Kappa no Kame

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- KAPPA - 河童 / かっぱ /　カッパ - Mukashibanashi Legends -
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- Kappa no Kame 河童のかめ / 河童の瓶
The Water Jar of Kappa -
Kappa no tsubo 河童の壺



Once upon a time,
at the beginning of summer, a lot of farmers had assembled at the temple 栖足寺 Seisoku-Ji to help with the rice planting.

After planting rice all day long, the farmers used to go to the back gate, 裏門 Uramon, of the temple to the riverbank of 河津川 Kawazugawa to wash the dirt off their horses and themselves with great amusement.



But suddenly, one of the horses seemed to be shocked and jumped high into the air. What do you know?!
A kappa had gripped the tail of the horse and pulled at it.
But this time, the villagers got hold of the Kappa and wanted to kill him.
When the priest of temple Seisoku-Ji saw this, he suggested:


source and kamishibai :　hurusato.i-ra.jp

"Today is such an auspicious day, finishing the rice planting.
Why not spare the life of this poor creature?"

So the villagers handed the Kappa over to the priest for some appropriate punishment.

The priest told the Kappa:
"You have done enough mischief here in our river. Please go away somewhere else, promise to be good from now on and live in peace with people."!
and then let him go.

At night the priest heard someone knocking at the door of the kitchen.
When he got up and looked he saw an old man with a white beard standing at the door.




"I am the Kappa whom you saved today. I will now leave for another place to stay, far away.
Here is a something special for you, a water jar full of treasures. I give it to you as a thank-you present."

He handed the jar to the priest and vanished.

When the priest held his ear close to the mouth of the jar, he heard a whisper like the river Kawazugawa,
and then a voice:

"As long as you hear this noise, the village and your temple will always prosper."
It was the voice of the kappa.

Until our day, the water jar is kept as a treasure at the temple.
And if you put your ear at the mouth of it, it still whispers gently like the river water.

- source : town.kawazu.shizuoka.jp




source :　www.rg-youkai.com/tales
CLICK for more photos!

瓶と栖足寺の住職 The priest of the temple with the water jar.



source :　モリリン日記

Temple Saisokuji, 256 Yatsu, Kawazu, Kamo District, Shizuoka






and even a Daruma san in the temple


source :　目玉おやじ情報

お金持ちでも美人でも死んでしまえば、皆同じドクロ

Whether a rich man or a beautiful lady,
once they are dead,
they are just one more skull in the pile.


- Matsuo Basho

winter chill --
I too will be a skull
by and by

This is a profound lesson! It triggers so many thoughts, from Hamlet's "Alas, poor Yorick!" to a line from a poem by Du Fu (I forget the poem and the translator) "Blue is the smoke of war, white the bones of men", to a line from "Note to Wang Wei" by the US poet John Berryman, "Be dust myself pretty soon; not now", to a haiku by Basho, from "Journal of Bleached Bones in a Field (Nozarashi Kiko)":

nozarashi o kokoro ni kaze no shimu mi kana
bleached bones
on my mind, the wind pierces
my body to the heart

--Basho, trans. Barnhill

Comment by Larry Bold, facebook

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- quote -
Yatsu Spa 谷津温泉
This is an old spa opened by a Japanese Buddhist priest named Gyoki approximately 1,500 years ago.
It is said that the sound of a river can be heard if one listens closely to the spa. The spa features historical spots such as the Kappa Kame at Seisokuji Temple,
the power stone of Kawazu Saburo at the Kawazu Hachiman Shrine, and the Buddhist statue at Nanzenji Temple. Visitors can use the Toyoizumi foot spa located on the side of the river while enjoying Kawazuzakura (Kawazu Cherry Blossoms) during the blooming season.
The spa’s nitrate salt baths provide positive benefits to people recovering from illnesses and well as those suffering from poor circulation, rheumatism, chronic arthritis, and external injuries.
- source : www.shizuoka-guide.com


. Gyoki Bosatsu 行基菩薩 .


Statues of the Kappa with the water jar can be found around this hot spring.




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. - - - Join my Kappa friends on facebook ! - - - .

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. Kappa densetsu　河童伝説, Kappa minwa 河童民話 - Legends - Introduction .

. Mingei 民芸　Regional Folk　Art from Japan .

- #kappanokame -
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