I hear outside the window
The howling of demons
This night
They shed tears from happiness, Listening to my poems.
(Tachibana Akemi)
It should be borne in mind that all sorts of magical essences were not invented by people just like that, but were the result of the natural geographic conditions of their habitation. For example, the Arabs do not have aquatic ones, the Chukchi have the main spirit god - the walrus, the Brazilian Indians - the jaguar, and so on. Here Ivan Tsarevich turns into a gray wolf - an intelligent and cunning beast, Marfa-Morevna - a gray duck, an unobtrusive bird, in a word, where we live, we compose about it. Nature also helped the Japanese in this. Many small rivers, many swamps, impenetrable bamboo forests, where you can get lost just a stone's throw from home. In a word - here are the places where the most varied evil spirits can dwell, and where people simply do not go, they have nothing to do in such ruinous places!
Here she is - a long-necked demoness, with whom it is better not to deal at night! The Japanese loved to portray such things, and … why not? Interestingly, everything that you see here is not stored and exhibited in Japan! Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
And it is not at all surprising, therefore, that the Japanese also had their own water - kappa. It looks like a hybrid of a turtle and a frog, but with claws and a beak, and thin hair on the head, where the mouthguard has a depression filled with … water. This water gives him supernatural strength, so it costs nothing for the kappa to challenge the strongest sumo wrestler and defeat him. However, it is not difficult to overcome the mouthguard. You just need to bow to him before engaging in a fight with him, and the kappa will bow back to you, water will pour out of this hollow, and the kappa will immediately weaken. But if a person takes pity on the kappa and pours water into the recess on his head, then the kappa in gratitude will serve such a person all his life. The mouthguards feed on humans, but they are especially fond of small children, whom they drown while swimming in rivers. But mouthguards are also eaten not just like that, but in a completely … unusual way: they pull out their insides through the anus (that's really a fantasy for the Japanese!) And only then eat them. Apparently, they seem so tastier to them.
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 - 1858) "The Battle of Women". This is humor! Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
But, fortunately for the human race, mouthguards simply adore cucumbers, especially their tips - from which mouthguards are downright mellow. Therefore, cucumbers should be thrown into the water - to cajole the kappa, or even better, write the names of the children on them - so that they know who should not be touched. In addition, they should not have been eaten before bathing, since the smell of cucumbers could lure the mouthguards, but getting them out of a person for the mouthguards was a simple matter.
Marium Okuyo (733 - 1795) Screen "Cranes". It's just beautiful, isn't it? Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
In the old days, cats in Japan have always been associated with death. That is why people looked with great suspicion at cats belonging to deceased owners - what if they turn into something terrible? After all, they could become kasa, a demon that steals corpses, or two-tailed demons of neko-mata, playing with dead bodies like dolls. To avoid such troubles, the kittens should have their tails cut off (so that they would not suddenly split in two), and the deceased's cat should be locked up for a while and watched.
Sakai Dotsi (1845 - 1913) Screen "Irises". Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
But the image of the cat was not always so gloomy. Porcelain figurines of a cat of happiness - maneki-neko bring success to store owners - it's proven! During a thunderstorm, a cat took a certain rich man away from a tree, which was supposed to be struck by lightning, after which he began to patronize the temple. One geisha's cat would not let her mistress go to the lavatory because a snake was hiding there. Finally, cats very often take human form and become the wives of either single men or children of childless couples and comfort them in old age.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798 - 1861) "Demon Spider". Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Betobeto-san is … steps behind you in the dark, but when you look back, there is no one behind. Here you need not be afraid, but say: "Betobeto-san, please come in!" And then this ghost will leave, and you will stop stomping behind your back. In Japan, even ghosts are very polite!
Gyuki (yushi-oni): A bull-like chimera that can live in waterfalls and ponds. She attacks people in an extremely unusual way - she drinks their shadow! After that, the person starts to get sick and then dies. The steps of this creature are silent, and besides, it is very stubborn. If she has designated you as her victim, then she will follow you to the ends of the earth. But it is very easy to get rid of it. It must be said: "The leaves are drowning, the stones are floating, the cows are laughing, the horses are mooing." So from time to time, while swimming in a waterfall, one should say this, otherwise you never know what … Sometimes a gyuki turns into a beautiful woman.
Jore-gumo: during the day this is a pretty girl, but at night she turns into a spider-like monster, places nets on people, and when they get caught in them, sucks blood out of them!
Dzyubokko: The most common trees that grow on the battlefield, where a lot of blood is shed. Since each tree has its own kami, they become accustomed to human blood and become predators. At the same time, they catch travelers with their branches and, pressing them to the trunk, suck them dry, like spiders of flies.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi. The ghost came to the samurai. Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Doro-ta-bo: just the ghost of a peasant who has cultivated a piece of land all his life. But when he died, his lazy son abandoned the plot, and then sold it altogether. Here is the spirit of his father and comes out of the earth and demands that this plot be returned to him.
Inu-gami: if you take a hungry dog and put a bowl of food in front of it in such a way that it cannot reach it, then it is clear that the dog will suffer terribly. So, when her suffering reaches its peak, you just have to chop off her head, and then you get inu-gami - a very cruel spirit, which you can then incite on your enemies. Inu-gami, however, is very dangerous, as it may well pounce even on its master.
Watanabe Shiko (1683 - 1755) Screen. Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Ippon datara: spirit-blacksmith with one leg and one single eye.
Isonade: Well, just a very big fish. Sailing past the ship, she can knock a sailor into the water with her tail and eat him.
Ittan-momen: Looks just like a long piece of white cloth floating in the dark night sky. But in reality it is a very dangerous and harmful spirit. He can fall on a person from a height completely silently, wrap his neck around him and strangle him.
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839 - 1892) Traditionalist attack on a school with foreign teachers. Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Itsumaden: if a person died of hunger, then he turns into a huge bird with a snake tail and a fire-breathing beak. And he persecutes those who refused him food during his lifetime.
Kama-itachi: if you were caught in a storm, and then found strange-looking cuts on your body, then this is clearly the work of a kama-itachi - a storm ermine with long, long claws on its paws.
"The Sumida River in the colors of spring". Utagawa Kunisada II (1823 - 1880). Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Kameosa: An old sake bottle that magically reproduces it. An analogue of our magic pot. Only here he cooks porridge, and the magic bottle makes sake.
Kami-kiri: A crab-clawed spirit who has the habit of attacking people in bathrooms, where he cuts their hair at the root. In such a strange way, he is trying to prevent … the marriage of this person with an animal or spirit.
Wakizashi (top) and katana (bottom). Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The Japanese are very careful about old things, so even an old umbrella (obake) can become their spirit. Well, he wanted to, and he became a kami.
Kijimuna: These are also tree kami, but they are kind. However, you can make them angry by swinging … an octopus underneath!
Kirin is a Japanese sacred dragon. A copy of the Chinese dragon qi-lin, only on its paws it has only three fingers, while the Chinese has five.
Kitsune: The werewolf fox is a very popular image of Japanese folk tales. By the way, our fox is also a frequent fairytale character, but our foxes, however, are very far from Japanese foxes. Ours simply deceive everyone. Japanese foxes often turn into beautiful girls and even have families with people. The older the fox is, the more tails it has - but a maximum of nine. Interestingly, the magic of kitsune for some reason does not work on the Taoist monks. Finding out that your wife is a kitsune is easy: you need to look at her shadow on the screen by the fire. The fact is that her shadow will always show the fox.
Genre "Flowers and Birds" / Flowers / Okamoto Suki (1807 - 1862). Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Ko-dama - the spirits of old trees. They like to repeat the words spoken by a person. And it is because of them that the echo is heard in the forest.
Konaki-diji: It looks like a small child who somehow ended up in the forest and was crying. But if someone picks it up, then Konaki-diji will immediately begin to grow rapidly and … crush this person with its weight.
The Japanese also have their own mermaids. They are called ningyo and are a cross between a carp and a monkey. Its meat is very tasty. It is worth eating it, and you will extend your life for many, many hundreds of years. And if the ningyo cries, it turns into a human.
Noppara-bo is just some faceless spirit who loves to scare people.
Nuri-botoke: if you do not take good care of your home Buddhist altar, then this ghost will certainly start in it, outwardly similar to Buddha with a fish tail, black skin and drooping eyes. Whenever you want to pray, this monster will appear to you and will continue this until you put your altar in order.
Raiju is a perfume that personifies … ball lightning. They like to hide not somewhere, but in people’s navels, so superstitious Japanese people prefer to sleep on their stomachs during a thunderstorm. Then the raiju won't get there!
Sagari: a horse-headed spirit that rattles the branches of the trees.
Sazae-oni: old snails that can turn into beautiful women. There is a funny story about how pirates rescued a certain drowning beauty. She, in gratitude for the salvation, willingly gave herself to each of the pirates, but they soon discovered that their scrotum was missing. Sazae-oni offered them a deal: the pirates should give her all the gold that they plundered, then she will return their scrotum to them. And since the Japanese sometimes call them "golden balls", the exchange was equivalent.
Genre "Flowers and Birds" / Birds / Okamoto Suki (1807 - 1862). Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Sirime: A funny exhibitionist ghost. Like all exhibitionists, he takes off his pants in front of people, but turns to them … backwards. From there appears … a human eye, after which the victims of the shirime usually faint.
Soyo: Very funny alcoholic ghosts. Fortunately, they are completely harmless.
Sune-kosuri: small fluffy animals that live in houses and rush to hurry people at their feet. They stumble, and the sonne-kosuchi is a pleasure.
Ta-naga are the people of Japan with very long arms. Once upon a time, they entered into symbiosis with asi-naga - people with very long legs. At the same time, the Ta-naga sat on the shoulders of the Asi-naga and began to live as one single entity. Today these giants are no longer to be found.
Tanuki are badger werewolves (or raccoon dogs) capable of bringing happiness to people. The amount of happiness is directly proportional, you know what? The size of a badger scrotum. Moreover, cunning tanuki can simply inflate it to an incredibly large size (they can sleep on it, hide under it from the rain), and even turn it … into a house. It is very easy to check which house the badger has, you just need to drop it on the floor … a burning coal. But it is not recommended to do this, because then you will never see happiness!
Tengu: werewolf people with long noses like Pinocchio and wings on their backs. Extremely powerful and very dangerous. It was they who once taught people different martial arts. If a person suffering from amnesia came out of the forest, it means that he was abducted by the tengu. Many samurai used tengu masks as protective masks along with a kabuto helmet, and their wives … as dildos, since their nose was long, smooth and slightly widening towards its end.
Futa-kushi-onna is the ghost of an eternally hungry woman with an extra mouth on the back of her head. Apparently, it was from her that one of the unusual girls from the "house of strange children" was invented. The second mouth swears at the marketplace and uses her hair instead of tentacles to steal food from the woman. According to legend, this is how the gods punished the evil stepmother who did not feed her adopted children.
Haku-taku (bai-ze): a wise and very kind creature with nine eyes and six horns. Knows how to talk. Once being held captive by Emperor Huang Di, for his freedom, he told him about all 11,520 types of magical creatures that live in Japan. He ordered the story to be recorded, but such an exhaustive bestiary, alas, did not reach our time.
Hari-onago: A cannibal woman who has "live" hair and each has a sharp hook at the end. It is encountered by travelers on the roads. Having met them, she always laughs merrily. If you laugh back at her, she will tear you to pieces with her hair and make a stew.
Ivory scabbard and tsuba. George Walter Vincent Smith Museum of Art, Springfield, Massachusetts.
Hito-dama: small particles of the human soul that leave his corporeal shell before death in the form of clots of flame. At the same time, they fly away not far and, falling to the ground, leave a slimy trail on it.
Hoko: the spirit of the camphor tree. Has the form of a dog with a human face. Legends say that if you chop down a camphor tree, a hoko will emerge from its trunk, and it can be fried and eaten, since its meat is very tasty. There are ghosts, this is a completely unique feature inherent only in Japanese mythology.
The Japanese also have their own "snow queen" - yuki. This is a pale lady who lives in the snow and is engaged in a bad thing - freezing people. Like Andersen, she has only to breathe on the person and he … the end!
It is in such magical entities that the Japanese believed, believe, or pretend to believe! Interesting, isn't it ?!
* By the way, why was the ume plum a symbol of the samurai class? Because it blooms earlier than other trees in February, when there is snow all around. She is a symbol of perseverance, which is why it served as a symbol for the soldiers of Japan.
