7/15/2015

Daija huge snake

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- KAPPA - 河童 / かっぱ / カッパ - ABC-Index -
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. Japanese Legends - 伝説 民話 昔話 – ABC-List .
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- daija, orochi 大蛇 the huge serpent, great snake -

A huge snake demon monster. He often impersonates the ike no nushi 池の主 Master of the Pond
and asks for human sacrifices. Sometimes it is a female.
Sometimes a kappa in the form of a snake is seen as the "Master of the Pond" too.

. Legends about ike no nushi 池の主 と伝説 the Master of the Pond
Der Herr des Teiches .

- Introduction -



In the traditional Kagura dance, the serpent is called Orochi 大蛇 .
. Kagura Dance 神楽 .

Sometimes the Daija as a deity is venerated in rain rituals.
. amagoi 雨乞い rain rituals .

. Amulets with the Daija 大蛇のお守り  .

. Benten to hebi 弁天と蛇伝説 Legends about Benten and serpents .

. Guchinawa (Kuchinawa) グチナワ huge white serpent .

.shirohebi / hakuja 白蛇と伝説 white serpents .

. nozuchi 野槌 tsuchinoko ツチノコ / 槌の子 "hammerspawn" snake .
shakuhachihebi 尺八蛇 Shakuhachi Serpent

A serpent may turn into a dragon . . .
. ryuu, ryū 龍 竜 伝説 Ryu - dragon legends .

. Silk - kinu - 絹 silkworms and Serpent legends .


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- quote -
Yamata no Orochi (ヤマタノオロチ) 八岐大蛇、八俣遠呂智、八俣遠呂知,
"8-branched giant snake") or Orochi (大蛇), is a legendary 8-headed and 8-tailed Japanese dragon.
Yamata no Orochi legends are originally recorded in two ancient texts about Japanese mythology and history. The ca. 680 AD Kojiki transcribes this dragon name as 八岐遠呂智 and ca. 720 AD Nihongi writes it as 八岐大蛇. In both versions of the Orochi myth, the Shinto storm god Susanoo or Susa-no-Ō mo Mikoto is expelled from Heaven for tricking his sister Amaterasu the sun-goddess.
After expulsion from Heaven, Susanoo encounters two "Earthly Deities" (國神, kunitsukami) near the head of the Hi River (簸川), now called the Hii River (斐伊川), in Izumo Province. They are weeping because they were forced to give the Orochi one of their daughters every year for seven years, and now they must sacrifice their eighth, Kushi-inada-hime (櫛名田比売 "comb/wondrous rice-field princess", who Susanoo transforms into a kushi 櫛 "comb" for safekeeping). ...
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

. Yamata no orochi 山田の大蛇 huge monster serpent .
Legend from Tokyo, 練馬区 Nerima ward

. uwabami うわばみ / 蟒蛇 an old name for a very large serpent .
Sometimes seen as a Yokai monster.

- quote -
Susanoo (スサノオ, スサノヲ Susanowo / すさのお‐の‐みこと / 素戔嗚尊 / 須佐之男命)
is a kami in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese imperial line, he is a multifaceted deity with contradictory characteristics (both good and bad), being portrayed in various stories either as a wild, impetuous god associated with the sea and storms, as a heroic figure who killed a monstrous serpent, or as a local deity linked with the harvest and agriculture. Syncretic beliefs that arose after the introduction of Buddhism to Japan also saw Susanoo becoming conflated with deities of pestilence and disease.
Slaying the Yamata no Orochi
- source : wikipedia -

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a serpent to rub for making a wish 撫で白蛇
Hebikubo Daimyoojin 蛇窪大明神 Deity

. 上神明天祖神社 Kamishinmei Tenso Jinja 蛇窪神社 Shrine Hebikubo Jinja .

The shrine dated back to 1272, when Hojo Shiro and his son Tokichiyo, who developed the land in this area.
- source : kamishinmei-tensoshirine -

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説 民話 昔話 – ABC-List .


. - suijin 水神 water deity - .
Mizu no Kamisama 水の神様 God of Water
Water deity worshiped at sources of irrigation waterways, lakes, ponds, springs, and wells. The suijin has been represented in the form of a serpent, an eel, a fish, and a kappa or water sprite.
Women have played an important role in the history of suijin worship.

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. . . . . . . . . . Chiba 千葉県

養安寺村 Yoanji village

If someone walks around the pond seven times in deep prayer, he will be able to see the Master of the Pond. During the hottest days of the year (doyo 土用) the female Master 雌蛇 will go to the pond of the male master 雄蛇ヶ池 Ojaga Ike. During that time is will be possible to hear the female serpent.

. . . CLICK here for Photos of Ojaga-Ike !



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. . . . . . . . . . Ehime 愛媛県

.Enko Kappa and ドンコ Donko, Dark sleeper fish .



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. . . . . . . . . . Fukui 福井県
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坂口村 Sakaguchi village

Once upon a time an old man pleaded with the Master of the Pond 蛇ヶ池 Jaga-Ike during a long dry spell. He promised to give one of his daughters as a wife to the Daija if rain would fall.
Soon it rained and shortly after the Daija in the form of a young man came to get his bride, the youngest daughter.
She took a bag with needles with her. At the pond the man changed into the Daija and wanted to throw the girl in, but she stuck the needles into its body, so he jumped in surprize and both were not seen any more.
A few days later the house of the man burned down. Two large serpents had build a ring around the house and asked for water, but the villagers were too surprized and run away. The two serpents burned down with the house.



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. . . . . . . . . . Fukushima 福島県
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いわき市 Iwaki city 好間町 Yoshima town
. Zenwanbuchi 膳椀淵 "river pool for trays and bowls" .




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. . . . . . . . . . Gifu 岐阜県
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揖斐川町 Ibigawa

In the village of Anpachi lived the rich family of 安八太夫 Anpachi Daiyu.
One year during a severe drought, he prayed at the pond and promised one of his daughters if it would rain. Soon it rained and shortly after the Daija came to get the youngest daughter. She was now the wife of the Master of Yashagaike 夜叉が池.
Once she came back home to visit but when she took a nap during daytime she asked to keep the door shut and nobody come in while she slept. But when her mother came peeking she saw her daughter had changed into a Daija.
From that time on, she never came back to visit her family.

Now there is a festival to celebrate this legend.



夜叉姫伝説道中おまつり Festival for the Yasha Hime, Princess Yasha
- source : www.fmgifu.com/blog -

. Tokuyama Kaido 徳山街道 Tokuyama Highway .
and the yasha hebi 夜叉蛇 demon serpent


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Takayama, 吉城郡 Yoshiki

The serpent master of the pond Oonyuu ike 大丹生池 / (大丹生ヶ池)
. Legends about Master Carver Enku 円空と伝説  .



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. . . . . . . . . . Gunma 群馬県

赤城村 Akagi village

Once upon a time a hunter was sharpening his arrows. A small serpent came along to watch. He wanted to chase it away and hit it with his arrow in the upper jaw. The monster fled to the pond and jumped in with a howl. The water produced a huge whirlwind. The neighbours came by to see what was happening. They found the Master of the Pond with its upper jaw smashed and quite dead in the water.

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. Daija from みどり市 Midori city 笠懸町 Kasakake town .
- and her companion, kani カニ a crab.

. Daija from 榛名湖 Lake Harunako .
Many legends



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. . . . . . . . . . Hiroshima 広島県

mugiware daija 麦わら大蛇 the huge serpent made of wheat straw

This is not a story about the "Ike no Nushi", but about a serpent granting happiness to a young couple.

. mugiwara hebi 麦藁蛇 serpent made from straw .


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. . . . . . . . . . Ibaraki 茨城県

. legend from 久慈郡 Kuji district 大子町 Daigo .
The people living around the pond say the serpent was Yamanokami.

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稲敷郡 Inashiki district

Annaka Ike 安中池の主 The Master of Annaka Pond
In front of the school in Annaka there is a ond called Annaka Ike, where a huge serpent lived as the Master of the Pond.
On day when it rained a farmer passed by and needed to pee. When he walked back later he saw a beautiful lady by the pond. She asked him to see her home, so he did. There was another pond just a bit further down the road. When the two walked past it, the lady stopped and claimed she had now found her way. In departing she said: "Tomorrow there will be a loud thunder as a sign that I am home safely!"
The next day indeed there was a loud spell of thunder. The farmer was quite happy and he became a rich and benevolent person during his a long life.

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美浦村 Miho

Nobody had ever seen the serpent Master of the Pond.
Once a fisherman came by the pond and met a beautiful lady. He helped her get to the other side of the large lake in his boat. In departing the lady told him she was the Master of the Pond. She also said there would soon be a huge storm.
So he wanted to go back as fast as possible but the storm was faster and he had to stay in a small hut at the other side for a few days.



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. . . . . . . . . . Ishikawa 石川県

邑知郡 Ōchi, Ochi district

Once day the Master of the Pond lost the trust in her power to be the protector of the village.
She turned into a girl and left the village to live quietly in another pond.
When the villagers came to ask for a rain ritual ( amagoi 雨乞い) as usual during a drought, the deity told them that there was no Master of the Pond any mroe.

(A Daija in retirement . . . !)




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. . . . . . . . . . Kyoto 京都府

北区 Kita ward

Midorogaike 深泥池 / Mizorogaike 深沢池 / 深泥ケ池
The Master of Midoro-ga-Ike is a huge serpent, so thick that a man could not grab it around with two arms. Farmers were not allowed to touch the water, lest they would be destroyed by a curse.



Once
a young man passed by and saw a huge log lying straight across the road. He wanted to kick the log away, but it began to move all by itself and slipped into the water. The young man now realized this was the Master of the Pond and began to fear for his life.

Once
there was a plan to dry out the ponds for land reclamation, but all the officials of the Kyoto government in charge of this plan died, one after the other.

The Tomita Hospital 富田病院
was built at the North side of the pond. The Master of the Pond used the gatekeeper as his medium, claiming since his home was not destroyed they should build a small 祠 sanctuary and venerate him there.
They did so for two or three years, but then the rituals at the sanctuary were stopped, it was all declared as superstition by the manager.
Well, very soon after this, the two sons of this manager died.
- HP of the Tomita hospital -


- quote -
The Fours Seasons in Kyoto
The Kyoto Valley was formed and built up by sedimentary deposits carried from the nearby mountains. The ponds “Shinsenen” and “Midorogaike” still remain in Kyoto as evidence of the ancient lakes that were filled by rain washed mountain sediments.
This “ancient lake” area is the reason for the many springs that help create an extremely humid environment. These unique characteristics make Kyoto a place of outstanding natural beauty with tremendous seasonal changes. ”Chilled to the Bone in the Winter”, the “Heat and Humidity of Summer” in contrast to the “Mild Spring and Fall”.
- source : www.kashifuji.co.jp -

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. Yamanokami no daija 山の神の大蛇 great serpent of Yamanokami .
6-1 Koyamanakajimacho, Yamashina Ward, Kyoto,




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. . . . . . . . . . Miyazaki 宮崎県

. Daija in a valley of 日州飫肥 Obi .



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. . . . . . . . . . Nagasaki 長崎県

外海町 Sotome

The Master of the Pond of 鏡ヶ池 Kagamigaike on the island 池島 Ikeshima is said to be a bull. Therefore no bulls are kept on the island.
Other legends say it is a Daija, a girl that was once the daughter of a rice merchant from Higo 肥後の米屋.
. Ryugaike, Tatsugaike 竜が池 / "Dragon Pond" legends .



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. . . . . . . . . . Nagano 長野県

. Daija and Yamanokami 山の神 .

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Daija is one of the "seven wonders of Shikao Onsen 鹿塩温泉 Hot Spring"

At the pond Komagaike 駒ヶ池 the master is a Daija.
It used to lend trays and bowls to the villagers.

. zenwan 膳椀 trays and bowls for village festivals .
One common theme is the master of the pond providing trays and bowls 膳椀 for the village festivals.

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jayanagi (hebi yanagi) 蛇柳 the "serpent willow tree" ,Snake Willow
Once
there came a samurai and tried to expel the Daija of the pond.
When he saw a young woman near the pond, he killed her with his sword. The body of the woman vanished in the sky, but on the next day he saw he had cut off the branch of a willow tree by the pond. To confuse the samurai, the Master of the Pond might have taken the form of a willow tree.

Jayanagi
is also the title a famous Kabuki play: Snake Willow.
But this is related to a story from Koyasan and Kobo Daishi.


by 歌川豊国 Utagawa Toyokuni

. reference : jayanagi -

. yanagi 柳 willow tree - Introduction .

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長和町 Nagawa

大蛇がおこした大水 The Daija that caused a flooding
Once upon a time
two hunters came to the Honzawa gorge 本沢渓谷.
At the riverbank they saw a huge serpent. The younger hunter became quite scared, and despite the warning of his older companion shot the snake in its head. But the snake did not die, it just jumped into the air and became invisible. How much they looked, not a trace of the snake was to be found.
Then suddenly a thick fog rose from the river and the sky turned all black. For three days it rained constantly and the villages near the river were flooded and suffered great damage. After five days the weather finally changed and the sun came out again.
One of the villagers told about a snake he had seen flowing by in the river. This must have been the Master of the Pond 赤沼の池 Akanuma no Ike.

赤沼池, now 女神湖 or 夜の池
and a Kappa legend 赤沼の河童
- source : www.miyagaku.sakura.ne.jp -

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平谷村 Hiraya

Once a farmer was cutting weeds near the pond, when a beautiful lady appeared and told him she was the Master of the Pond. After that the water in the pond never dried out, even in a drought.
A few years later when he came again to cut weeds he observed some large waves heading North. The Master had left the pond to live in a different river.



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. . . . . . . . . . Nara 奈良県

. LINK BIG font .
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五條市 Gojo

Himetani Ike 姫谷池
Once a girl from the village went to the Himetani Pond to do her washing. At the bank she found a nice hair pin and picked it up. When she tried to stick it into her hair, it turned into a huge serpent, which swallowed the girl.
When she did not come home that night, her parents got worried and went looking, but found only her wooden sandals and the washing on the bank. Now they new the Master of the Pond 大蛇 had gotten her. So they erected a stone memorial in her honor . . . and since then the name of the pond became "Princess Valley Pond".


Even now it is an eerie, gloomy pond.

- and

amagoi 雨乞 praying for rain
The farmers make a huge serpent with straw from wheat (mugiwara 麦藁) and throw it into the 三ツ沢池 Mitsuzawa pond. When they throw in a serpent made of straw, the real Daiji will know that it has now to come out and provide rain for the parched fields.

. mugiwara hebi 麦藁蛇 serpent made from straw .
. daija from 竜泉寺 Temple Ryusen-Ji .



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. . . . . . . . . . Niigata 新潟県

赤塚村 Akazuka

. The master of the pond Akazu no Ike 明かずの池 .
(maybe a red bull 赤牛)

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荒川町 Arakawa

Once the Daija wanted to become a human, went to a nearby temple and prayed for 100 days, when she turned into a woman. Buddha 大日如来 Dainichi Nyorai helped her into the world of humans and found her a husband. When she was pregnant and ready to give birth, someone saw her real figure and she had to become a daija again.

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畑野町 Hatano

The Master of the Pond 尼池 Amaike (Pond of the Nun) was a Daija. He had fallen in love with a nun and jumped into the pond.



Another legend
tells about a sudden flooding in the region, when a nearby Buddhist nunnery (amadera 尼寺) was lost in the waters of the pond.

The name of the pond is now どんち池 Donchi Ike.

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佐和田町 Sawada Sado Island

At the temple 長福寺 Chofuku-Ji a girl named O-Towa worked in the kitchen and one day went to the deep mountain to find some butterbur 蕗, but she got some mud on her undergarment 腰巻. So she went to the pont to wash it. There the Master of the Pond, a 大蛇 huge serpent showed up and told her that it was a custom that anybody who washed her undergarments in the pond had to become his wife within three days, so he would come and get her.
Back home O-Towa became ill and stayed in bed. But three days later the Serpent appeared and threatened to bring great flooding if the girl would not come out. So she became his wife.
A few days later a small island appeared in the pond as a proof that O-Towa had found her home in the pond. The pond was now named after her, Otowa-ike おとわ池 / 乙和池. Every year on the 23rd day of the 6th lunar month the villagers come to the pond and make offerings.




- - - - - Another version of the legend:
- quote -
In the middle of the pool is the largest floating island on high marshy wetlands in Japan. Over 200 species of vegetation grow luxuriantly round about and the whole area is shrouded in a strange mysterious atmosphere.

There is a legend about how the pool got came to get its name.
According to the legend a beautiful maiden came one day to the Nagafuku-Ji Temple at the foot of the mountain and asked to stay there. The high priest feeling sorry for the girl agreed to let her stay. The girl said nothing about where she came from only that her name was “Otowa .” One year after the rice-planting was finished Otowa who had come to pick the sprouting grass found herself too close to the mountain which was forbidden to women and as she was running downhill in a panic she came to a little pool.

Here she washed the hem of her underskirt in the water and the lord of the pool fell in love with her. At that moment in a flash the pool grew much bigger leaving only the place where Otowa was standing as a sort of floating island and the lord of the pool a huge snake appeared and told Otowa to stay here so that she could become the mistress of the pool and take charge of it instead of him.

Otowa wept and pleaded so much that she was allowed to go home but three days later she heard the voice of the lord of the pool calling her name and at this she at last made up her mind to become the mistress of the pool.

As she was making her way to the mountain in a box the sound of hoofs could be heard in the distance and the next instant a prince galloped up on a white horse and setting Otowa in front of him they both disappeared in a haze.
The prince on the white horse was the snake-lord of the pool. For seven days after this day the mountain was wrapped in dew and on the seventh day the dew turned to a downpour and heaven and earth drew dark.
The people of the village believe that this rain meant that the lord of the pool had gone to heaven and that Otowa had become the mistress of the pool in his place. Even nowadays on July 23rd the anniversary of Otowa's death the “Otowaike Pool Festival” is held to pacify Otowa's spirit.
- source : visitsado.com/en -


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上越市 Joetsu

Near the pond タナの池 Take no Ike a man from the 小林家 Kobayashi family walked past, when he met a beautiful woman. Well . . they got married and when the first child was to be born, he saw to his horror many snakes in the maternity room of his wife. So the wife vanished, leaving a stick 杖一本 with the order to hit the lake if the child would cry. When the child grew up and cried one day, it hit the water and a huge snake pulled it into the water. From that time on, only the Kobayashi family became rich and prosperous.
To our day this lake never freezes in winter.



Kamoonoike 蒲生の池 Kamo-no-Ike

Nonomi-Ike 野々海池 Nonomi Pond
From Gamo Village you have to cross a pass to reach Nonomi-Ike, where a Serpent was living as the Protector of the Mountain and protect the village from drought or too much rain.
The son of the Master of the Pond 蒲生の池 Kamo-no-Ike wanted the beautiful daughter of this serpent as his wife and asked the Master of Hanage-no-Ike 鼻毛の池 to be the middleman for the wedding.
But the Master of Nonomi-Ike did not want to give his daughter to such a dirty pond and refused. The master of Kamo-no-Ike and the middleman from Hanage-no-Ike became angry, changed into young ladies and borrowed swords from the villagers. Finally they killed the Master of Nonomi-Ike. His blood flew down the river 保倉川 Hokuragawa and all the bamboo near the riverside was soon colored in red.
From this day on, the bamboo of the riverside shows the strange pattern of a serpent.

- source : www.city.joetsu.niigata.jp -


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. . . . . . . . . . Okayama 岡山県

. ヤマガミ Yamagami .
from 都窪郡 Tsukubo district, 庄村 Shomura village.



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. . . . . . . . . . Shiga 滋賀県

醒ケ井村 Samegai

Once there lived a beautiful girl named O-Tora お寅 in the castle town of Hikone 彦根.
But the Master of the Pond emptied all the water and pulled the girl in.
From that day on, there was always water in the pond, even during a drought.



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. . . . . . . . . . Shizuoka 静岡県

松崎町 Matsuzaki

The Master of the Pond アゾノヤマの池 Azonoyama no Ike.

- - - - - and many more
静岡県の竜蛇 - Dragon and snake legends from Shizuoka to explore *
- source : hunterslog.net/dragonology -



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. . . . . . . . . . Tochigi 栃木県

. Mizu no Kami 水の神 and Iwadakemaru 岩嶽丸 .

. Daija 大蛇 and Shakuhachi 尺八 flute .



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. . . . . . . . . . Tokyo 東京


This ema 絵馬 votive tablet is sold well especially during the New Year holidays:

. Shrine Okusawa Jinja 奥澤神社 - Setagaya .
Okusawa shrine is famed for that 150kg, nine-metre-long daija, or shrine snake, draped over the torii gate at the entrance, which is often mistakenly referred to as a dragon.

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Asakusa Kannon densetsu 浅草観音伝説 Legends

. ubagaike 姥ヶ池 the pond of the old woman .


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中野区中央 Nakano ward, Chuo district

. Serpent bones at 豊仙寺 / 宝仙寺 Hosen-Ji .



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. . . . . . . . . . Tottori 鳥取県

気高町 Ketaka

The pond 日光池 Nikko Ike had been dried out and reformed to new fields. During the works the Daija got caught by the villagers. Since it was the Master of the Pond, they built the shrine 杉谷神社 Sugitani Jinja in its honor.




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. . . . . . . . . . Toyama 富山県

. saotome 早乙女と伝説 Legends about women planting rice .



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. . . . . . . . . . Wakayama 和歌山県

. taki no nushi 滝の主 Master of the Waterfall .
s a huge serpent and also an unagi 鰻 eel. And does not like umeboshi 梅干 dried pickled plums.



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. . . . . . . . . . Yamagata 山形県

. The village of Kaison in the Oshu Okitama district 羽州置賜郡開村 .



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. . . . . . . . . . Yamaguchi 山口県

平郡島 Heigunto Island

At the pond of the Kumage peninsula (熊毛半島, also 室津半島) the Master is a huge serpent. During the time of the Genpei war 源平の合戦 between the Minamoto and the Taira from 1180 to 1185 many swords fell into this pond. Since there was so much metal, the Master of the Pond could not live there any more, because he disliked metal. Therefore he moved to the
Serpent Pond 蛇の池 at Heigun .
If people try to throw metal things into this pond, it will be back at the bank by next morning.



Once
the Master of the Pond took on the figure of a girl and asked a fisherman to take her to the other side. Over there she told him "As an expression of my gratitude I allow you to put your nets into the pond just once!"
When he did so, it was a very rich catch indeed.
So he became greedy and threw his net in again. But this time all he caught was a serpent and no fish at all.


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- reference - yokai database -
there are 976 entries for the "huge serpent" 大蛇 from all the prefectures !
- reference - www.nichibun.ac.jp -


. Legends about ike no nushi 池の主 と伝説 the Master of the Pond .
- Introduction -

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

. - yookai, yōkai 妖怪 Yokai monsters - .


. Japanese Legends - 伝説 民話 昔話 – ABC-List .

. Mingei 民芸 Regional Folk Art from Japan .

- #kappaikenonushi #masterofthepond #ikenonushi #daija #kappadaija #orochi #uwabami -
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26 comments:

Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

Daija and

Daibosatsu legends 大菩薩 伝説 Dai-Bosatsu

Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

Fukushima 福島県
湖南町 Konan

O-Suga sama お菅さま "Lady Suga"

During the procession fo Sankin Kotai there was a great serpent up on a willow tree along the road. It displeased the vassals of the Daimyo and was thus driven away and had to move to Fukushima. When a branch of this willow tree breaks off, there was blood flowing from the wound. So in the end the whole tree was cut off.
This place is called "O-Suga Sama".
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sankin kotai legends
http://edoflourishing.blogspot.jp/2015/08/sankin-kotai.html
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Gabi Greve said...


Taira no Masakado 平将門 / 平將門

福島県 - 飯坂町

菅沼平というところがあり、今は水が無くなり谷地になっている。承平年中、平将門の女弟がこの国に来たのだが、藤原秀郷のために嫉妬の恨みにより自害した。その魂は大蛇になり菅沼に住み、建久年中になり、人身御供をとるなどして村人を苦しめた。ところが白鳥大明神の霊験により大蛇を射殺することができた。大蛇を退治して帰ってきたところを来の原といっているが、今は北の原ともいっている。
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(yokai database)
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http://heianperiodjapan.blogspot.jp/2015/08/taira-no-masakado.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Niigata 新潟県 ....................................................................
松之山町 Matsunoyama

hebi 蛇 serpent

The serpent wanted the princess of the pond 蒲生池 / 蒲生の池 Kamo-no-ike as his bride. But the Nakodo was refused. In his anger he killed all the members of the family.
He borrowed the famous serpent-cutting sword 蛇切丸 and fought with the enemy.

This is a famous sword 蛇切丸 with more legends in other regions of Japan.
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http://heianperiodjapan.blogspot.jp/2015/08/nakodo-matchmaker.html
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Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

Legend from Gunma - Yakushi Nyorai

多野郡 Tano district 神流町 Kanna

daija 大蛇 great serpent
At the 池の薬師 Yakushi Pond there lived a husband and wife serpent. The husband snake got killed by a shot. The wife snake shapeshifted into a young woman, went to the temple and told the priest about it. Then she disappeared.
Later when the priest went to the pond to perform amagoi 雨乞い rain rituals, it would always rain after his prayers.
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https://gokurakuparadies.blogspot.jp/2018/02/yakushi-legends-04-fukui-to-hyogo.html
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Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

Fukui 福井県 
.......................................................................
大野市 Ono city 五箇村 Goka mura

daija 大蛇 huge serpent
Priest Taicho had thrust his sword into a rock by the pond to bind and confine the serpents that had caused evil in the villages at the foot of the mountain.
The rock is called Kengaiwa 剣ヶ岩 "Rock of the sword".
The pond is called Senjagaike 千蛇ヶ池 "Pond of 1000 serpents".
Women are not allowed in the pond, they will die if they try to.
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More about Taicho Hakusanbo Tengu of Shiramine / Hakusan
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https://kappapedia.blogspot.jp/2016/09/hakusanbo.html
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Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

Gunma 勢多郡 Seta district 赤城村 Akagi

Once upon a time
a huge serpent came swimming down from upstream Tonegawa. She climbed on a rock galled 龍王の岩 "Rock of the Dragon King". Between this and another rock was a small riverpool, and at its bottom is said to be a 竜宮 Dragon Palace.
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https://edoflourishing.blogspot.jp/2018/01/tonegawa-river.html
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Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

Legend from Tokyo 練馬区 Nerima ward

. Yamata no orochi 山田の大蛇 huge Orochi serpent .
When the deity 素盞鳴の尊 Susanoo killed the huge serpent of Yamata there have not yet been metal swords in Japan. The first 鉄剣 iron sword is said to be in the shrine 石神井神社 Shakujii Jinja at the 武蔵国豊島郡下石神井村 Shimo-Shakujii village in the Toshima district.
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https://edoflourishing.blogspot.jp/2018/04/musashi-province.html

Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

Legend from Aichi 愛知県
北設楽郡 Kita-Shitara district 豊根村 Toyone village

gamabuchi 蝦蟇淵 Toad Riverpool

When a young girl passed the Toad Riverpool, she saw a large serpent who had swallowed something strange and was in pain. The serpent is the master of the pond.
The girl took the strange thing out of the mouth of the serpent to help the animal. The greatful serpent promised to grand any wish of the girl, but she should not talk about it to anybody.
After she went home, many people came to her house and asked what had happened, so finally she told the whole story.
Very soon after that the girl became ill and died.
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https://heianperiodjapan.blogspot.com/2018/06/gama-toad-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Fukushima, 松川町 Matsukawa
In the year 1121, a daija 大蛇 huge serpent came to live in the river Abukumagawa at the waterfall あゆ滝 / 鮎滝 Ayutaki, and brought great harm to the local people.
A courageous villager went to the shrine 黒沼神社 Kuronuma Jinja in retreat until the serpent was gone.
This is the origin of the retreat 羽山ごもり Hayama Gomori.

黒沼神社 Kuronuma Jinja
福島市松川町金沢 Fukushima, Matsukawa, Kanezawa
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https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2019/10/abukuma-river.html.

Gabi Greve said...

A legend from Hyogo
A man who had been runin 流人 in exile took his three dogs and went hunting.
On the way the dogs suddenly bit the hunter in the legs, so he killed all three of them. There came a large serpent and ate the three heads of the dogs.
The man had been saved by his dogs after all, so he burried them and put three Sotoba 卒塔婆 grave markers on their grave.

.
https://heianperiodjapan.blogspot.com/2019/11/sotoba-grave-marker-legends.html

Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Miyagi 宮城県

nekozuka 猫塚 mound for a cat,hebizuka 蛇塚 mound for a serpent
A Samurai who lived nearby had a cat, which one day bit into the sleeve of his wifeL's kimono and would not let go. So he cut off the head of the cat and it flew up to the ceiling. There he realized that it had bitten into daija 大蛇 a huge serpent, to protect him from harm.
He held a funeral for the cat and had a small Shrine and mound erected at 大杉神社 Osugi Jinja.
The body of the serpent, which he had cut into three parts, was buried in another mound, to the North of the cat mound.
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https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2019/10/osugi-shrine-ibaraki.html

Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Fukushima
福島県 塙町 Hanawa city / 山幸神社 Shrine Yamasachi Jinja
福島県東白川郡塙町眞名畑字宮田84

daija 大蛇 huger serpent
At the end of the Edo period, there was oosugi 大杉 a huge cedar tree with a hole in its trunk at 山幸神社 the Shrine Yamasachi Jinja.
The deity of the Shrine was 老婆 an old woman. Once she threw the 杉葉 cedar leaves into this cave and a huge Thunderstorm lasted for three days, burning the tree.
In the ashes they found the bones of a hebi 蛇 serpent.

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https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2020/01/sai-no-kami-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Gunma 群馬県
利根郡 Tone district

. daija, orochi 大蛇 the huge serpent, great snake .
The governor of the Oku-Joshu region went to a banquet, where he saw a beautiful woman and became her lover.
He never saw the woman during daytime, only at night. When he asked her why, she said she was from a poor farmer family from 庄田 Shoda and if he would marry her, she would serve him during daytime too.
So they wedded and a while later a boy was born.
The woman was a huge serpent from 庄田の沼 the swamp at Shoda. The palanquin she had used to come turned into a rock and was called 牛石 Ushiishi.
Her son had a long face and scales on his body.

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https://heianperiodjapan.blogspot.com/2020/01/ushiishi-gyuseki-bull-rock-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Oita 大分県
At a hamlet called 松原 Matsubara in Hita there appeared a huge serpent. It was very long and rather black, its face long like this of a horse with ears. A farmer painted a picture of it and then it was called kyuuryoo 虬龍 "Serpent-Dragon", a legendary animal.
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https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2019/12/nagasaki-hita-kaido.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Saitama
秩父郡 Chichibu district 吉田町 Yoshida town

. daija, orochi 大蛇 the huge serpent, great snake .
A couple which did not have any children went to お諏訪様 the Suwa Shrine to pray and indeed, the woman got pregnant. When the girl was 15 years old, it suddenly wanted to go to the Suwa shrine. The parents thought it strange and had some purification rituals held. The girl then jumped to the local pond and became a daija 大蛇 huge serpent.
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https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2020/03/suwa-jinja-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Nagano about the devil
.
The wife of 甲賀三郎頼方 Koga Saburo Yorikata had been kidnapped by a mashin 魔神 devil. Saburo and his two brothers went to the cave at 蓼科山 mount Tateshinayama to search for her, but the two brothers could not get out any more.
Yorikata had eaten awamochi 栗餅 foxtail millet rice cakes, the offerings for the deity in the cave, and stopped being a human.
He turned into a huge serpent and lived on in 諏訪湖 Lake Suwa.
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https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2020/03/majin-akushin-devil-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Aichi 豊橋市 Toyohashi city 東郷町 Togo town
.
Once a beautiful woman came to the priest of the temple 全久院 Zenkyu-In and wanted to obtain kechimyaku 血脈 a blood lineage chart.
As a gift she left some uroko 鱗 fish scales.
When the priest saw her leaving, he realized that it had been a daija 大蛇 huge serpent.
For the next amagoi 雨乞い rain ritual he used a big tub, placed the fish scales into it, placed some Kechimyaku in it and washed it all into the 海倉淵 Umikurabuchi to produce rain in the evening.
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https://heianperiodjapan.blogspot.com/2020/04/kechimyaku-lineage-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Shiga 滋賀県 守山市 Moriyama city 勝部町 Katsube town
.
. daija, orochi 大蛇 the huge serpent, great snake .
The border between 栗本郡 / 「くりたぐん」 Kurita district and 野洲郡 Yasu district was a large river.
At 三上山 Mount Mikamiyama the river divided into two. 南川 Minamikawa became a deep river pool at 土山 Mount Tsuchiyama.
In former times daija 大蛇 a huge serpent lived in the river pool.
During the reign of 嵯峨天皇 Saga Tenno there was a great noisy earthquake.
When he asked a diviner about the earthquake, Saga Tenno was told that orochi おろち a huge serpent was living in the river, wanting to kill the Emperor.
The emperor invited the local farmers and asked them to get rid of the serpent. A few thousand came together and finally drove the serpent away.
The temple Daikōmyō-Ji 大光明寺 Daikomyo-Ji was built in its rememberance.
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https://gokurakuparadies.blogspot.com/2020/12/saga-tenno-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Gunma 更級郡 Sarashina district 千曲市 Chikuma city
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hebi no makura ishi 蛇枕石 pillow stone of a serpent
When building a garden for 前田家 the Maeda family they moved a stone from the nearby pond 猪の平の池 to the garden.
It begun to rain immediately and did not stop.
They were told that this stone was the pillow for the daija 大蛇 huge serpent which lived in the pond.
They should bring it back to the pond or offer it to 極楽寺 the Temple Gokurku-Ji.
The Maeda family decided to offer it to the Temple Gokuraku-Ji.
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https://gokurakuparadies.blogspot.com/2021/08/gokurakuji-temple-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Ibaraki 茨城県 鹿島市 Kashima city
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daija 大蛇 a huge serpent
A huge serpent came to live at 住吉神社 Sumiyoshi Shrine.
The animal soon moved to the pond in the compound, but the pond dried out soon.
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https://darumapilgrim.blogspot.com/2005/04/oume-aome-sumiyoshi-jinja.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Nagasaki 佐世保市 Sasebo city
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tento iwa 巓頭岩 boulder at the top of the mountain
In the compound of 大智院 the Temple Daichi-In there is a huge boulder called 巓頭岩 Tento Iwa.
Once upon a time, a daija 大蛇 huge serpent had wrapped its body around this boulder seven times.
Nearby is a pond where the serpent lived.
Chinzei Hachirō Tametomo 鎮西八郎為朝 killed the serpent.
. Minamoto no Tametomo 源為朝 (1139 – 1170) .
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https://gokurakuparadies.blogspot.com/2021/04/daichiin-fudo-kasuya.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Shimane
The Deity 素戔嗚尊 Susanoo no Mikoto killed a huge serpent with eight tails and eight heads in Izumo
with his sword totsuka no tsurugi 十握剣.
In the fourth tail, he found a great sword inside the body of the serpent which he named
天の叢雲 "Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi".
He offered the sword to the goddess Amaterasu.Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi 天叢雲剣 "Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven"
Kusanagi no Tsurugi 草薙剣
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https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2021/04/amaterasu-omikami-legends.html

Gabi Greve said...

Saga 佐賀県 神埼町 Kanzaki town
.
In 1333, a horse was passing 櫛田宮 Shrine Kushida Gu and suddenly stopped.
When they shot kaburaya 鏑矢 a whistling arrow at the Shrine door, the horse moved on.
When they cheked the road, they found orochi 蠎 a huge serpent on the road.
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https://heianperiodjapan.blogspot.com/2021/04/arrow-with-white-feathers-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Iwate 岩手県, 花巻市 Ishinomaki town
.
Once a girl washed her face in the clear water of the forest and soon became very weak.
Her parents got worried and prayed to 熊野権現 the Kumano Gongen Deity for help.
Then therer was a thunder and trembling of the earth, with strange light in the sky.
Eventually it became calm and clear again.
There were two huge dead serpents on the gruond, hugging each other.
The male serpent had fallen in love with the daughter,
but the female serpent became very jealous.
The serpents had a fight and finally fell down dead.
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https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2022/01/kumano-gongen-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...

須賀川市 Sukagawa city 小倉 Kokura

. daija, orochi 大蛇 a huge serpent, great snake .
Since there lived daija 大蛇 a huge serpent on 雲水峯 Mount Unsuimine, nobody was allowed to climb up there before the official opening of the mountain on July 15. The mountain is on the border of 郡山市田村町 Tamura town in Fukushima and 須賀川市塩田 Oda in Sukagawa city.
It is 677 m high.
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unsui legends
https://heianperiodjapan.blogspot.com/2022/01/unsui-monk-legends.html
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