Kappa Legends Kyushu

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- KAPPA 河童 / 合羽　/ かっぱ / カッパ - Legends -
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- Kappa Legends from Kyushu 　河童伝説　- 九州
Kyushu folk tales about the Kappa

- KAPPA 河童 / かっぱ / カッパ - Legends -
- Introduction -


CLICK for more photos from Kappa in Kyushu.

Fukuoka / Kagoshima / Kumamoto / Miyazaki / Nagasaki / Oita / Saga

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....................................................................... Fukuoka 　福岡県　

九千坊河童　Kyusenbo kappa　- Kusenbo Kappa, a warrior clan coming all the way from China to Kyushu to become a deity in
. - Tanushimaru 田主丸 - Fukuoka 福岡県 - .

Chikugo 筑後 and Kurume　久留米 / うきは市吉井町 Ukiha

. Chikugo no kuni 筑後国 Chikugo Province .
and Kappa Legends

. Sumo with 大つか庄右衛門 Otsuka Shoemon .

. Legends from the Temple 玉泉寺 Gyokusen-Ji .

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. Kappa Jizoo かっぱ地蔵 Kappa and Jizo Bosatsu .
legend from Fukuoka 福岡の若松の高塔山

. Bamboo shoots - takenoko bamboo shoot legends - 筍 / 竹の子 伝説 .
and Kappa

. Kappa as 川の神 the Deity of the River. .
久留米市 Kurume city 荒木町 Arakicho

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Yamano no Gaku 山野の楽 "Ritual Music from Yamano"
“河童祭り”a very special Kappa Matsuri at the shrine
in the local dialect : Yamanongaku 山野ん楽
山野若八幡神社 Yamano Waka Hachiman Jinja, Yamanowakahachiman

嘉麻市 山野地区 Kama town Yamano hamlet　

- quote -
Yamano no Gaku is a festival which is held every year on September 23 at Yamano Wakahachiman Shrine.
Emperor Ojin was deified as Hachiman-jin (the tutelary god of warriors), and is said to be enshrined in all the sites dedicated to him. In the year 1244 (Kangen 2), in order to share the tutelary deity of the 宇佐八幡宮 Usahachiman Shrine in Oita Prefecture, the tutelary god of warriors was also enshrined in the Yamano Wakahachiman Shrine. This is the beginning of the Yamano no Gaku Festival.



During this festival, which has a history of more than 750 years, the shrine parishioners pray for the well-being of their families as well as a bumper harvest. Visitors to this festival will also be able to see the Gaku Uchi. The Gaku Uchi is a drum dance performed in order to ward off disasters. There are 2 versions of the Gaku Uchi. The Fue Gaku is a performance with flutes in order to pray to the repose of souls. The Uta Gaku is a traditional Japanese prayer song. The performers of the dance are referred to as Gaku Kata. The costumes of the Gaku Kata make the performers look like Kappa, a mythical water-dwelling creature.
Hence, this festival is also known as the Kappa Festival.
- source : www.crossroadfukuoka.jp


河童楽 Kappa Gaku, see below

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....................................................................... Kagoshima 　鹿児島県　

. Garappa ガラッパ Garappa Don ガラッパドン .

. Gataro ガタロ Kappa and the Gion crest 祇園さん .

. Kapa and Suijin Sama 水神様, the Water Deity .

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Once upon a time there lives a huge serpent in the pond near the mountain.
She came down to the village to get a girl age 18 every year. But the villagers finally talked her into accepting 18 mochi 餅 rice cakes instead, which they threw into the pond.
This is the origin of offering mochi in the local Shinto shrine, they say.
Other versions say it was a Kappa in the pond.


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....................................................................... Kumamoto　熊本県　


. Kapa and Suijin Sama 水神様, the Water Deity .

. Hidari Jingoro 左甚五郎 master carpenter .
- and the origin of Kappa eating shirikodama.

球磨郡 Kuma district
. yama no mono ヤマンモン，kawa n hito カワンヒト 河童 Kappa .

六郷村 Rokugomura Village
. The Kappa from 龍ヶ淵 Dragon Riverside .

Yatsushiro region 八代地方 Kumamoto
. Hikoichi 彦一 Hiko-Ichi Sumo Legends . *
彦一と河童の相撲 - ガラッパ Hiko-Ichi and the Kappa (Garappa) doing Sumo
彦一と河童と殿様
河童とすみくらんぼ

. kane 鉄漿 black color for teeth, Ohaguro .

. Kappa as Uminokami　海の神 God of the Sea .

. sekiri 赤痢 making a medicine for bloody diarrhea .

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廻りサカマの河童伝説 from Kumamoto 　熊本県

- source : www.pu-kumamoto.ac.jp ー team KUMAGATARI　



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....................................................................... Miyazaki 　宮崎県　

. Kappa Legends from Miyazaki 　河童伝説　- 宮崎県 .

. Kapa and Suijin Sama 水神様, the Water Deity .



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....................................................................... Nagasaki 長崎県　

. Gaappa ガーッパ The Kappa of Nagasaki 長崎県 - Legends .

. Gaappa ガーッパ Kappa and Sake .
西海市 Saikai city, 西彼町 Seihi town


. Kappa Jizoo かっぱ地蔵 / 河童地蔵 Kappa and Jizo Bosatsu in Nagasaki .

. Fishing for Abalone in Fukue 福江市とあわび　 .

. donku ishi どんく石 Kappa Stone and more .



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....................................................................... Oita 大分県　

三隈川（筑後川）River Mikumagawa (Chikugogawa)

In former times Kappa were believed to bring harm to the crops of the fields near the river. So in Summer cucumbers and aubergines, prefered food of the Kappa, were consecrated at the local shrine and then floated in the river with the prayer to protect the crops.

People who were bewitched by the Kappa and had lost their good sense had to sleep in a room with a window toward the river and not use the exit on the road where a Kappa might walk along. When emptying a bucket of water outside, you had to make a loud call to the Kappa first and ask for his permisison.
Women had to behave near the river, lest the Kappa might want to seduce them. Women and girls were also not permitted to go to the river at night and expose their body in the water, because they could get pregnant that way and give birth to a Kappa Baby.

Here is one story of a boy who got bewitched by the Kappa:

Shookichi Kappa 正吉河童 Shokichi Kappa
from Bungo, Oita



Once upon a time
in the village of 日田郡竹田村 Hita Takeda there lived a 12 year old boy named Shokichi. His father was a strong sumo wrestler and Shokichi, still a child, was practicing hard too.

Then one day Shokichi was swimming in the nearby river when someone began to play sumo tricks on him. Shokichi dove down into the water and got hold of something, giving it a good punishment and then went home.

In that night when all were asleep, Shokichi woke up and felt the urge to take a bath. So he went to the river. And surprize - many children came out of the river and challenged him for a bout of sumo wrestling. Shokichi soon realized that this were the local Kappa and begun to wrestle with them.
Soon he had won against two of them. But then more than ten begun to attack him at once. and Shokichi, eager to win, wrestled with all his might.

Back home his father woke up and realized that his son was gone, so he went to the river too. He saw Shokichi on the river bank moving back and forth in a strange manner, as if he was crazy. So his father carried him home by force.

From that time on Shokichi had lost all his good senses and seemed only to wrestle with invisible adversaries. His father realized that he was bewitched and possesed by a Kappa.
Then a priest who knew about the curses of Kappa placed a sword 脇差 by the famous sword maker
郷義弘 Go no Yoshihiro beside the boy.
Shokichi begun to tremble and hid under the bed covers. When they tried to sharpen the sword, Shokichi begun to run wild again.
In the end they called a special mountain priest 修験者 to do some exorcism and the boy was finally healed.

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Saiki 佐伯市

Kappa are seen often, from the river entry into the see up to the mountains. But most often between 宮野浦 Miyanoura and 色利浦 Irori-ura.
Other locations are かんじんの森 Kanjin no Mori,
the back of the main hall of temple 大願寺 Hongan-Ji,
橋の欄干 the railing of a bridge.

An old saying knows
河童に取り憑かれるから酒を飲んで返るな

Be careful of a Kappa when drunk, you might be swindled out of something.


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Buzen 豊前

At the shrine Kumo Hachimangu there is an old ritual and festival called
Kappa Gaku 河童楽 "Music for the Kappa",
also called Kappa Matsuri 河童まつり.

With Kappa in the middle people walk around him with great hand fans 唐団扇 and fan him to appease the wild soul of the Kappa. After that through the 神通力 super-naural power of the Kappa the village will live in peace for another year. This festival dated back at least to the middle of the Edo period and is now the main summer festival of the shrine.

Chikugo is the origin of this kind of Kappa Gaku, which is now an important intangible folk culture asset in Oita 大分県無形民俗文化財.



Kumo Hachimangu, Kumohachimangu, Kumohachiman 雲八幡宮
363 Yabakeimachi Oaza Miyazono, Nakatsu, Oita / 中津市耶馬溪町

- quote -
Kumohachiman Shrine
located at Yabakei Town in Nakatsu City, Oita Pref. enshrines Kumo no Yahata no Okami and Myoken Okami. In the precinct stand a huge cedar tree, which is called “sennen Sugi (The 1000-year-old cedar).
The origin of the shrine dates back to the 3rd century, when legendary Empress Jingu, who was on her way back from the Korean invasion, took a rest on a huge stone at the foot of a mountain. Since then miraculous events including a white cloud rising up out of it had happened around this stone. In 703, a lot more clouds suddenly rose up from the stone and the light like arrows of lightening flashed and it took the shape of a small child-like god, which then disappeared. Having the feeling of awe at this miracle, the village people built a small purple shrine beside the stone and worshipped it respectfully. This is the origin of Kumohachiman Shrine and the Kumoishi Stone.
The main building was relocated to the present place by Masataka Kiyohara (the lord of the province) later in 983.
The shrine is famous for “Kappa Festival,” or formally named “Miyazonogaku, Miyazono Gaku 宮園楽 ,” in which traditional music is played to dedicate to the gods.
The legend has it that Heike refugees, who had been defeated in the battle with Genji clan, transformed into a Kappa and brought harm to people, so the villagers began to play music to appease their spirits.
- source : nippon-kichi.jp




耶馬溪河童太鼓 - the Kappa Drummers of the festival




Before the festival, ritual cleansing. The great fans with the Kappa face are on the right.

- More photos about the Kappa Festival - かっぱ楽（宮園楽）
- source : kumohachiman.j-air.net/omaturi



buji sugiru 無事杉る守　branches of the cedar tree, an amulet to pass through difficulties in life
a pun with sugi　杉 the cedar tree　and sugiru 過ぎる to pass



taorezu kappa omamori　倒れず勝破　お守
an amulet to win against the misfortunes of life, another pun with the kanji characters 勝破.
This is a three-dimensional amulet.

More amulets here:
- - - - - HP of the shrine
- source : kumohachiman.j-air.net

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buji sugiru - 無事杉る
an amulet to ward off evil influence 魔除けのお守り

Also sold at other shrines in Japan, for example the 廣田神社 Hirota Shrine in Aomori.
Aomori 青森市長島2丁目13-5


source :　ameblo.jp/takimotoyumi

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. Kitchomu, Kicchomu 吉四六 - Hirota Kichiemon 廣田吉右衛門 .
(? - 1715) - Kitchomu is a hero in many parts of Southern Oita.



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....................................................................... Saga 佐賀県　

. Genta and the Kappa 源太様 と河童 .
龍石の伝説
and
Hyoosube 兵主部 Hyosube,
. Matsubara Kappa Sha 松原河童社 Matsubara Kappa Shrine .

. Kappa at the terakoya 寺子屋 temple school .

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- - - - - reference - - - - -

nichibun Yokai Database



search for - かっぱ - かっぱ 114 - 008

search for - 河童 - 　河童 1202 - 0000

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

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- KAPPA 河童 / 合羽　/ かっぱ / カッパ - Legends -
- Introduction -

. mukashibanashi 昔話 folktales - Introduction .
the distinction to legends is sometimes blurred.


. Kappa ishi 河童石 Kappa stone legends
Kappa iwa かっぱ岩 Kappa boulder, Kappa rock .


. Mingei 民芸　Regional Folk　Art from Japan .

- #kappakyushu #kyushulegends #fukuoka -
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