![]() ![]() They are sometimes said to take their victims for the purpose of drinking their blood, eating their livers, or gaining power by taking their shirikodama ( 尻子玉), a mythical ball said to contain the soul, which is located inside the anus. As a menace Īs water monsters, kappa have been blamed for drownings, and are often said to try to lure people into water and pull them in with their great skill at wrestling. Ī cucumber-filled sushi roll is known as a kappamaki. In some regions, it was customary to eat cucumbers before swimming as protection, but in others it was believed that this act would guarantee an attack. In Edo (old Tokyo), there used to be a tradition where people would write the names of their family members on cucumbers and send them afloat into the streams to mollify the kappa and prevent the family from coming to harm in the streams. Sometimes the kappa is said to have other favorite foods, such as the Japanese eggplant, soba (buckwheat noodles), nattō (fermented soybeans), or kabocha (Japanese pumpkin). At festivals, offerings of cucumber are frequently made to the kappa. Cucumber įolk beliefs claim the cucumber as their traditional favorite meal. However, it is common for kappa to befriend other yōkai and sometimes even people. While younger kappa are frequently found in family groups, adult kappa live solitary lives. Though sometimes menacing, they may also behave amicably towards humans. Their actions range from comparatively minor misdemeanors, such as looking up women's kimono if they venture too near to water, to outright malevolence, such as drowning people and animals, kidnapping children, raping women and at times eating human flesh. Kappa are usually seen as kami of the water. Ī paired male and female kappa statues at the Sogenji Buddhist shrine at the Asakusa district in Tokyo.īehavior Capturing a kappa alive. When they do, the "dish" on their head can be covered with a metal cap for protection. While they are primarily water creatures, they do on occasion venture onto land. The kappa are sometimes said to smell like fish, and they can swim like them.Īccording to some accounts, a kappa's arms are connected to each other through the torso and can slide from one side to the other. Despite their small stature they are physically stronger than a grown man. Inhuman traits include three anuses that allow them to pass three times as much gas as humans. They are typically greenish in color (or yellow-blue ), and either scaly or slimy skinned, with webbed hands and feet, and a turtle-like carapace on their back. Clumsy on land, they are at home in the water, and thrive during the warm months. Kappa are said to be roughly humanoid in form and about the size of a child, inhabiting the ponds and rivers of Japan. Bruning Collection of Japanese Books and Manuscripts, L. From Gazu Hyakki Yagyō ("The Illustrated Night Parade of a Hundred Demons") by Toriyama Sekien Kappa (かはつは) from Bakemono no e (化物之繪, c. ![]() The kappa has been known as kawako in Izumo ( Shimane Prefecture) where Lafcadio Hearn was based, and gatarō was the familiar name of it to folklorist Kunio Yanagita from Hyōgo Prefecture. The name komahiki or "steed-puller" alludes to its reputed penchant to drag away horses. It is also called kawauso 'otter', dangame 'soft-shelled turtle', and enkō 'monkey', suggesting it outwardly resembles these animals. The kappa are also known regionally by at least eighty other names such as kawappa, kawako, kawatarō, gawappa, kōgo, suitengu. Another translation of kappa is "water sprites". The name kappa is a contraction of the words kawa (river) and wappa, a variant form of 童 warawa (also warabe) "child". They are often accused of assaulting humans in water and removing a mythical organ called the shirikodama from their victim's anus. The kappa are known to favor cucumbers and love to engage in sumo wrestling. A depression on its head, called its "dish" (sara), retains water, and if this is damaged or its liquid is lost (either through spilling or drying up), the kappa is severely weakened. They are typically depicted as green, human-like beings with webbed hands and feet and turtle-like carapaces on their backs. Kappa can become harmful when they are not respected as gods. Drawing of a kappa copied from Koga Tōan's Suiko Kōryaku (1820)Ī kappa ( 河童, "river-child")-also known as kawatarō ( 川太郎, "river-boy"), komahiki ( 駒引, "horse-puller"), with a boss called kawatora ( 川虎, "river-tiger") or suiko ( 水虎, "water-tiger")-is a reptiloid kami with similarities to yōkai found in traditional Japanese folklore. ![]()
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