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.

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

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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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Kasha Demon

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. - yookai, yōkai 妖怪 Yokai monsters - .
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- Kasha 火車 Kasha Demon "burning chariot" -



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Kasha 火車 (folklore)
The kasha (火車, lit. "burning chariot" or "burning barouche" or 化車, "changed wheel")
is a Japanese yōkai that steals the corpses of those who have died as a result of accumulating evil deeds.

They are a yōkai that would steal corpses from funerals and cemeteries, and what exactly they are is not firmly set, and there are examples all throughout the country. In many cases their true identity is actually a cat yōkai, and it is also said that cats that grow old would turn into this yōkai, and that their true identity is actually a nekomata.

There are tales of kasha in tales like the folktale Neko Danka etc., and there are similar tales in the Harima Province (now Hyōgo Prefecture), in Yamasaki (now Shisō), there is the tale of the "Kasha-baba."

As a method of protecting corpses from kasha, in Kamikuishiki, Nishiyatsushiro District, Yamanashi Prefecture (now Fujikawaguchiko, Kōfu), at a temple that a kasha is said to live near, a funeral is performed twice, and it is said that by putting a rock inside the coffin for the first funeral, this protects the corpse from being stolen by the kasha. Also, in Yawatahama, Ehime, Ehime prefecture, it is said that leaving a hair razor on top of the coffin would prevent the kasha from stealing the corpse.
In Saigō, Higashiusuki District, Miyzaki Prefecture (now Misato), it is said that before a funeral procession, "I will not let baku feed on this (バクには食わせん)" or "I will not let kasha feed on this (火車には食わせん)" is chanted twice. In the village of Kumagaya, Atetsu District, Okayama Prefecture (now Niimi), it is said that a kasha is avoided by playing a myobachi (妙八) (a traditional Japanese musical instrument).

There is also the theory that the legend of kappa making humans drown and taking their butts (eating their innards from their butts) was born as a result of the influence of this kasha.

The expression "hi no kuruma" which means urgency of economic conditions, comes from how the dead would receive torture from this kasha (hi no kuruma).
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Kasha – The Corpse-Eating Cat Demon 火車猫
Fire (火) chariot (車)- Kasha 火車

Kasha are one of the most confused of Japan’s yokai.
Over the centuries kasha have evolved from a fiery cart pulled by devils to an aged cat that changes form into a corpse-eating monster. Even the calling them yokai is dubious.



Although yokai can be a catch-all term for Japan’s monsters, the kasha are more properly demons. They have more in common with Hell-dwellers like oni, and are found on Kamakura period Hell Portraits designed to terrify people into following the righteous path of the Buddha.

More details and colorful photos :
- source : hyakumonogatari.com -


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音誉上人 - 音誉聖観上人 Saint Onyo Shokan Shonin

音誉上人自ら火車に乗る Onyo Shonin riding the chariot of fire

On the 2nd day of the 7th lunar month in 1479 文明11年, at temple Zōjō-ji 増上寺
saint 音誉上人 Onyo Shonin was welcomed at the end of his life by the chariot of fire 火車, which was not a welcome from hell but an envoy from the Gokuraku Paradise.
The people of that time saw this wheel of fire according to their own liking, hell or paradise, at the end of life.

"Shin Chomonjū (新著聞集)," Chapter Five "Acts of Prayer"


source :　minneko.blog.so-net.ne.jp

hi no kuruma 火の車 wheel of fire
火車来現 the Buddhist wheel of fire at the end of life

火の車、造る大工はなけれども、
おのが造りておのが乗りゆく

the wheel of fire is not made by a carpenter
I made it myself, I will now ride it myself

. Legends about Japanese Saints .

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.................................................... Ehime 愛媛県 ....................................................

訃報の使いを知らせの使いと言い、必ず２人で行く。２人で行くのは、途中で火車や山犬に襲われる可能性があるからである。火車や山犬は死人を好むという。使いが提灯を持つのは夜になると火車や山犬が襲う可能性があるためで、魔は火を恐れると信じているからである。


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

西都市 Saito

The Kasaha came to get a dead body. During the burial service of a bad person, it usually comes. Suddenly the sunny sky turns to rain and the Kasha comes down from heaven.
In this case the priest has to sit on the coffin and perform ablutions with his wand 払子. This will make the Kasha retreat. (And the Kasha is usually a cat.)



.................................................... Yamanashi 山梨県 ....................................................

上九一色村 Kamikuishiki

精進に寺がない時には竜華院まで坊様を頼みに行っていたが、その近くに火車という化物が住んでいた。葬式が出るたびに死体を食おうと狙っていた。ある時村に葬式が出ると火車は飛脚に化けて竜華院にたのみに行ったが、坊様は見破り、施主に葬式を2回出し、最初の棺には石を入れておくよう指示した。最初の棺が出ると空に黒雲が沸いて雲の中から火車が飛んできて棺をさらっていった。その隙に施主の家では2回目の葬式を出して骨を無事に寺に納めた。火車は「竜げん坊主にだまされた」と叫んだという。


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yokai database 妖怪データベース (30 entries) (02)
- source : www.nichibun.ac.jp -

. . . CLICK here for Photos !

- reference -


. KASHA - shared at PINTEREST .

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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 .

. - yookai, yōkai 妖怪 Yokai monsters - .
- Introduction -

- #kappakasha #kashamonster -
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Suikosama Water Beast

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- KAPPA - 河童 / かっぱ /　カッパ - ABC-Index -
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- Suiko 水虎 Water Tiger, Water Beast -



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- quote -
ALTERNATE NAMES: sometimes mistakenly referred to as kappa
HABITAT: rivers, lakes, ponds and waterways; found throughout Japan
DIET: omnivorous; prefers human blood and souls

APPEARANCE:
Suiko are found in both China and Japan and are often confused with kappa, which they closely resemble. However, suiko are far more dangerous, violent, and hot-tempered than their kappa cousins. Suiko have the body of a small child and are covered in extremely tough scales like a pangolin’s. They have sharp, hook-like growths on their kneecaps which resemble a tiger’s claws. They live near riverbanks and in large bodies of water.

BEHAVIOR:
Suiko rank above kappa in the hierarchy of water goblins, and as such are sometimes placed in charge of them, with one suiko placed in charge of 48 kappa. (They are sometimes called the oyabun, or yakuza bosses, of kappa.) In turn, suiko report to the Ryū-ō, the dragon king, who lives in his palace, Ryū-gū, at the bottom of the sea. The reason suiko kill humans is to look tougher among the other suiko and increase their standing with the dragon king. (Likewise, when kappa attack humans, it is to make them look tougher and increase their standing with their suiko boss.)

INTERACTIONS:
Suiko who live in inhabited areas like to sneak out of the water at night to play pranks oh humans, knocking on doors and running away, or possessing people and making them do strange things. Like kappa and other water spirits, suiko enjoy using their superior strength to pull humans into water and drown them, although unlike kappa they have no concern for the shirikodama. Instead, suiko drain their victims of blood like vampires, then eat their souls (reikon) and return the dead, drained body to the surface.
It is possible to keep suiko at bay by leaning a sickle against the side of a house and sprinkling flax seeds or black-eyed peas on the ground outside. Suiko are afraid of these and will keep away.

There is one known method to kill a suiko.
It involves the corpse of a person who has had their blood drained by a suiko. First, a small hut made of grass and straw is built in a field. Then the body, instead of being buried, it is laid on a wooden plank and placed in the hut. The suiko who sucked that person’s blood will be drawn to the hut, where it will start running around and around in circles. (Suiko have to ability to become invisible, so it is likely that it will only be heard rather than seen; or else only its footprints will be visible.) As the dead body gradually decays, so will the suiko. By the time the body has rotted completely, the suiko will have died, its magic will have ceased, and the decayed corpse of the suiko will be visible on the ground near the body.
- source : yokai.com/suiko -


- quote -
The suiko (lit. "water tiger")
is a king-sized variety of kappa living in and around the Chikugo River (Kyushu), Lake Biwa (Shiga prefecture), and other bodies of water across Japan.



In addition to prowling around at night and making mischief, the suiko has the power to possess people. Those possessed by a suiko descend into a temporary state of madness, but they recover quickly after the creature withdraws.

At least once a year, the suiko drags a human victim into the water, sucks out his blood, and returns the body to shore. It is best not to have a funeral for the victim of a suiko attack. Instead, the body should be left on a wooden plank inside a small thatched hut in a field. If done properly, this course of action causes the flesh of the suiko perpetrator to slowly rot until it dies.
- source : monstropedia.org -

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Suiko Sama 水虎様
from North-West Tsugaru, Iwate 西北津軽

There are more than 80 temples and shrines in Iwate and Aomori where this deity is venerated.



He comes in various forms and robes.



He is a deity people come to pray for the prevention of water accidents.

In East Tsugaru it is often the feature of a woman standing on a turtle.

Look at more photos :
- source : marugoto.exblog.jp -

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Suikosama 水虎様
Aomori, Kizukuri machi 青森 木造町　July 20



At the temple Jissooji 実相寺 Jisso-Ji

Look at many more photos of other Suiko Sama from the region !
- source : sadisticyuki10 -

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. . . CLICK here for Photos !

- reference -

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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 .

- #kappasuiko #suikosama #kappatiger #suikojizo #jizo -

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. Jizō - Jizo Bosatsu 地蔵菩薩 .
suiko Jizo 水虎地蔵 Jizo as a water tiger
In Akita, Yokote, at the temple 龍泉寺 Ryusen-Ji
there is a statue of 水虎地蔵 Suiko Jizo.
When there was a fire he produced water bubbles with his hands and feet and used the water of a flower vase. 　

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Mochi and Yokai

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- KAPPAPEDIA - Yokai Monsters -
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- Mochi 餅 rice cakes and 妖怪　Yokai monsters -

Mochi are used in many kinds of food, from soup to sweets. Mochi can be grilled, fried, and simmered.
The Japanese have traditionally believed that all material things are imbued with spirits, and so by partaking of the rice mochi - thought to symbolize the spirit of rice - they hoped to gain the strength of these rice divinities for themselves.

Some legends and episodes involve the rich imaginary world of Yokai monsters.

. mochi 餅 rice cakes, Reiskuchen .
- Introduction -




chikara mochi yokai ちからモチ妖怪 "Power Rice Cake"
from the Yokai Watch
- source : yokaiwatch.wikia.com -

- - - - - not to mix with
Chikaramochi Yurei 力持ち幽霊 The Strong Ghost
- source : hyakumonogatari.com -



. botamochi ぼた餅 牡丹餅 "peony rice cakes" .

. kusamochi くさ餅 mugwort rice cakes .


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. Benkei no Chikaramochi 三井寺名物「弁慶の力餅」 .


. Jizo Bosatsu and Mochi rice cakes 地蔵と餅 .

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..................................................... Miyagi 宮城県 .....................................................

awamochi 粟餅を食った地蔵様 Jizo Bosatsu eating Millet Mochi




Once upon a time,
the kind and honest 正兵衛 Shobei and the greedy 慾兵衛 Yokubei lived in a village. The poor Shobei, who could not afford Mochi made from white rice, pounded some of millet and offered it to the deities.
His neighbour Yokubei was quite rich and pounded white Mochi.
Shobei wanted to make some offerings to the Jizo statue by the river, so he put some Millet Mochi in his bag and took a bucket to get New Year's Water by the river. He walked along the river, but when he wanted to put the Mochi up as an offering for Jizo, he could not find them any more. They must have slipped out of his pocket somehow, so he apologized profoundly to Jizo.
And well, Jizo answered:
"I just ate your Mochi which have come floating past. They were quite delicious!"
When Shobei looked more closely, he could see some powder around the mouth of the Jizo statue.
So Shobei thanked Jizo with all his heart and went home.
On the way home his bucked suddenly felt very heavy and when he looked inside at his home, he found that it was filled with small and large gold coins.
When Yokubei heard the story from Shobei, he got all envious and went down to the river himself. He stuffed some of his white Mochi into the mouth of the statue and then hurried home.
But his bucket was filled with heavy stones and horse excrements . . .

. Legends about Jizo Bosatsu - 地蔵菩薩 - .



..................................................... Nagano 長野県 .....................................................

For people who have died without relatives (muenbotoke 無縁仏) people float offerings of Mochi and rice in the river to protect themselves from water accidents.
One day when Uwabami ウワバミ (a huge serpent-monster) wanted to eat a child, people threw Mochi at them and saved it that way.

yamakagachi, ja, senja - python
- tba source : www.blackdrago.com

- quote -
蟒蛇 Uwabami
..... The name uwabami has roots going back to archaic Japanese. The first part of the name, uwa, meant skillful or superior. Gradually this shifted to a similar sounding word, uha, which meant great or large. The second part of the name is from an archaic word for snake, hami. This word derives from the word for eating, hamu, which refers both to the snake’s fondness for biting and its ability to eat things that appear much larger than it. So uwabami were “skillful eaters” which over time became “giant snakes.”
Another linguistic point of interest is
that the word “uwabami” also has the colloquial meaning of “heavy drinker.” The reason for this is the uwabami’s great love for sake and its ability to drink in far alcohol more than even a creature as large as it should be able to.
A famous tale comes from Ōnuma Lake in Nagano Prefecture. .....
- source : yokai.com/uwabami -



..................................................... Okayama 岡山県 ..................................................

. kohaku mochi 紅白餅 and 酒呑童子 Shuten Doji .
a legend from Niimi　新見


..................................................... Saitama 埼玉県 ..................................................

Chichibu, 吉田町 Yoshida

During お盆 O-Bon, the festival for the ancestors, children go to the river and enjoy sumo wrestling. One of the boys got hungry, went home and ate some of the ぼた餅 botamochi offered to the ancestors. When he came back to the river and tried to wrestle again, he fell into the river and never came out again.
You should not eat the Mochi dedicated to the ancestors.




..................................................... Shimane 島根県 .....................................................

On the 20th day of the first lunar month all family members share to eat the 力餅 chikara mochi they have prepared in the last year. This way they will all partake of great power.


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- reference -

血を流す餅　/ 若餅 / かびたれ餅 / 鼠の餅つき

yokai database - more than 560 episodes tba (01)
- source : www.nichibun.ac.jp -


mochitsuki 餅つき (12) tba
- source : www.nichibun.ac.jp -



. mochi 餅 rice cakes, Reiskuchen .
- Introduction -


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

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- - - - - Kappa and Mochi legends - 河童と餅 - - - - -


Kappamochi, Kappa-Mochi 河童餅 Green Mochi for the Kappa

. Kappa and Mochi - Ehime 愛媛県 .

. Kappa and Mochi 餅 - Fukushima 福島県 .

. Kappa and Mochi - Gifu 岐阜県 .
imomochi 芋餅 mochi from potatoes

. Kappa and Mochi - Gunma, Gumma 群馬県 .
kabitari mochi かぴたり餅 / (川浸り餅) "Mochi for the First Day"

. Kappa and 餅 Mochi - Ibaraki, Ibaragi 茨城県 .
kawabitari mochi カワビタリモチ / 川浸り餅 "Mochi for the First Day"
kabitari mochi かぴたり餅 / (川浸り餅) "Mochi for the First Day"
kaaperi mochi かーぺぇり餅」(川入り餅) "Mochi to go into the water"

. Kappa and Mochi - Iwate 岩手県　 .

. Kappa and Mochi - Kagoshima 鹿児島県 .

. Kappa and Mochi - Tochigi 栃木県 .
kabitari mochi カビタレモチ / (川浸り餅) "Mochi for the First Day"

. Kappa and Mochi - Tottori 鳥取県 .

. Kappa and Mochi - Toyama 富山県 .
kabitari mochi かぴたり餅 / (川浸り餅) "Mochi for the First Day"

. Kappa and Mochi - Yamagata 山形県 .
mamemochi 豆餅 Mochi made from beans

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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 .

- #kappamochiyokai #mochiyokai #yokaimochi -
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Shuten Doji Yokai

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- KAPPAPEDIA - Yokai Monsters -
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Shuten Dooji 酒呑童子 Shuten Doji "Sake Child" Demon
Shuten Dōji 酒顛童子, 酒天童子, 朱点童子 Saka Doji

There is a lot of material about this popular Sake Drinker Yokai Monster,
from the hanga of old to the manga of new.

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妖怪 Saka Doji, Shuten Doji 酒呑童子 a Sake Yokai Monster


source : 妖怪博士の日記

This monster lives at the border of Kyoto and Tamba (Tanba) (京都と丹波国の国境) on big branches or in caves (鬼の岩屋 oni no iwaya) and is the boss of the local monster clan.
It's face is slightly red and the hair short and red. It can grow up to 6 meters high and has five horns. It also has 15 eyes.
Others say it looks like a beautiful boy of the "other world".
It is related to the famous monsters of Oeyama 大江山.
He often had virgins brought to his camp and used to "eat" them . . . most probably by using them as "comfort women" for himself and his men.

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- quote -
Shuten-dōji 酒呑童子, also sometimes spelled 酒顛童子, 酒天童子, or 朱点童子
is a mythical oni leader who lived in Mt. Ooe (大江山) of Tamba Province or Mt. Ooe (大枝) on the boundary between Kyoto and Tamba. He was based in a palace somewhat like a Ryūgū-jō on Mt. Ooe, and he had many oni subordinates.
- snip
He, who was born in Echigo in the Heian era (8th century) when Dengyō Daishi and Kōbō-Daishi were active, became a page of the Kokojou-ji (国上寺) (in Tsubame, Niigata) (at the base of Mt. Kugami, there is a Chigo-dou where he is said to have passed through).
- snip
one of the “three great evil yokai.”
Shuten-doji, who came to Kyoto, had many subordinates with Ibaraki-doji as his first, and based on Mt. Ooe, appeared in Kyoto from time to time, kidnapped the daughters of noble families, cut them with swords, and ate them raw.
- snip

CLICK for more photos !
“Ooe-yama Shuten-doji Emaki” scoll (大江山酒天童子絵巻)
- details in the WIKIPEDIA -

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models of festival floats from the Karatsu kunchi festival 唐津くんち in Saga, Kyushu
Festival float Nr. 11 番曳山 is about "the drunken ogre and the helmet of Minamoto Yorimitsu"
酒呑童子と源頼光の兜.


source :　nino-art.at.webry
clay bell 土鈴



source :　karatsu-otsuka

酒呑童子と源頼光の兜 the helmet of Raiko

hariko papermachee doll　張子　


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- quote -
Shuten Dōji Will Drink Your Blood and Eat Your Flesh



A new exhibit, at the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery opens Saturday, March 21 and runs through September 20. It features hanging scrolls, folding screens and printed books telling the Shuten Dōji legend:One thousand years ago, the ogre giant Shuten Dōji lounged in his mountain castle

The Shuten Dōji legend:
One thousand years ago, the ogre giant Shuten Dōji lounged in his mountain castle, sipping wine and snacking on samurai meat. As he dined with his demonic companions, with a gaggle of captive young noblewomen to serve them, perhaps he wondered how sweet life had turned out for him. A life of debauchery rewarded day after day with earthly pleasures.

Nearby by in Kyoto, the capital of medieval Japan, the emperor grew concerned. Each day, he was forced to stand by and watch, as Shuten Dōji kidnapped one woman after another. The emperor called for the legendary samurai Minamoto "Raiko" Yorimitsu 源頼光 and his five retainers to conquer the ogre giant. The handsome and morally righteous Riako accepted the challenge, and after a brief stop to pray, he and his band set off toward Shuten Dōji’s castle on Mount Oe.

Disguised as Buddhist monks to avoid suspicion, with armor hidden in their wooden backpacks, the good guys traveled deep into the mountains. Along the way, the disguised samurai met three gods in human form, who shared their strong dislike for the ways of the wicked Shuten Dōji. Raiko is given a magical helmet, as well as a special sleep-inducing sake (rice wine), and the gods guide him to the castle.

When the samurai arrive, they are welcomed and entertained by Shuten Dōji, who is fooled by their monk costumes. After they enter the giant’s home, they watch as horned demons slice off human thigh and shoulder meat before eating it like sushi. Dōji settles down on his favorite decorative rug as the captured noblewomen enter through hand-painted doors to serve the guests wine. It’s then when Raiko gives Shuten Dōji the special sake, and the giant quickly becomes drunk and sleepy.

What Raiko doesn't know, is that whenever someone serves Shuten Dōji wine, the ogre giant transforms into a hairy, red, demon. But Raiko, nevertheless, ambushes and beheads the monster. The hero can’t declare victory, however, because when Raiko least expects it, Shuten Dōji’s head jumps back to life and attempts to kill the samurai. Protected by his magic helmet, Raiko deflects the attacks, conquers the monster and his demon henchmen, and marches victoriously back to Kyoto hauling Shuten Doji’s head in an ox-cart.
Good vanquishes evil once again.

- source : www.smithsonianmag.com - Joseph Caputo


Raiko fighting Shuten Doji (Katsushika Hokusai)

Minamoto no Yorimitsu 源頼光 (948 – August 29, 1021),
also known as Minamoto no Raikō
Raiko is usually accompanied by his four legendary retainers, known as the Shiten'ō (The Four Guardian Kings).
They were Watanabe no Tsuna, Sakata no Kintoki, Urabe no Suetake, and Usui Sadamitsu.
The Karatsu Kunchi festival in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, features a large float inspired by the helmet of Minamoto, being partially devoured by the oni Shuten Douji . . .
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Ooeyama. Ōeyama 大江山 Mt. Ōe. Mount Oeyama

Some legends say this mountain was a refuge for pirates from Korea 朝鮮人の海賊.


CLICK for more photos !

Near the place where the remains of the mansion of Shuten Doji are supposed to be there is a huge boulder. There is also a place where the river flows upstream when the demons wash the bloody robes; this is where the villagers later they build the 不動堂 Fudo Hall below the waterfall 千丈ヶ滝下 Senjogataki.
Even further up in the mountain, where Shuten Doji was defeated by Raiko Yorimitsu there is now the shrine 鬼獄神社 Onitake Jinja.

. 鬼嶽稲荷神社 Onitake Inari Jinja / 鬼獄神社 Onitake Jinja .
Oni-take Inari Jinja 京都府福知山市大江町北原 Fukuchiyama, Kyoto

At the forest 童子ケ森 Dojigamori in Fukuchiyama there is the head of Shuten Doji burried in the ground. It had flown there all by its own.


- quote -
Mt. Ōe (大江山)
Mention Mt. Ōe to any Japanese person, and they’ll likely start indulging you in the legends of the many oni (demons) that roam the ridges of the hallowed peak.
Oni’s cave (鬼の洞窟)
Senjogatake (千丈ヶ嶽) / Senjogataki 千丈ヶ滝 Waterfall
Oni-take Inari Jinja (鬼岳稲荷神社)
- source - japanhike.wordpress.com -


After Minamoto Raiko had killed the yokai Shuten Doji, all the girls he had kidnapped ("eaten") were set free to go home. But one had gone so out of her mind, she did not remember where she was from. She was pregnant and eventually gave birth to a baby with all teeth already there. This "Demon Child" 鬼童 Kido grew up and went to Kyoto, trying to kill the brother of Raiko. But he did not succeed and got caught himself.
He is the subject of legends of its own.

Kidoomaru 鬼童丸、鬼同丸（きどうまる）Kidomaru


Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳『鬼童丸』

- 鬼童丸 Kidomaru Demon -

. kidoo 鬼童 "child demon" .


. 大江山鬼伝説 Demon Legend of Oeyama Mountain .




大江山酒呑童子祭り Oeyama Shuten Doji Festival



- quote -
Shutendoji Oeyama Onigawara Craft Center
Oeyama Onigawara (roof tiles with the figure of a demon) Craft Center
is located in Shutendoji-no-sato, which is in the grand nature of the Oeyama mountain ranges (designated as Tango Amanohashidate Oeyama Quasi-national Park) or has inherited a demon legends and other folk tales.
There is Japanese demons museum nearby too.
(Oe-Yama-no-Ie) 912-1Butsushoji Oe-cho Fukuchiyama City
. source - kyoto-kankou.or.jp .



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source :　youkai-heim.jp

酒呑童子先生 Shuten Doji, Saka Doji, our teacher - More Local Legends

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.................................................... Hyogo 兵庫県

In 姫路 Himeji at a large shrine there is a Demon Boulder 鬼岩 about 1 meter high related to Shuten Doji. If someone sits on this boulder, he will be cursed 祟り.


.................................................... Ibaraki 茨城県

The deity Takemikatsuchi no Mikoto 鹿島の武甕槌命 from Kashima drove Ibaraki Doji out of the region.
This area where he fled is now called 鬼越山　Onigoeyama.


source : facebook
Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900)

The demon Ibaraki grips her severed arm in her teeth.


.................................................... Kyoto　京都

Kubizuka Daimyojin Shrine　首塚大明神
京都府京都市右京区 - Kyoto

- quote
... near Oinosaka Pass on Rte 9, is a popular tourist attraction as well as a major haunted spot in Kyoto. It is believed that Shuten-doji, a leader of mysticism and magic, was killed by Minamoto Yorimitsu and his head was buried here in the Heian period.

The shrine has a gloomy and sinister feel even in daytime. You feel your body become heavy on a sudden even if you are not spiritually sensitive. Photographs taken here will get innumerable orbs floating all over. Rumor has it that people get cursed once passing through the torii gate, or that a lady with downcast eyes always stands at a bus stop in the midnight.
- source : guides-japan.com




. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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. Shuten-dōji 酒呑童子 Shuten Doji .
and the Rashomon Gate 羅城門の鬼、羅生門の鬼

The story is also told in the Noh play by Kanze Nobumitsu.
The hero Watanabe no Tsuna 渡辺綱 fights against a demon (Ibaraki doji).


- quote -
Watanabe no Tsuna (渡辺 綱) (953-1025)
was a Japanese samurai, a retainer of Minamoto no Yorimitsu (also known as Raikō), one of the earliest samurai to be famed for his military exploits.


- Watanabe Tsuna fighting with Ibaragi Oni at the Rashomon

- In legend
Watanabe features in many of Yorimitsu's legendary adventures, and aids him in fighting many monsters, beasts and demons.

In one such tale, Tsuna accompanies Raikō to the hut of Yamamba, a man-eating hag. There they find a boy known as Kaidomaru, who had been brought up among animals and endowed with superhuman strength. The boy requests that Raikō allow him to become one of his retainers, and Raikō accepts, giving the boy the name Sakata no Kintoki, often shortened to Kintoki.

Some of Watanabe no Tsuna's other comrades in legend are Urabe no Suetake and Usui Sadamitsu. Together, the four are collectively known as the Four Guardian Kings, an allusion to the Buddhist Shitennō.

Watanabe is also said to have assisted Raikō in slaying a tsuchigumo. His most famous feat is most likely the defeat of the demon Ibaraki-doji, the principal follower of Shuten-doji. He fought Ibaraki-doji single-handedly at the Rashomon gate at the southern end of Suzaku-oji, the central North-South street in the old capital Heian-kyo (now Kyoto).

At the end of the intense battle Watanabe no Tsuna cut off the demon's arm before it fled over the gables. Tsuna put the demon's arm away in a Chinese case (唐櫃 karabitsu). The demon later returned to claim the lost arm, and tricked Tsuna to release the arm. This legend is continued in a Japanese tale known as Ooeyama.

- Tsuna and the Ibaraki-doji
- Tsuna's Meitō, the Demon Slayer
- In popular culture


. . . . . carver Otoman, circa 1830, ivory, height 72 mm
- In netsuke
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


. 高野山 Koyasan　弘法寺 Kobo-Ji　龍生院 Ryusho-In . - Tokyo
The temple was revitalized in 1890 by 渡邊貞浄法尼 the Honorable Nun Watanabe.
Legend knows that in the compound is an old well used for water of the first bath of the Heian-period hero,
渡邊綱 Watanabe no Tsuna,

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source :　kurand.jp/blog

京丹波町
The town of Tanba is proud to be the place where Minamoto Raiko gave it a lot of sake to drink and then get rid of Shuten Doji. The sake is called
鬼殺し Onikoroshi " killing the demon"
from Shuchi 須知 (a town in the Tanba district)

鬼を殺すほど辛い酒 a sake as hot-spicy (karai) as to kill a demon




.................................................... Miyagi 宮城県

In the town of Igu 伊具郡 there lives a family called Watanabe, dating itself back to Watanabe no Tsuna. They never built a gable 破風 on their house, because Watanabe no Tsuna cut off the arm of Shuten Doji and escaped over the gable .



.................................................... Nara 奈良県

Byakugooji 白毫寺 Byakugo-Ji
奈良県奈良市白毫寺町392


- source and more photos : 東風庵

- - - Yamato province birth legend
Shuten Doji was a page acolyte at the temple Byakugō-ji in the Yamato province (presently, Nara Province), but found a corpse at a nearby mountain, and due to curiosity, brought that meat back to the temple, and made his priest teacher eat it without telling him that it was human meat. Afterwards, the page frequently brought back meat, not only from the flesh of corpses, but also by murdering live humans and returning with their flesh. The priest, who thought that it was suspicious, followed after the page, discovered the truth, harshly criticized the page, and abandoned him in a mountain. The page later became Shuten-doji, and it has been said that the place where he was abandoned was thus called “Chigo-saka” (稚児坂　page-hill).



According to another theory,
he was a child of the chief priest of Byakugō-ji, but as he matured, he grew fangs and a horn, and later became a child as rough as a beast. The priest was embarrassed by this child, so the child was abandoned, but the child later came to Mt. Ooe, and became Shuten-doji.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


. Byakugo-Ji and Haiku .


.................................................... Niigata 新潟県 - Echigo　越後

Kokujooji 国上寺 Kokujo-Ji / 運高山国上寺
新潟県燕市国上１４０７ - Tsubame, Kugami

- Homepage of the temple (one of the oldest in Echigo
- source : kokujouji.com

国上 can be read as Kokujo or Kugami.


CLICK for more photos of the temple !

酒呑童子 / 茨羅鬼童子/ 茨城童子 / 茨木童子 Shuten Doji and Ibaraki Doji
(Ibaragi Dōji)

In the village Kugami Mura 国上村 near mount 国上山 Kugami there lived a man called Sado Hayato 佐渡隼人. He had no children and therefore went to Mount Togakushiyama to pray for a son. When a son was born he called him
外道丸 Gedomaru . Gedomaru lived as an acolyte at the temple Kokujo-Ji from the age of 7, because he was quite a wild boy and beyond his parent's control. When he was 17 he had become a very handsome yong man. The local ladies began to look at this beautiful boy when he came down from the mountain to have a drink of sake at the lokal inn.
He loved only sake, so the local folks called him 酒呑童子 "Saka Doji" "the child of sake".
But he never gave a look at the ladies or cared for their love letters. When he burned the love letters he received from all the females, due to one of the lady who was not able to acquire her love, when the love letters burned, the smoke that came out enveloped him, turning him into an oni　鬼 monster.
Because of this, it was said that he, who had now became an oni, was moving from mountain to mountain in Honshu.

Gedomaru later flew to Mount Togakushi in Shinshu and begun to eat the local people there with crunching sounds.
So they prayed to Togakushi Daigongen 戸隠大権現 and Gedomaru went off.
Other legends locate him at 弥彦山 Yabikoyama in Niigata, but finally he settled at 大江山 Oeyama.
Other legends locate him at 高野山 Mount Koyasan, but 弘法大師 Kobo Daishi threw him out.
Other legends locate him at 比叡山 Mount Hieizan, but 伝教法師 Dengyo Daishi threw him out.
He lived a while at the food of Mount Ibukiyama 伊吹山の麓 as 伊吹童子 Ibuki Doji and then moved on to Oeyama.


- - - - - Echigo birth legend
He, who was born in Echigo in the Heian era (8th century) when Dengyō Daishi and Kōbō-Daishi were active, became a page of the Kokujou-ji (国上寺) (in Tsubame, Niigata) (at the base of Mt. Kugami, there is a Chigo-dou where he is said to have passed through).
While he was 12 years of age, he was a “pretty boy,” and refused all of the females who loved him, and all of the females who approached him died from being so love-stricken. When he burned the love letters he received from all the females, due to one of the females who was not able to acquire her love, when the love letters burned, the smoke that came out enveloped him, turning him into an oni. Because of this, it was said that he, who became an oni, after moving from mountain to mountain centered on Honshu, eventually settled on Mt. Ooe.
One story is
that he was the son of a blacksmith in Echigo, that he was in his mother’s womb for 16 months, and that he had teeth and hair when he was born, was immediately able to walk, was able to talk on the level of a 5-6 year old, had the wisdom and physical strength of a 16 year old, and had a rough temperament, and due to this unusually ready wit, was shunned as an “oni child.” According to Zentaiheiki, afterwards, when he was 6 years of age, he was abandoned by his mother, wandered from place to place, and then walked the path towards being an oni.
There is also a legend that since he was scorned as an oni child, he was put into custody of a temple, but the chief priest of that temple was a user of unorthodox practices, and the child became an oni through learning those unorthodox practices, that he exhausted the limits of evil.
In the town of Wano 和納　(Wanoo, Niigata),
it is said that when a pregnant woman eats a fish called “tochi,” that child will become a robber if it is a boy, and a prostitute if it is a girl. It is also said that a woman who ate the fish, gave birth to a child after it stayed 16 months in her womb, and that child was Shuten-doji.
In Wanoo, there are place names like the Doji estate and the Doji field.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


- Relation to Ibaraki-doji -
Shuten-doji rampaged together in Kyoto along with Ibaraki-doji, but there are actually several theories about their relation. One of those theories is that Ibaraki-doji was not a male oni, but a female oni, and that Ibaraki-doji was a lover of his son, or Shuten-doji himself. Therefore, it has been said that Shuten-doji and Ibaraki-doji knew of each other’s existence, and aimed for the capital together.

Ibaraki dōji, Ibaraki Dooji 茨木童子 / 茨城童子 "Ibaraki child"
He is said to be the child of the fierce warrior 平将門 Taira no Masakado (?903 - 940).
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !





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西蒲原郡 分水町 Bunsui machi


source :　wiki

katame no gyoshin 片目の魚神 fish god with one eye
He became a a deity to protect the fish who get wounded or loose one eye in dirty rivers.

The village claims a canal where a baby (later to become Shuten) was washed after birth. In this canal there lived a fish with one eye 片目の魚.
Maybe one miracle induced the next . . .

Once a child had gone lost and when folks came to think of it they thought Shuten Doji had kidnapped the boy and eaten him (or maybe made him his male servant).

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栃尾市 Tochio town

In the 軽井沢地区 Karuizawa district there are only 50 families, and 34 of them have the name 茨木性 Ibaraki. There is a place named 茨木清水 Ibaraki Kiyomizu where Shuten Doji and Ibaraki Doji had a sumo wrestling match. After that, Ibaraki Doji stayed in the area and founded this village. His descendants live live in simple farm houses and if they try to build a stronger roof and gate, the family will be punished with bad luck - or so they say.

At the district 一之貝地区 Ichinokai a tale is told at Setsubun.
On the Setsubun Day (now February 3) Watanabe no Tsuna had cut off the arm of Shuten Doji. So the villagers with the name 渡辺 Watanabe are not afraid of this yokai.
Together with the villagers named Ibaraki these families do not have to throw beans for driving away the oni.


. Setsubun 節分 the "Seasonal Divide" .
Throwing beans to drive out the oni.

fuku wa uchi 福は内（ふくはうち）"Good luck, come in!"
oni wa soto 鬼は外（おにはそと）"Demons, go out! "


.................................................... Okayama 岡山県

In the village 下熊谷 Shimokumatani in Niimi 新見市 there lived a woodcutter who went to the forest with his many helpers. One of the helpers found a red and white auspicious mochi in a very lonely place in the woods 紅白餅. It looked so very delicious, he could not help but eat it. All of a sudden his face changed and became very wild, like a mask and he jumped around quite wild. He was like a demon who had lost its way in the woods. Finally his friends tried to bring him back, but he said
"I have become a demon all right, so please do not touch me." and eat the last man who had touched him. The helpers ran to their master and told him the story.
When they all went back to the spot, they found the demon.
"Now I will go back to Oeyama in Tanba!" he shouted, jumped into the sky and disappeared.
They finally realized is must have been Shuten Doji.


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酒呑童子 / 酒典童子 reference
- source : www.nichibun.ac.jp

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. . . CLICK here for Photos !

- reference 酒呑童子 -


ukiyo-e about Shuten Doji
- source : ukiyo-e.org -



.
Ricewine, rice wine (酒 sake, saké, saki) .
- Introduction -

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. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 - (1715-1783) . .



雲の峰に 肘する酒呑童子かな
kumo no mine ni hiji suru Shuuten Dooji kana

Shuten Doji
rests his elbows
on billowing clouds . . .


妖怪ぞろぞろ俳句の本 - - - by 古舘 綾子 (著), 山口 マオ (イラスト)
. Haiku about Yokai and Demons .


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Kaidomaru 坂田怪童丸 Sakata Kaidomaru



A triptych showing the great sumo wrestling match between Momotaro and Kaidomaru, the two youths of prodigious strength. Momotaro, on the right, is identified by the peaches on his garment. (He was known as “The Peach Boy.”)
A pheasant is umpiring the match (a reference to the companions Momotaro makes early in his career: a monkey, dog and pheasant).
While a bear officiates on Kaidomaru’s side (also a reference to the animals he befriends in the forest).
- source : japaneseprints-london -

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

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source :　mikosi-jiten

Head of Shuten Doji - Kanda Matsuri Festival Float - 附け祭り Tsuke Matsuri

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. karakuri ningyoo からくり人形 mechanical dolls .


Dolls of 酒呑童子 Shuten Doji (tba)
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

. Mingei 民芸　Regional Folk　Art from Japan .

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

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

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