I believe that when one realizes the relationship between Kochō and the
earth spider, it not only deepens the plot layers but, further, the play’s level
or status will rise, requiring better skills to perform Kochō, the priest, and
the spider.
Tsuchigumo in ancient times were both men and women who defied
sovereign authority. The imperial conquerors who claimed to rule Japan
as descendants from High Heaven labeled them as such. Tsuchigumo in the
medieval period also defied the imperial authorities, yet the conquerors
were not emperors or princes but rather warriors who were the subjects of
the emperor. The significant difference is that medieval tsuchigumo are not
human beings but shape-shifting supernatural creatures. Minobe Shigekatsu
and Minobe Tomoko write that Japanese medieval tales such as Tsuchigumo
zōshi could have become a mythology of the warriors of the Seiwa Genji
clan’s regime to claim their legitimacy to rule Japan.17 Instead, the tale turned
into a monster-conquering story because the image of the spider as a mon-
ster was foregrounded while the symbolic meaning of “recalcitrant people”
became weak (Minobe and Minobe 148).
The supernaturalness of tsuchigumo, which I believe is caused in part by
the tsuchigumo’s association with oni, makes the story more entertaining and
appealing, especially as it involves an attractive woman. Indeed, at a time
when the power of the supernatural was still real and influential in everyday
life, the subject of a striking beauty attacking a renowned warrior—whose
descendants held influential and important positions in the shogunate at the
time—or a loyal warrior conquering a humongous earth spider must have
been excellent material for author(s), painter(s), and the audience.
Tsuchigumo zōshi may have some didactic messages for the reader, such
as to be mindful of a beautiful woman whose allure is powerful enough to
lull even the strongest man into a false sense of security, or warnings of
the dangers of curiosity, just as Raikō was led by a strange floating skull.
Didacticism or moral edification is expected of an otogizōshi story. With the
illustrations of the orthodox yamato-e school and allusions to various classi-
cal Chinese poems and verses, Tsuchigumo zōshi is an entertaining work.
Importantly, it is a work in which tsuchigumo, oni, and a beautiful woman
become one entity. The image of a female killer spider took shape in
Tsuchigumo zōshi, influencing the Noh Tsuchigumo. Kochō, whose appearance
was considered more like an appendix to the plot, is an important part of
the play as a mysterious shape-shifting spider’s spirit with vengeance. Later
stories of the earth spider follow the role tsuchigumo in the Noh play, making
the maiden figure more Machiavellian.
A Tale of an Earth Spider
77
transLatiOn Of tsuchiguMO zōshi
This translation is based on Muromachi jidai monogatari taisei ( MJMT 9: 436–
41) and Zoku Nihon emaki taisei ( ZNET 19: 161–64). Muromachi jidai mono-
gatari taisei is the standard work for otogizōshi written texts, with the sections reorganized to be read as a coherent story. Some lacunae are supplemented
in Zoku Nihon emaki taisei, which provides full illustrations.
A Tale of an Earth Spider
Minamoto no Raikō, descendant of the emperor [Seiwa],18 was renowned
as a courageous, daring, and resolute warrior. Around the twentieth [day] of
the tenth month, he journeyed to Kitayama,19 reaching as far as Rendaino.20
He was [ . . . ]21 accompanied by his loyal retainer, Tsuna, a skilled, renowned,
and courageous warrior in his own right. Raikō wore a three-foot sword,
and Tsuna wore armor with a bow and arrows. During their journey, they
saw a skull floating through the air. The skull rode upon the winds, soaring
in and out of the clouds. Raikō and Tsuna pondered the strange matter for
some time and then followed the skull all the way to Kaguraoka,22 where it
suddenly disappeared. There, before their eyes, was an ancient and decay-
ing mansion. As they traipsed through . . . the wild and spacious yard, their
sleeves became wet from the heavy dew on the tall, neglected grass. The
gate was terribly decayed, with vines entangled all over. Even in its ruined
state the warriors could clearly see that at one time this must have been
the residence of an aristocrat. To the west of the ruined mansion stood a
mountain, resplendent in autumn colors. A lapis-lazuli–colored pond lay to
the south. orchids and chrysanthemums bloomed in wild profusion in the
untended garden, while the garden gate had become the nests of birds and
small animals. When they reached this garden gate, Raikō ordered Tsuna
to stay behind and then carefully proceeded alone through the gate to the
ruins of the once stately mansion.
The kitchen was separated by paper sliding door, and upon reaching the
threshold Raikō could feel the lurking presence of someone, an old woman,
moving slowly behind the door. He knocked on the door and entered the
house. “Who are you?” Raikō asked. “This house seems strange and I don’t
understand this.” “I have been living here for a long time” the wretched
old woman replied. “I am 290 years old and have served, in their turn, nine
lords of this house.” Her hair was ghostly white. She used a tool called a
kujiri 23 to lift her eyelids, which were flipped over her head like a hat. She
pushed her mouth open with what looked like a long hairpin, and her lips
were [enlarged]24 and tied around her neck. Her breasts sagged to her lap as
78
Part I: Samurai
if they were [clothes].25 “Spring comes and autumn goes,” the old creature
mournfully continued, “but my sad thoughts remain the same. Years begin
and end, but my misery is eternal. This place is a demons’ [den];26 no human
dares pass through our gates.27 My sorrowful youth has gone, but my old
self sadly remains. I lament that bush warblers depart and swallows on the
beam fly off.28 To meet you here is like a singing girl of Chang’an meeting
Bai Juyi in the Yuanhe era.29 People and places may be different, but the sen-
timent is the same. over there, whenever the singing girl saw the moonlight
reflected on the river, she wept tears.30 I see that I have met a wise man at
last. Please kill me. I wish to pray for Amida Buddha ten times and look for
the coming of three Buddhas.31 There could be no better favor than this.”
Raikō soon realized the futility of questioning the old crone any fur-
ther, so he left her to chatter as he went in search of his own answers. In the
meantime, Tsuna made his way to the kitchen area to see what had detained
his master for so long.
As dusk gathered and the sky turned an ominous gray, leaves whirled
furiously off the trees. The fierce wind blew ever harder, and lightning
flashed and thunder roared in the sky. Tsuna did not think he could survive
and pondered what exactly he should do. “If I stay here, and if some mon-
sters should swarm about us, my lord and I can surround them and kill them
from various directions. But if we cannot surround them, so
be it, it can’t be
helped. on the other hand,” he thought, “it is folly to stay in one spot waiting
for an attack to come, though to run away is a cowardly disgrace.” He sighed
to himself, “They say ‘a loyal subject never serves two lords; a filial daughter
does not have a husband.’ How can I ever disobey my lord’s order and forget
his favors?” So the loyal Tsuna stayed there, beaten by heavy rain and wind.
As he stood steadfastly at his lone watch, Raikō calmly continued his quest
of the ruined house. As he listened carefully, he could hear the sound of
footsteps resembling the sound of a hand drum ( tsuzumi ). Soon, numerous
spirits and goblins of various shapes and sizes entered the room from the
opposite side and stood in Raikō’s path with only a pillar in the center of the
room to hold them at bay. As he looked in the direction of a lamplight, his
eyes shone brightly like the precious stones engraved in the middle of the
forehead of a Buddha image. To Raikō’s consternation, the creatures sud-
denly burst out laughing and left, closing the sliding door behind them.
Then a small creature dressed as a nun entered the door through which
the goblins and spirits had just departed. She was small, like a person of
Daoshou. She could not have been more than three feet tall.32 Her face was
two feet long and her body less than a foot in height; her legs, therefore, were
extremely short. When she sidled up to the lamp and tried to put out the light,
A Tale of an Earth Spider
79
Raikō glared at her, and she smiled. Her eyebrows were thick, and her parted
deep red lips revealed her two blackened front teeth. She wore a purple hat
poised precisely on her head and wore a red hakama (a long divided skirt worn
over a kimono), but there was nothing on her body. Her arms were as thin as
string, and her skin was as white as snow. [Stillness]33 filled the room. She then
disappeared as if the snow and haze of her white body had simply melted.
It was almost the time when the “rooster man” cried out at dawn,34
when the loyal subjects waited at court.35 “What could happen now?” Raikō
thought, when he heard strange footsteps and a sliding door facing Raikō
[opened]36 slightly and through the small gap of the doors he saw some-
thing come into and out of sight—the being looked more tender than a
spring willow swaying in a gentle breeze. It stood up feebly and opened
the sliding door, and a woman leisurely entered the room. She looked dis-
tant and unapproachable, as she gracefully sat on a tatami mat. Indeed, her
beauty was so superlative that Yang Guifei or Lady Li37 would have envied
her. Raikō held her in his gaze, thinking she must be the mistress of the
house come to greet him. A cool breeze drifted through the room; out-
side was growing light. The woman calmly stood up and appeared to retire.
Her hair was swaying to the front, and her eyes, staring at the light, shone
brightly like a reflection of fire on black lacquer.
Raikō was dazzled by the woman’s beauty, when she kicked up the hem
of her hakama and threw at Raikō something resembling balls of white
clouds, approximately ten in number. He was momentarily blinded by them
but soon unsheathed his sword and in a single slash from draw to strike
passed his sword through her as she vanished into thin air. Raikō’s sword
had cut through the wooden floor and cloved a foundation stone in half.
As the image of the beautiful woman faded from his sight, he heard
the sound of a familiar voice. Tsuna had come to Raikō’s aid. “You have
done splendidly, my Lord,” he said, “but I’m afraid the tip of your sword
must have broken.” As Raikō drew the sword out of the floor, indeed, it
was broken. On the floor was a huge puddle of white blood, part of which
had stained Raikō’s broken sword.
The warriors followed the trail of blood and came to the place where
Raikō had encountered the old woman the day before. Although there
was white blood, not a soul was visible. “The creature must have eaten the
old woman in one gulp,” they thought. Following the blood trail out of
the room, they reached the western mountain, far off. There, white blood
flowed like a stream from a dark cave.
Tsuna said to Raikō, “The way the tip of your great sword broke brings
to mind the story of filial Mikenjaku (Mei jian chi) of Sokoku (Chu guo),
.
apanese Studies
h Center for J
esearc
national R
Inter
tesy of
oman. Cour
es the beautiful w
Figure 2.2. Raikō strik
A Tale of an Earth Spider
81
who [broke]38 the tip of his treasured sword to avenge his father’s death.39
May I suggest we make an effigy from rattan and vines and adorn it with
a court robe and an eboshi headdress40 and carry the thing before us?”41 So
they prepared the effigy.
Thus armed, they proceeded into the dark cave, but after what seemed
like only 400 or 500 yards, they had reached its farthest recess. There stood
an old hut that looked like a storehouse. The tiled roof was [covered]42
with pine needles, and moss grew on hedges. It was a deserted and desolate
place. There they found a gigantic creature nearly 200 feet tall that to all
appearances wore brocade on its head. The monster seemed to have no
neck but had numerous legs. Its eyes shone brightly, like the sun and the
moon together. A heavy, thunderous voice resounded, “Damn! What has
happened to my body, it’s so painful.” As the warriors expected, no sooner
had the creature uttered these words than something shiny shot out from
white clouds at the effigy and the effigy collapsed.
They examined the shiny object—it was the tip of Raikō’s sword.
“What Tsuna said is true. This is an extraordinary creature indeed,” Raikō
thought. The creature had ceased to make noise, so Raikō and Tsuna soon
approached the creature and began to drag it out of the cave.
The monster was strong, however, and fiercely resisted the warriors’
attack, attempting to destroy them. Indeed, the monster’s force, it seemed to
the warriors, could move a huge boulder. Raikō prayed to the Sun Goddess
Amaterasu and Shō Hachimangū:43
our kingdom is a divine country. The gods protect our country, and the
emperor rules the country with the help of his subjects. I am a subject
and a grandson of a prince—I was fortunate enough to be born in the
line of an Imperial family. Now when I look at this creature, it is a beast.
Beasts are born to this world as such because of heinous, atrocious, and
destructive actions in their previous lives; they bring disaster to the coun-
try and are the foes of all humans. I am a warrior sworn to protect the
emperor and his compatriot sworn to help him rule the country. How can
you disobey?
As the two warriors pulled the roaring creature, the monster first strug-
gled to fight, but it soon succumbed and collapsed to the ground on its back.
In a lightning flash, Raikō unsheathed his broken sword and decapitated it.<
br />
As Tsuna moved to open the creature’s great belly, he found a deep gash in
the middle of [ . . . ]. It was the slash made by Raikō at the old house. They
felt sure the monster was a yamagumo [mountain spider]. From the sword’s
incision, 1,990 heads poured out. When they cut open its flank, numerous
h
esearc
national R
Inter
tesy of
suna to a fight. Cour
es Raikō and T
halleng
o oni?) c
umerous legs (or tw
.
antic creature with n
apanese Studies
Figure 2.3. A gig Center for J
.
apanese Studies
h Center for J
esearc
national R
Inter
tesy of
. Cour
suna kill the monstrous spider
Figure 2.4. Raikō and T
84
Part I: Samurai
small spiders about the size of seven- or eight-year-old children noisily trot-
ted about. When they looked further into its stomach, they found very small
skulls numbering around twenty. The warriors dug a grave in the ground
and buried the skulls, then set fire to the monster’s den.
The emperor, when he heard the story, was impressed and grateful to
his retainer for his valiant service. So he appointed Raikō the governor of
Tsu Province44 and bestowed upon him the court rank of senior fourth
lower. Tsuna was given the Province of Tanba45 and was given the rank of
senior fifth lower.
nOtes
1. The date is given by Baba Kazuo (80). For the Noh text of Tsuchigumo, see Sanari 3:
2055–67. For an English translation, see Suzuki 87–92.
2. I have followed the date given by Komatsu Shigemi et al., Tsuchigumo zōshi in ZNET
19. For the printed text, see Komatsu Shigemi, Tsuchigumo zōshi, ZNET 19: 1–11 (pictures
and writing) and 161–64 (writing); MJMT 19: 436–41 (writing); Nagasaka 31–38 (writing)
and 54–66 (pictures).
3. See the Tokyo National Museum website, which gives the date of the scroll ( Tsu-
chi gumo no sōshi emaki [Narrative Picture Scroll of the Story of Earth Spider]) as the thirteenth century during the Kamakura period (1185–1333); http://www.emuseum.jp/detail
/100257?x=&y=&s=&d_lang=en&s_lang=ja&word=%E5%9C%9F%E8%9C%98%E8%
9B%9B%E8%8D%89%E7%B4%99&class=&title=&c_e=®ion=&era=&cptype=&o
Seven Demon Stories from Medieval Japan Page 13