to her older artistic tradition; and they bear witness to that reaction against the solemnities of Buddhist art which we have noticed.

So when it comes to the dating of these scrolls it is likely that scrolls A and B come from the end of the 12th century. With C and D dating to the Kamakura Period which lasted from 1185-1333AD. Now this shows why is it unlikely Toba Sōjō created these scrolls having been born in 1053. And more specifically, whereas they contain no text, scrolls C includes the date of 1253 upon it. Recent studies as well have suggested that more than one artist may have work on the scrolls.

References

• Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth (2002) “Japan Encyclopedia”. London: Harvard University Press.  
• Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd. 
• Sansom, George Bailey (1931). “Japan, A Short Cultural History”. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing.
• “Choju-Giga”. The Physiological Society of Japan.
• “Emaki Unrolled: Master Works of Illustrated Narrative Handscrolls”. Kyoto National Museum. Archived from the original on 2009-05-18.

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Story Notes

The Crucifixion of Sogoro occoured to the man known as Sakura Sōgorō (佐倉 惣五郎) also known as Kiuchi Sōgorō (木内 惣五郎) was a peasant living in the village of Kozu, now close to modern day Narita. At the time this was in the Sakura Domain in Shimōsa Province. He was killed by crucifixion September 24th 1653. After this he returned as an onryo.

Sōgorō’s village was ruled by the hatamoto Hotta Masanobu (堀田 正信), a very greedy ruler who took most of everyones rice as tax, though the area was a fertile land. This led to everyone being on the brink of poverty.

As the head of the village (shōya), Sōgorō decided to go over the lord’s head and send a petition (jikiso) straight to the shogun concerning the greediness of Masanobu. He crept to a bridge they knew the shogun would cross and managed to get the petition into the palanquin of the shogun. The shogun at the time was Tokugawa Ietsuna.

The shogun after reading the petition requested Hotta to consider the villagers request.

Masanobu rounded up Sōgorō and his family, saying he would do as the petition said, but as Sōgorō had gone over his head Sōgorō would have to pay.

He crucified Sōgorō and his wife, and made them watch their 4 children be beheaded (their children being aged 11, 9, 6, 3), with Masanobu leaving Sōgorō and his wife hanging for three days before finishing them. The crucifixion perhaps occured between 1645-1652.

He cursed Masanobu as he died and soon after apparitions of him and his wife then began haunting Masanobu and his family. Masanobu’s wife died, and the spirits made him so crazed Hotta killed a maidservant thinking it a phantom. Then he saw Sōgorō in the shoguns castle in Edo and attaked it. Unfortunately it was actually another nobleman, so Masanobu lost his titles and holdings.

There are many versions of how the tale ends with one saying Masanobu realised how evil he was. If Sōgorō would stop his terror he would venerate him in a shrine. The hauntings wanes, and so Masanobu built a shrine using a vast sum of money leading to Sōgorō becoming a patron saint of the peasantry.

The shogun feeling sorry for Masanobu restored his holdings.

A kabuki play was later written concerning Sōgorō called Sakura gimin den.

Header Image: Crosses from pixabay.

References

• Yoda, H & Alt, M. (2012) “Yurei Attack: The Japanese Ghost Survival Guide” Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing

• Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth (2002) “Japan Encyclopedia”. London: Harvard University Press.

• Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

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Story Notes

The story of The Courtesan’s Abyss take places in a gorge/waterfall located in Yamanashi Prefecture. In Japanese it goes by the name of Oiran Buchi.

The area is known from an event from around the 1570’s (Sengoku Period) involving the Takeda Clan at the time.

During the Sengoku Period, to help fuel their battles and other exploits, the Takeda gained much of their money from a secret mine located in the Kurokawa Kinzan Mountain. Other exploits the money went to involved giving money to shrines, as well as burying amounts hidden in the foothills.

The gold mining peaked during Takeda Shingen, a strategy genius who used the gold to build a large spy network, adept at using female ninja ‘ku-no-ichi‘. These women posed as anything from, holy women, to servants, to prostitutes who gained intel from his rivals.

For the mining they employed many men and in addition they also made use of 55 courtesans who would entertain the men on their downtime.

Eventually the mine began to run dry and so decisions were made to close the mine. However, wishing to keep the mine a secret it was decided that the 55 courtesan’s would need to be gotten ridden of as they may have learnt of the mine from entertaining the men. (Or even from their skills as ku-no-ichi if that is what they were.)

And so a platform was constructed, suspended over the gorge here, with the 55 women placed on the stage being told they were to practise for a thank you party for the coming night. As they continued their practise, Takeda men destroyed the supports of the platform, causing all the women to fall to their deaths. Their bodies were eventualy retrieved from the bend in the gorge. It is inclued as a Yokai in certain literature.

Header Image: Waterfalls from pixabay.

References

• Yoda, H & Alt, M. (2012) “Yurei Attack: The Japanese Ghost Survival Guide” Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing.

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Story Notes

Well today I must start off by saying the Dragon which I was calling Yamato no Orochi is Yamata no Orochi. I completely misread the name and have been doing so for years!  

So lets look this week into the imagery that one might see in Japanese tattoos. 

Of course, there are depictions of animals, people and also supernatural creatures. So let us dive into the animal side first and look at the descriptions of the different creatures so you have a better idea of what you maybe seeing upon someone with tattoos.  

Now, it seems right to talk first of koi for Japanese tattoos. Often we will see them tattooed trying to swim upstream, this acting as a symbol of perseverance.  Legends about this (as Heather told us on the Pokemon episode) of how a koi going upstream that crosses the dragon gate will transform into a dragon and become eternally happy. Other tattoos may even show koi having reached the dragon gate and have begun their transformation, these creatures known as koiryu. When it comes to colours, we can see higoi (red), magoi (black) or nishikigoi (living jewels). 

Koi can often be depicted alongside people, one of them being Kintaro. Again we have talked of him, and his journey to defeat the oni. In tattoos we can see him fighting a koi, and this tattoo is actually names a koitaro. 

Other koi can be paired alongside Benkei, who was a warrior monk. This tattoo depicts him upon the back of a giant carp when he is still a child. The story goes that as child he saw his mother abducted by a giant carp and so swore revenge on the fish, when it returned one day he jumped on its back to kill it; and only after doing so did he realize the fish he was now on was the ghost of his mother.  

Hawks are important in Japan as symbols of prosperity. If one should dream of a hawk and aubergine flying over Mount Fuji on New Years Eve you will have a very prosperous year. In tattoos hawks can be seen perched on rocks and branches, searching for their prey in a soaring pose.  

Tanuki and even goldfish deserve a mentioning here. For goldfish, they were the poorer equivalent of the koi mentioned above. Tattoos of the lower classes, whereas koi were more for those with money. Symbolizing abundance and happiness. For the tanuki their tattoos were to show joy, friendship and a desire for fun. 

Tigers can also be seen in tattoos, symbols of the forces of nature and the wild instinct of man which one must learn to contain. They can also be portrayed as appearing through bamboo canes, as they were thought as the only animal capable of walking through bamboo forest. This depiction was to symbolize the weak giving shelter to the powerful.  

The catfish, is often seen as a symbol of earthquake, in fact there is one known as the namazu which was so big, that every time it moved would cause earthquake to happen. To stop this the god Kashima would sit on it with a large rock to control it. Tattoos of this catfish are symbols of a yearning to be free.  

So now let us look at the supernatural creature side of things. 

I think the first one we may have mentioned before in our Pokémon episode and that is the Hōō or the Phoenix. Now should you come across this creature the main things to be looking out for would be an animal with the neck of a pheasant, comb like that of a rooster and it would also have long feathers like that of a peacock.  

Should the tattoo be colored then the feather would consist of black, white, red, green and yellow which symbolize benevolence, purity, education, wisdom and gentleness. You may also see it alongside the paulownia trees as this we the only tree that it would make its nest in.  

They are symbolic of the imperial family, namely the empress and so can be combined with a dragon alongside to represent the Emperor, used to symbolize completeness or a sense of ying and yang. Alternatively they can be paired together to symbolize the mounts for the messengers of the sennin (or Immortal Hermits). 

Keeping on from the mentioning of dragons, they were symbols of wind, fire, and water. In fact we saw this in a way with the tattoos we talked of in the last episode, being the favored tattoos of firefighters. They did have heavenly origins, and I found out that they were even enemies of the sun and moon, with eclipses happening when dragons tried to devour them.  

Appearance wise, they bring together a lot of different animals. Head of a camel, horns from a stag, eyes of a hare and ears from a bull. They have the crest of a phoenix, body made from a snake, but scales from that of a carp. Their feet are those of a tiger, but they have claws of an eagle. A lot of the time they would have four legs, but if they have wings then they would only have two and additionally have the tail of a phoenix.  

But did any of you know that Dragons have fears? They fear centipedes, silk dyed in five colors as well as iron.  

Now if you are looking at a dragon tattoo, count the claws they have. Japanese dragons have three claws, in China you would see four or five. 

Dragons will likely be shown flying inside and around cloud that look a little like fungi shaped clouds. This is in fact deliberate, they represent the mushroom known as the reishi, a mushroom of immortality and eternal youth. 

Spiral clouds would show to you the dragon alongside it is full of either water or fire, ready to be used.  

If they hold flaming pearls, this is the item which holds all their power, and they are known as Buddha pearls.  

When we see Dragon with sword designed with a vajra hilt this kind of depiction is called a Kurikara Ryu. 

Stories relating to dragons can also be represented, one in particular known as the Muge Hoju no Tama. The Dragon King Ryujin had stolen a jewel which could control the tide as it was being taken to the Emperor. After many twists in the tale a fisherwoman figures out how to get the jewel back into the hands of the Emperor. Knowing Dragons do not touch dead flesh, she pierces her side and places the jewel inside of her. Her lifeless body then rises to the surface so the jewel may return to the Emperor. 

Now if you are a Dragon that has fire, in a tattoo where would you show the fire coming out from?  

Apparently the only two places you can show fire coming from is either the jewel it holds, or coming out from its shoulders as this is where it carries fire. 

If you see someone with a tattoo made of nine dragon, this relates to the Suikoden we talked of last episode. his dragon was the tattoo of Shi Jin, a martial arts expert who lived as an outlaw. 

Additionally there is a subset of this, this being the dragon-snake. The first being simply, the snake as we know it, or hebi in Japanese. Here these tattoos would serve as as imagery as an evil attacker or to symbolise the feminine side (though in a negative context). The other dragon snake would be the one in which we have discussed before, that of Yamata no Orochi. Tattoos for this epic event in Shinto Mythology would at times cover an entire persons arm or even a full body suit would be created to show the fight between the Dragon and the God Susano-o. 

Moving on to a creature which is made up of the body of a lion, scaly skin of a fish, and deer horns and hooves. This would be a kirin. People think it is a corrupted version of a giraffe hence the name kirin (giraffe in Japanese) but that is not concrete. These creatures and tattoos of them would serve to symbolize good luck or a positive event. Flames may also be included around the creature to symbolize serenity, which it has in such abundance that it flows out of the creature.  

We turn now to the Shishi or the Lion. Traditionally this is one of the two lions you seen guarding the entrance of temples in Japan. The shishi is denoted as the King of Beast and when depicted in tattoos you will see it next to a peony, known as the Queen of Flowers; this kind of tatoo is known as a karashishi-botan. Their skin is said to be stronger than the best helmet, and so you can see it tattooed onto pregnant women’s stomachs to protect the unborn child during pregnancy.  

Saying Notes

しょうがない  Shyo-u ga nai

-It can’t be helped 

OR 

There is no ginger (pun) 

Header Image: Dragon by Hokusai.

References:

• Moriarty, Y. (2021) “Japanese Tattoos: Meanings, Shapes and Motifs.” Barcelona: Promopress.

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Story Notes

There are four divine beasts in Chinese culture, and it’s from this that Japanese culture derives some of the basis for its own turtle folklore  
 
The four divine beasts are the dragon, bird, and tiger. Each of these guards a direction. The turtle is stated to guard the north. The four divine beasts were more popular before the rise Buddhism, but you can see some of their depiction in art and crafts.  

Turtles are looked at very favourably in Asian culture, as their long lives are a symbol of longevity. Not just longevity, but also good luck as well. 

The pattern of the turtle’s shell is also a popular motif, and you will see it depicted on fans and kimono. Often times, you’ll see the turtle and crane together on a kimono as well, since cranes are also a symbol of long life. The pattern is a hexagon, often with another hexagon inside.  
 
Turtle Folklore has seen them used as symbols for heaven in earth in art, with the turtle’s shell depicting earth on the bottom, and heaven on top. Or if you see the turtle in conjunction with the crane, the crane represents heaven and the turtle the earth.  
 
There’s also many turtles depicted at shrines, such as the Reiki or “spirit turtle”.  

Probably the most popular folktale about turtles is Urashima Taro, BUT we are going to save that for a bonus episode. Today, I’m going to paraphrase a folktale I found during my wanderings online. I’ll include the website, but unfortunately it looks like it hasn’t been updated in a while.  
 
There once was a turtle who saw a crane flying high in the sky. He envied the crane his flight and wished he might do the same. The crane landed close to the turtle and the turtle said  

“Oh, it must be so wonderful to be able to fly around and see everything from up high. I wish I could do that too!” 
 
The crane said “oh, but you can! Please, take hold of my feather. This one is magic. I can take you into the sky but you must never let go, or you will fall.” 
 
So the turtle, happily grabbed onto the feather with his teeth and up they soared into the blue sky. 
 
The turtle was delighted! He could see everything. Rivers, mountains, rice paddies, villages… He wanted to share all he saw with the crane but kept a firm grasp on the feather. 
 
The crane flew a little lower to the ground so the turtle could see into a village. Well, some children happened to see the strange sight of a crane and a turtle flying and began to make fun of the turtle.  
 
The turtle, much embarrassed opened his mouth to defend himself. BUT! Once he opened his mouth, down down he came to the earth with a crash. 
 
The crane, very worried about his new friend flew down and landed beside the turtle.  
 
“Oh turtle, are you okay!” 
 
“Yes, yes, I have seen so many wonderful sights! I am so happy” 
 
But, with the impact from the fall the turtles shell had many cracks. And that’s how it happened that the turtle shell today still shows the same pattern as the one who flew and fell from the sky.  
 

Poem Notes

The two poems today are jisei which I don’t think we have done for a while. I found one by Kobayashi Issa who we have mentiponed before, but we also have a new poet known as Baisei. Now I tried to find something about him, but I could not, the book he is mentioned in does not have his full name so I can’t find anything about him save what the book tells me which is he died in 1745. Issa died in 1827.

Baisei:

Island of Eternity
a turtle dries its shell out
in the first sun rays of the year.

Issa:

What matter if I live on –
a tortoise lives
a hundred times as long.

Header Image: Turtle Art from Pixabay.

References 

• http://www.attaka-furusato.com/minwa/gb/hiroshima/tsurukame.html 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_turtle
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_depictions_of_turtles
• https://www.nga.gov/features/life-of-animals-in-japanese-art.htmlhttps://www.thejapaneseshop.co.uk/blog/japanese-symbolic-animals-meanings/
• https://jpninfo.com/103860
• https://www.britannica.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-a-turtle-and-a-tortoise
• Hoffman, Y. (1986) ”Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death”. Tuttle Publishing. 

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

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Story Notes

This is an old tale, from 1871 by A.B.Mitford. Due to the age of the tale it is now out of copyright and so we have the entire original story here for you to enjoy. It is the story of the Vampire Cat, or locally known in Japan as the Bakeneko.

There is a tradition in the Nabéshima family that, many years ago, the Prince of Hizen was bewitched and cursed by a cat that had been kept by one of his retainers. This prince had in his house a lady of rare beauty, called O Toyo: amongst all his ladies she was the favourite, and there was none who could rival her charms and accomplishments. One day the Prince went out into the garden with O Toyo, and remained enjoying the fragrance of the flowers until sunset, when they returned to the palace, never noticing that they were being followed by a large cat. Having parted with her lord, O Toyo retired to her own room and went to bed. At midnight she awoke with a start, and became aware of a huge cat that crouched watching her; and when she cried out, the beast sprang on her, and, fixing its cruel teeth in her delicate throat, throttled her to death. What a piteous end for so fair a dame, the darling of her prince’s heart, to die suddenly, bitten to death by a cat! Then the cat, having scratched out a grave under the verandah, buried the corpse of O Toyo, and assuming her form, began to bewitch the Prince.

But my lord the Prince knew nothing of all this, and little thought that the beautiful creature who caressed and fondled him was an impish and foul beast that had slain his mistress and assumed her shape in order to drain out his life’s blood. Day by day, as time went on, the Prince’s strength dwindled away; the colour of his face was changed, and became pale and livid; and he was as a man suffering from a deadly sickness. Seeing this, his councillors and his wife became greatly alarmed; so they summoned the physicians, who prescribed various remedies for him; but the more medicine he took, the more serious did his illness appear, and no treatment was of any avail. But most of all did he suffer in the night-time, when his sleep would be troubled and disturbed by hideous dreams. In consequence of this, his councillors nightly appointed a hundred of his retainers to sit up and watch over him; but, strange to say, towards ten o’clock on the very first night that the watch was set, the guard were seized with a sudden and unaccountable drowsiness, which they could not resist, until one by one every man had fallen asleep. Then the false O Toyo came in and harassed the Prince until morning. The following night the same thing occurred, and the Prince was subjected to the imp’s tyranny, while his guards slept helplessly around him. Night after night this was repeated, until at last three of the Prince’s councillors determined themselves to sit up on guard, and see whether they could overcome this mysterious drowsiness; but they fared no better than the others, and by ten o’clock were fast asleep. The next day the three councillors held a solemn conclave, and their chief, one Isahaya Buzen, said—

“This is a marvellous thing, that a guard of a hundred men should thus be overcome by sleep. Of a surety, the spell that is upon my lord and upon his guard must be the work of witchcraft. Now, as all our efforts are of no avail, let us seek out Ruiten, the chief priest of the temple called Miyo-in, and beseech him to put up prayers for the recovery of my lord.”

And the other councillors approving what Isahaya Buzen had said, they went to the priest Ruiten and engaged him to recite litanies that the Prince might be restored to health.

So it came to pass that Ruiten, the chief priest of Miyo-in, offered up prayers nightly for the Prince. One night, at the ninth hour (midnight), when he had finished his religious exercises and was preparing to lie down to sleep, he fancied that he heard a noise outside in the garden, as if some one were washing himself at the well. Deeming this passing strange, he looked down from the window; and there in the moonlight he saw a handsome young soldier, some twenty-four years of age, washing himself, who, when he had finished cleaning himself and had put on his clothes, stood before the figure of Buddha and prayed fervently for the recovery of my lord the Prince. Ruiten looked on with admiration; and the young man, when he had made an end of his prayer, was going away; but the priest stopped him, calling out to him—

“Sir, I pray you to tarry a little: I have something to say to you.”

“At your reverence’s service. What may you please to want?”

“Pray be so good as to step up here, and have a little talk.”

“By your reverence’s leave;” and with this he went upstairs.

Then Ruiten said—

“Sir, I cannot conceal my admiration that you, being so young a man, should have so loyal a spirit. I am Ruiten, the chief priest of this temple, who am engaged in praying for the recovery of my lord. Pray what is your name?”

“My name, sir, is Ito Soda, and I am serving in the infantry of Nabéshima. Since my lord has been sick, my one desire has been to assist in nursing him; but, being only a simple soldier, I am not of sufficient rank to come into his presence, so I have no resource but to pray to the gods of the country and to Buddha that my lord may regain his health.”

When Ruiten heard this, he shed tears in admiration of the fidelity of Ito Soda, and said—

“Your purpose is, indeed, a good one; but what a strange sickness this is that my lord is afflicted with! Every night he suffers from horrible dreams; and the retainers who sit up with him are all seized with a mysterious sleep, so that not one can keep awake. It is very wonderful.”

“Yes,” replied Soda, after a moment’s reflection, “this certainly must be witchcraft. If I could but obtain leave to sit up one night with the Prince, I would fain see whether I could not resist this drowsiness and detect the goblin.”

At last the priest said, “I am in relations of friendship with Isahaya Buzen, the chief councillor of the Prince. I will speak to him of you and of your loyalty, and will intercede with him that you may attain your wish.”

“Indeed, sir, I am most thankful. I am not prompted by any vain thought of self-advancement, should I succeed: all I wish for is the recovery of my lord. I commend myself to your kind favour.”

“Well, then, to-morrow night I will take you with me to the councillor’s house.”

“Thank you, sir, and farewell.” And so they parted.

On the following evening Itô Sôda returned to the temple Miyp-in, and having found Ruiten, accompanied him to the house of Isahaya Buzen: then the priest, leaving Soda outside, went in to converse with the councillor, and inquire after the Prince’s health.

“And pray, sir, how is my lord? Is he in any better condition since I have been offering up prayers for him?”

“Indeed, no; his illness is very severe. We are certain that he must be the victim of some foul sorcery; but as there are no means of keeping a guard awake after ten o’clock, we cannot catch a sight of the goblin, so we are in the greatest trouble.”

“I feel deeply for you: it must be most distressing. However, I have something to tell you. I think that I have found a man who will detect the goblin; and I have brought him with me.”

“Indeed! who is the man?”

“Well, he is one of my lord’s foot-soldiers, named Ito Soda, a faithful fellow, and I trust that you will grant his request to be permitted to sit up with my lord.”

“Certainly, it is wonderful to find so much loyalty and zeal in a common soldier,” replied Isahaya Buzen, after a moment’s reflection; “still it is impossible to allow a man of such low rank to perform the office of watching over my lord.”

“It is true that he is but a common soldier,” urged the priest; “but why not raise his rank in consideration of his fidelity, and then let him mount guard?”

“It would be time enough to promote him after my lord’s recovery. But come, let me see this Itô Sôda, that I may know what manner of man he is: if he pleases me, I will consult with the other councillors, and perhaps we may grant his request.” “I will bring him in forthwith,” replied Ruiten, who thereupon went out to fetch the young man.

When he returned, the priest presented Ito Soda to the councillor, who looked at him attentively, and, being pleased with his comely and gentle appearance, said—

“So I hear that you are anxious to be permitted to mount guard in my lord’s room at night. Well, I must consult with the other councillors, and we will see what can be done for you.”

When the young soldier heard this he was greatly elated, and took his leave, after warmly thanking Buiten, who had helped him to gain his object. The next day the councillors held a meeting, and sent for Itô Sôda, and told him that he might keep watch with the other retainers that very night. So he went his way in high spirits, and at nightfall, having made all his preparations, took his place among the hundred gentlemen who were on duty in the prince’s bed-room.

Now the Prince slept in the centre of the room, and the hundred guards around him sat keeping themselves awake with entertaining conversation and pleasant conceits. But, as ten o’clock approached, they began to doze off as they sat; and in spite of all their endeavours to keep one another awake, by degrees they all fell asleep. Itô Sôda all this while felt an irresistible desire to sleep creeping over him, and, though he tried by all sorts of ways to rouse himself, he saw that there was no help for it, but by resorting to an extreme measure, for which he had already made his preparations. Drawing out a piece of oil paper which he had brought with him, and spreading it over the mats, he sat down upon it; then he took the small knife which he carried in the sheath of his dirk, and stuck it into his own thigh. For awhile the pain of the wound kept him awake; but as the slumber by which he was assailed was the work of sorcery, little by little he became drowsy again. Then he twisted the knife round and round in his thigh, so that the pain becoming very violent, he was proof against the feeling of sleepiness, and kept a faithful watch. Now the oil paper which he had spread under his legs was in order to prevent the blood, which might spurt from his wound, from defiling the mats.

So Itô Sôda remained awake, but the rest of the guard slept; and as he watched, suddenly the sliding-doors of the Prince’s room were drawn open, and he saw a figure coming in stealthily, and, as it drew nearer, the form was that of a marvellously beautiful woman some twenty-three years of age. Cautiously she looked around her; and when she saw that all the guard were asleep, she smiled an ominous smile, and was going up to the Prince’s bedside, when she perceived that in one corner of the room there was a man yet awake. This seemed to startle her, but she went up to Soda and said—

“I am not used to seeing you here. Who are you?”

“My name is Itô Sôda, and this is the first night that I have been on guard.”

“A troublesome office, truly! Why, here are all the rest of the guard asleep. How is it that you alone are awake? You are a trusty watchman.”

“There is nothing to boast about. I’m asleep myself, fast and sound.”

“What is that wound on your knee? It is all red with blood.”

“Oh! I felt very sleepy; so I stuck my knife into my thigh, and the pain of it has kept me awake.”

“What wondrous loyalty!” said the lady.

“Is it not the duty of a retainer to lay down his life for his master? Is such a scratch as this worth thinking about?”

Then the lady went up to the sleeping prince and said, “How fares it with my lord to-night?” But the Prince, worn out with sickness, made no reply. But Sôda was watching her eagerly, and guessed that it was O Toyo, and made up his mind that if she attempted to harass the Prince he would kill her on the spot. The goblin, however, which in the form of O Toyo had been tormenting the Prince every night, and had come again that night for no other purpose, was defeated by the watchfulness of Ito Soda; for whenever she drew near to the sick man, thinking to put her spells upon him, she would turn and look behind her, and there she saw Ito Soda glaring at her; so she had no help for it but to go away again, and leave the Prince undisturbed.

At last the day broke, and the other officers, when they awoke and opened their eyes, saw that Ito Soda had kept awake by stabbing himself in the thigh; and they were greatly ashamed, and went home crestfallen.

That morning Ito Soda went to the house of Isahaya Buzen, and told him all that had occurred the previous night. The councillors were all loud in their praises of Ito Soda’s behaviour, and ordered him to keep watch again that night. At the same hour, the false O Toyo came and looked all round the room, and all the guard were asleep, excepting Ito Soda, who was wide awake; and so, being again frustrated, she returned to her own apartments.

Now as since Soda had been on guard the Prince had passed quiet nights, his sickness began to get better, and there was great joy in the palace, and Soda was promoted and rewarded with an estate. In the meanwhile O Toyo, seeing that her nightly visits bore no fruits, kept away; and from that time forth the night-guard were no longer subject to fits of drowsiness. This coincidence struck Soda as very strange, so he went to Isahaya Buzen and told him that of a certainty this O Toyo was no other than a goblin. Isahaya Buzen reflected for a while, and said—

“Well, then, how shall we kill the foul thing?”

“I will go to the creature’s room, as if nothing were the matter, and try to kill her; but in case she should try to escape, I will beg you to order eight men to stop outside and lie in wait for her.”

Having agreed upon this plan, Soda went at nightfall to O Toyo’s apartment, pretending to have been sent with a message from the Prince. When she saw him arrive, she said—

“What message have you brought me from my lord?”

“Oh! nothing in particular. Be so look as to look at this letter;” and as he spoke, he drew near to her, and suddenly drawing his dirk cut at her; but the goblin, springing back, seized a halberd, and glaring fiercely at Soda, said—

“How dare you behave like this to one of your lord’s ladies? I will have you dismissed;” and she tried to strike Soda with the halberd. But Soda fought desperately with his dirk; and the goblin, seeing that she was no match for him, threw away the halberd, and from a beautiful woman became suddenly transformed into a cat, which, springing up the sides of the room, jumped on to the roof. Isahaya Buzen and his eight men who were watching outside shot at the cat, but missed it, and the beast made good its escape.

So the cat fled to the mountains, and did much mischief among the surrounding people, until at last the Prince of Hizen ordered a great hunt, and the beast was killed.

But the Prince recovered from his sickness; and Itô Sôda was richly rewarded.

Header Image: Assortment of Bakeneko, by Kuniyoshi

References

• Freeman-Mitford, A. B. Tales of Old Japan. London: Macmillan, 1871, 1890. 

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The post B12 The Vampire Cat appeared first on . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史.

Story Notes

Pokemon is a world wide phenomenon which was first thought up around 1989 by Pokemon executive director Satoshi Tajiri when the Game Boy was released. And the item behind Pokemon came from a popular hobby of Tajiri’s which was insect collecting. This developed and ultimately became the game of Pokemon we know of today. A game where you are tasked with going and trying to collect all of the different Pokemon in the area you live in.

However, I wanna look into the inspiration of some Pokemon today and not into the history of Pokemon or the man behind it. They I feel will one day be covered by us, honestly the more episodes we do, the more we realise we want to talk about and finding time to do it all.

Now there are some which I wanted to include, but I didn’t want to have to chop them down to their barebones and so I shall briefly mention them so we may come and give them an episode to themselves later in our show.

So these first three are called Vulpix, Ninetails and Zorua, and they are based off the Kitsune, or Japanese Fox.

So when we look at Vulpix we see it has only 6 tails, and when it evolves into Ninetails, it has… ninetails….

This links to the Kitsune in that these creatures can grow up to ninetails in total. And they can act as a way to show how old, wise and powerful they are.

Kitsune additionally, much like other Yokai such as the Tanuki are known as shapesifters, almost always taking on the guise of a woman. However, when they do so they often find it difficult to hide their true selves, as they cannot transform their tail. And we can see this evidently in the anime with the Pokemon Zorua when they transform into certain characters from the show.

But that is the taster for Kitsune. There are witches associated with them, there are Fox-Weddings, and many many tales surrounding them. But they deserved time to themselves, so for now I just wanted to say the most obvious things that relate to their Pokemon link.

So listeners, please be patient until the Kitsune episode.

Now this next one is known as Castform, and it can take several appearances depending on the weather at the time, from sun, to rain, to snow. It is thought they are based off the teru teru bōzu, which are a kind of handmade doll constructed from white paper or cloth often hung outside of a persons window from string. You apparently can find this more often on the houses of farmers.

These items are said to hold the magical powers of bringing good weather and even being able to stop or at least prevent for a time a rainy day from occouring. The name here being constructed of teru, which is a verb describing sunshine and bōzu meaning monk. So Shine Shine Monk is the translation of these items. These items became popular in the Edo Period when children wanting good weather would make them the day before chanting to them, fine weather priest, please let the weather be good tomorrow.

If the teru reru bōzu should fail, they would then have a sake libation poured over them and then be thrown in the river to be washed away.

There are also those who would hang them upside down, as a way of praying and hoping for rain.

Now for this next cat Pokemon called Meowth, I suggest you head on back to Episode 40 and the Folklore of Cats as this one relates to the Maneki Neko for one, but also another Yokai cat that we didn’t talk about on that episode so we will mention it now.

First as a reminder, the Maneki Neko is the good luck cat, with art work for Meowth showing it with its raised beckoning hand and coin in the centre of its forehead. These cats dolls which you can buy if you remember come in various colours to signify different things.

Red is for relationship success and illness prevention, black keeps evil at bay, gold is for money, green for health, blue for academic success and even pink for help with love.

But the other Yokai it could link to is that of the Bake Neko, sometimes called the Monster Cat or Vampire Cat. They say that if a cat lives long enough they can transform into mischievous creatures, and can even gain the ability to control the bodies of the dead. Where I can say I don’t think Meowth ever did that, he is definitely a trickster type Pokémon with his association with Team Rocket, but another link to this Yokai is that the Bake Neko were also capable of human speech much like Meowth is. There is even a famous tale known as the Nabeshima no Bakeneko Sōdō, at times translated as the Vampire Cat of Nabeshima. But that is a longish tale which wil have its own Bonus Episode. We have a lot more Yokai and the Pokemon they inspired to get through.

So onwards we go.

Well, actually one last thing. Though not a Yokai in the slightest. There was once one the internet a famous cat known as Long Cat. Now sadly, I didn’t release until doing the research, Long Cat, who was known as Nobiko, has now passed away. They died last year in September at the age of 18, but I am pretty sure that the Gigantamax Version of Meowth is based off of Long Cat.

Turning our attention now to the next two, known as Growlithe and Arcanine. They are though based off the Koma Inu, the strange little lion statues that you can find at the entrance to temples in Japan. Entries for these two Pokemon state they are  loyal, brave, trustworthy and are very protective of their territory. Much like the purpose of the Koma Inu is in protecting the inner shrine of many Shinto Shrines.

We can find their origins back in the Nara period (710–794, at least in Japan, they predate this in other areas of Asia. But when they arrived in Japan, like other places they always came in a pair. When you see them at temples one will have its mouth open, and the other will be closed. Back in the Nara Period, each one had a separate name. The opened mouth one being called Shishi (Lion) with the closed mouth one known as Komainu and at times had a single horn atop its head. Over time, they both came to be known as Komainu and shared the same appearance, saved for the difference in mouth which has remained until this day.

Originally they were only used indoors and were known as Jinnai Komainu (Shrine Inside Komainu) but later became to be used outside, the term for them then changing to Sando Komainu (Visiting Road Komainu).

Now we have a wolf type of Pokémon known as Lycanroc. It has three forms depending on the type of day, Day, Midnight and Dusk. Day form is calm, Midnight is vicious, with the Dusk form acting as a midway between the two of them. Now I know the name will make you think werewolf, but it is likely based from the Japanese Yokai known as the Okuri Inu. But in addition to that it also has a resemblance to an extinct species of Japanese wolf.

The Okuri Inu at times can be nice as well as vicious, mimicking the midnight and day forms of the Pokémon.. For instance, they will follow you in the mountains at night, and should you stumble they will pounce and devour you. If you need to you can rest, but don’t look too tired or that again will cause them to attack.

The same creatures, calmer side can be seen from a book entitled the Chiisagata-gun Mindanshū, Collection of Stories from the Chiisata District. This tells the story of a woman from Shioda who was to give birth, heading to her parents house to do so she falls into labour on the way and Okuri-Inu gather around her. The scared woman told them that if they were going to eat her then to do so right then. But instead they protected her from all the other wolves upon the mountain. Finally, with the husband reunited with his wife, he fed them red rice, reserved for auspoicious occasions. The book also details the area of Koumi, stating that Mountains Dogs (Yama-Inu) are either Okuri Inu or Mukae Inu, Okuri Inu protecting, with Mukae Inu attacking, which again links back to the to characteristics of the pokemon.

Next we have Dunsparse, based off the Yokai known as the Tsuchinoko.

This Yokai is a short, thick, snake-like creature. It was poisonous and can sometimes live with its head missing. It is a cryptid (an animal whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the yeti.) and we have reports of it being seen from the Edo Period. One story relates to the city of Kanazawa from 1807. There is a slope there where strange things occur. A man walking by saw something like a kind of pestle, but as thick as a mortar. Completely black, it let of a laugh, made a sound like thunder and disappeared. The man was then ill for a few days afterwards.

There was a Tsuchinoko boom now and then in history, most recently in the first few years of the 21^st century. A farmer in Okayama Prefecture said he had found the remains of one, though examined and determined as a tiger keelback snake, the town quickly became identified with the Tsuchinoko and you can even get Tsuchinoko wine now from the area.

This bird known as Ho-oh in Pokemon, is based of the similarly named Hōō from mythology. Or what would at times be called a phoenix in western cultures, though they do differ somewhat.

This one however finds it origins in China and it said to come from the sun, their bodies containing 5 fundamental colours of black, white, red, yellow and green. All of which are seen on this Pokémon. The colours are said to represent the Confucian five virtues. Benevolence, Honesty and Uprightness, Knowledge, Faithfulness and Integrity and Correct Behaviour, Propriety and Good Manners.  These birds can only appear in areas blessed with perfect peace, prosperity and happiness. Originating as far back as 8000 years ago.

Now the two here that have been chosen are known as Litwick and Klefki, but there are other Pokemon which link to what I am about the mention. These being creatures known as Haunted Houseware or Tsukumogami.  In essence, household items and man made things turned into Yokai.

Tales form the Muromachi Period state that when an object reaches one hundred years it transforms, obtaining a spirit and deceiving people’s hearts, this is called the tsukumogami.

Another tale from a 16^th century picture scroll goes as follows, there are tools and other objects that after 100 years change into spirits and deceive people. They are called tsukumogami. At the end of the year families discard old furniture, utensils and such, piling them up at the side of the road. Then at New Years, these household items transform in shape. Angry and the extravagant wealth of families. These tsukumogami should be treated with caution. This again is something with a lot of Lore surrounding it and deserves an episode over to itself. But I at least wanted to introduce the topic here in the episode.

This Pokemon, known as Drowzee, is based off of something known as the Baku.

These creatures are said to eat nightmares. We hear of it from as early as 834AD in poetry from China and here we have it described as something with the nose of an elephant, eyes of a rhino, tale of an ox and legs of a tiger. Mostly different to Drowzee in appearance, but he does eat dreams and have a trunk of sorts. If you suffered migraines, sleeping with the image of a Baku is said to have helped send you off into slumber. And a strange additional note, unsure why this is known about the Baku but its urine can melt iron and turn it into water. Interestingly, this Pokémon could also be based of a Tapir, and even Tapir are known as Baku in Japanese. But whether the name came for the animal or the Yokai first I don’t know.

Lotad, Lombre, Ludicolo are an interesting bunch and relate to something we have already talked of before, so head on back to Episode 43 where we talked about the Kappa. They are mischievous like the Kappa, and though the Kappa would try to steal your shirikodama if you were in water, these Pokémon like to tug on fishing lines from below the water. At least in the case for Lombre.

I feel the second evolution Lombre is the one most resembling a Kappa though, the first looking more like a lilly pad and the final evolution, at least in Alfredo’s opinion, look more like a sombrero wearing Pokémon.

Lickitung, like its name suggests is a Pokémon sporting a massive tongue, with entries about this Pokémon stating it likes to lick dirt off things to make them clean. This relates to the creature known as the Akaname (Filth Licker in English). It had red skin, as Aka means both ‘Red’ and ‘Filth’ in Japanese it particularly liked to lick all of the dirt and scum out of bathtubs.

Turning our attention to Mawile, we find its inspiration coming from the Futakuchi Onna, or Woman with two mouths.

This second mouth is hidden behind the long flowing hair on the back of their head. This other mouth can mumble to itself and the original mouth sometimes feeds constantly to try and satisfy the second one.

They are normal women transformed through bad karma, for giving attention purely to their children instead of also their step children. Should one of their step children die from neglect, 49 days later (the traditional amount of mourning in Japan) the spirit returns to inhabit the mother, giving her the extra mouth and an almost unstoppable hunger. One story states a step mother after 49 dies of her step child dying, was hit in the head with the back of her husband’s axe. The wound wasn’t deep, but eventually after not healing grew teeth and lips and began to chant ‘you must apologise.’

Others state it occurs when someone doesn’t live truthfully, always swallowing and repressing their words until one day the other mouth forms, this mouth unable to lie.

Froslass is a Pokémon inspired by the Yuki Onna or Snow Woman. This Yokai is the personification of cold, dwelling in mountains where she would freeze to death unwary travelers.

Entries for this Pokémon also agree with this as it says this Pokémon freezes foes with an icy breath nearly -60 degrees F.

One tale of the Yuki Onna states that two men caught in a terrible snow storm who seek shelter for the night. The younger of them Minokichi, awakens to see a maiden take the life from his older friend by blowing cold white smoke onto his face. Seeing Minokichi she says if he ever tell anyone of this she will kill him and then she disappears. Next year, he meets a woman called O-Yuki. They fall in love, marry and have ten children. One night, thinking of the past he tells his wife of his encounter with the Yuki-onna and so his wife reveals herself to have been that very creature, saying if it were not for there children sleeping close by she would have killed him there and then, and with that she then disappears into a white mist, dissipating through a smoke hole in the roof.

Whiscash is an intresting Pokémon as it is based of a Yokai that a previously didn’t know of until researching this episode. The creature in question being the Onamazu.

Entries for this Pokemon state, if a foe approaches it, it thrashes about and triggers a massive earthquake and this directly relates to the Namazu or Onamazu, which were giant catfish also capable of causing earthquakes.

They live underground, likely in caves or in the mud causing the earthquake. And our first association between the creature and earthquakes occurred in the area of Lake Biwa (a place we haven’t mentioned in a while).

One myth around the creature says the God Takemikazuchi (one of the sons of the fire god Kagutsuchi, who we have mentioned before). This god restrained a catfish underneath a stone to stop it causing earthquakes, but at times when he lets his guard down, the catfish will thrash about and an earthquake will occur once again.  

Gastly, one of my all time favourite Pokémon is thought inspired by the Yokai known as Sogen-bi (Sogen’s Fire).

A 1683 collection of stories called the Shin Otogi Bōko tells of the man known as Sogen a monk who steals money offerings and lamp oil left at his temple, after dying he is punished in hell. His soul returns later as a mysterious blue fireball near the temple. Much like Ghostly who is a floating head wreathed in flame. 

Darumaka and Darmanitan gather their inspiration from the Daruma dolls you can find in Japan. Ok, so this one isn’t really a Yokai here but I wanted to include them none the less. The dolls themselves are based off Bodhidharma, who was the founder of Zen Buddhism.

The figurines have no arms or legs, as it is said Bodhidharma meditated facing a wall for nine years causing his arms and legs to fall off through atrophy. Also the figurines cannot blink as other legends say after he fell asleep during his nine year meditation he grew angry and so cut off his eyelids so he may never sleep again. The dolls eyes are blank when you buy them, you chose a goal or wish and paint the left eyes and once the goal is achieved you paint in the right eye.

Entries for Daruma say that when it sleeps, it pulls its limbs into its body reminiscent of Bodhidharma losing his. Its evolution Darmanitan also has a Zen mode it can turn into during battle which looks just like a Daruma Doll.

Next we have Snorunt, and actually it is a pre-evolution of Froslass we talked of earlier. Where she was based off the Yuki-Onna, this Pokémon is linked to the Yuki Warashi (Snow Babies) as well as the Zashiki-warashi as their pokedex entry states, ‘old folklore claims that a house visited by this Pokémon is sure to prosper for many generations to come.’

The Zashiki Warashi were a kind of spirit which when living in your home would bring you great fortune, but should they leave and move on to another home, then your fortunes would swiftly end, and could even lead to your death.

The Snow Babies when depicted, are often portrayed as red-cheeked children clad in the traditional straw-peaked snow jackets. Their jackets have a hood that comes up to a point so that the snow can’t accumulate, much like Snorunt does. The hood ties under the chin, and there are armholes that give freedom of movement.

We do have some stories surrounding these creatures, one of them being from Niigata prefecture.

Long ago there was an old, childless couple. They were very lonely, and wished desperately for a child. One snowy day, in order to distract themselves from their desolation, they went out into the new fallen snow and sculpted a snow child. Pleased with their creation, they went back inside.

That night there was a fierce blizzard. There was a knock and the door, and when they answered it the couple were shocked to see a bright, young child leap into their house. They were too overjoyed to question their good fortune, and welcomed the child into their hearts. They loved their snow baby, and vowed to raise it with affection.

The new family passed a wonderful winter together, but as spring neared the couple noticed that their child got slimmer and slimmer. They were terribly worried, and woke up one morning to find their child gone completely. Their hearts were broken, but there was nothing they could do.

Time passed, and soon it was winter again. On yet another storming snowy night, there was a knock at the door and the couple’s happy snow baby came bounding home again, fat and happy and red-cheeked. The couple realized that this was the spirit of the child they sculpted out of snow, could only stay with them through the winter.

This pattern repeated itself for many years, until one day the snow baby came no more. They never saw their child again. But the couple was content with what happiness the kami allotted them, and forever cherished the sweet memories of their snow baby.

And now the last one Celesteela, she is based of the character of Kaguya Hime from the Folktale of The Bamboo Cutters Daughter.

But that one I will make you wait for until next week, we may have just had a Folktale with the Tongue Cut Sparrow but this one relates to the Folktale of the Bamboo Cutters Daughter and I would love to tell it in full. So I am shuffling the order of episodes to make room for this next week, before we delved into something new. And something I am rather excited to dive into following this Folktale. It’s a part of Japanese History we haven’t really looked into really that much, but it involves Samurai, Oda Nobunaga, and the time of the Jesuit Missionaries.

Story Quote Notes

A nobleman named Abe no Yasuna goes out into the woods on his way to visit a shrine, and finds a hunter trying to kill a white fox. He sets the fox free and continues on his way.

Later, he encounters a beautiful woman – and eventually they fall in love and marry. They have a son name Dojimaru. His name will be Abe no Seimei later in life.

However – one day while out gathering flowers, her young son sees a white tail. In turns out, his mother was the white fox rescued by the nobleman.

She has to leave and return to the woods. She leaves behind these parting words:

恋しくば
尋ね来て見よ
和泉なる
信太の森の
うらみ葛の葉

Koishikuba
Tazune kite miyo
Izumi naru
Shinoda no mori no
Urami Kuzunoha

If you miss me
Try visiting me
To the forest of Shinoda in Izumi
Look to the place with the kudzu leaves

(Special thanks to the Professor with this translation!)

Nuance here is she doesn’t want to leave, but she has no choice. So, the last line could also be: You may resent me.

A common theme of ghost stories is if the true nature was revealed, the yokai would need to leave and return to their previous home.

Urami could also be interprated as ‘to look at an ocean’ or ‘resentment.’

But there’s no kanji – so the meaning could be many different things. Here was just a couple of examples. 

References

• Davidson, Z. (2017) “Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan.” Oregon: Mercuria Press.
• Foster, M.D. (2015) “The Book of Yokai.” California: University of California Press.
• Yoda, H. and Alt, M. (2016) “Japandemonium: Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopaedia of Toriyama Sekien.”. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
• Yoda, H & Alt, M. (2008) “Yokai Attack: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide” Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd.
• https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page
• https://hyakumonogatari.com/2013/12/13/yuki-warashi-yukinbo-the-snow-babies/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuzunoha
• https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/葛の葉

Header Image: Pokemon Sword and Shield from Nintendo.

Podcast Cover art from Pixabay.

Pokemon images taken from Bulbapedia.

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

Follow us on Social Media: Instagram: @japan_archives

We also started a Youtube channel for Japan Archives.

And another for other creative endeavours!

The post E58 The Yokai behind Pokemon appeared first on . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史.

Story Notes

All the way back in Episode 16 we heard of a poem from Sarumaru Taifu that went as follows.  (From the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.)

奥山に 紅葉踏みわけ 鳴く鹿の 声きく時ぞ 秋はかなしき  
Okuyama ni momoji mireba naku shika no koe kiku toki zo aki wa kanashiki  
In the deep mountains making a path through the fallen leaves, the plaintive belling of the stag- how forlorn the autumn feels.  

But we will come back to that in a moment. As my research led me to a strange Yokai known as Momonjii. These creature is made from dense fog and strong winds which join together when the hour is late and turn into these being.

It is said that any who would come across Momonji after he manifests would fall ill.  

But this led me to a strange titbit of information from the Edo Period. During this time period the eating of land animals became taboo and so people had to think of creative ways to get people to be able to eat these kinds of food using a kind of code.  

The wild boar was redubbed yama-kujira (mountian whale), with their meat called botan (peony). Horse meat became dubbed sakura (cherry blossom) and venison became momiji (maple). It is said that the naming of venison was a nod to the old poem we started off this post with.  

Another way in which the poem could be translated goes as following.  

Deep in the mountains, I hear cries of the stag searching for its mate amidst the momiji –  How sad autumn feels to me! 

Now doesn’t the idea of venison being momiji give this poem an entirely new vision in your minds? The stag who is walking through the momiji could be the stag walking through herds of other deer trying to find his mate, and not just through a forest of maple! 

Feature Image: Hokusai, One Hundred Poets. (Plate 5, based of the above poems.)

References

• MacMillan, P. (2018) ”One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse”. St. Ives: Penguin Classics. 
• Yoda, H. and Alt, M. (2016) “Japandemonium: Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopaedia of Toriyama Sekien.”. New York: over Publications, Inc. 

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

Follow us on Social Media: Instagram: @japan_archives

We also started a Youtube channel for Japan Archives.

And another for other creative endeavours!

The post B9 Momiji Meat appeared first on . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史.