The Dark Side of Japan: Ancient Black Magic, Folklore, Ritual

by Antony Cummings

  ALSO BY ANTONY CUMMINS

  Samurai and Ninja

  Book of Samurai

  Book of Ninja

  Iga and Koka Ninja Skills

  Secret Traditions of the Shinobi

  True Path of the Ninja

  Samurai War Stories

  In Search of the Ninja

  The Lost Samurai School

  First published 2017

  Amberley Publishing

  The Hill, Stroud

  Gloucestershire, GL5 4EP

  www.amberley-books.com

  Copyright © Antony Cummins, 2017

  The right of Antony Cummins to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  ISBN 9781445663029 (PAPERBACK)

  ISBN 9781445663036 (eBOOK)

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers.

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Typesetting and Origination by Amberley Publishing

  Printed in the UK.

  Western civilisation has invaded all this primitive peace with its webs of steel, with its ways of iron – the old gods are dying!

  Lafcadio Hearn

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgements

  Introduction: Welcome to Hell

  1 - Beasts, Animals and Creatures

  2 - The Dead and Human Sacrifice

  3 - Hags, Vampires, Ghouls and Ghosts

  4 - Spiritual Days in the Japanese Calendar

  5 - Basic Japanese Magic

  6 - Castles, Fortifications and Architecture

  7 - Self-Protection in Japanese Magic

  8 - Ancient Japanese Charms and Talismans

  9 - Samurai and their Weapons of Death

  10 - Dealing with the Dead

  11 - Ill Omens and the Chi of Death

  12 - Dark Curiosities and Superstitions of Ancient Japan

  13 - Legends from Tono

  14 - Games and Ghost Stories

  15 - Superstitions in Modern Japan

  Conclusion: Putting the Magic Back in Japan

  Select Bibliography

  About the Author & Illustrator

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Most translations are by Yoshie Minami and she must be thanked for her continued support and guidance; also Mieko Koizumi, who worked on translating the spells from the Zoho Majinai Chohoki Daizen document. I am grateful to Gabriel Rossa for his help with the esoteric and to Jackie Sheffield for her help with the first run-through of the text. Finally, a big thank you to David Osborne for his superb illustrations.

  INTRODUCTION:

  WELCOME TO HELL

  The Japanese – who are they? Or rather, who are they to those in the West? The masters of paper folding and car production, faceless salarymen, computer nerds and tourists machine-gunning the world with their cameras? For the generations before the war and Japan’s subsequent climb to economic success, the Japanese were a mysterious people; they inhabited mountains hidden by deep mists. They were a people of esoteric teachings, some aficionados of ancient ceremonies, others masters of warfare, clad in their strange armour and steeped in bloodthirsty ways. Their image was rooted firmly in the medieval and was more or less created by the Victorians. This culture, isolated from the Industrial Revolution, represented a richness that we had lost through the progress of technology. Indeed, Japan is surely unique in having once rejected a key instrument of modern technology, having given up the gun and reverted to the sword in the seventeenth century. Bearing in mind that Japan probably had more guns than any other country in the world at this time, to eliminate them almost entirely was an extraordinary achievement by the nation’s samurai class. But we intruded on Japan as a hidden enemy, threatening to destroy its culture. While Japan is still a cultural goldmine, it has been stripped by tourism and trade with the West and is starting to look played out.

  At first Japan seems to be alive with tradition, but after years of living among the Japanese I can see the cracks beginning to show. Japan sells out its own past, and the corporate types will flog anything ‘Japanese’ while we Westerners lap up the deception. In truth, when you work your way into Japanese society, it becomes clear that most Japanese have almost no idea what Japan was before the arrival of the West, in the same way as we only have a vague and media-defined understanding of our own medieval traditions. To find true beauty and culture in Japan you have to seek out real masters and faithful artisans who have a firm grasp on their particular tradition and art. It is these people who hold the threads of the old ways in their hands, but generation by generation these threads are being let loose. My aim here, if possible, is to refresh the mystery. I am searching for new avenues to rediscover the phenomenal attraction the world felt for Japan. In this volume I want to take you along the river of Hell, through cities of the damned and into the heart of all that is dark in Japanese folklore. Here I hope you will find a reminder of that distant, terrifying and beautiful land.

  Pulling out the Pages

  Imagine me deep in a vast castle archive or in a Japanese monastery, tearing the pages from ancient manuscripts, whispering dark spells and bringing forth images of Hell, making deals with demons and pacts with the Devil during my research. Well, no, that’s not actually what happened; it was something less dramatic. Normally, I am a part of a small team that searches out and discovers ancient ninja and samurai manuals and we bring these to an English-speaking audience. At times I find myself waiting on my two trusted translators, as their part in our work takes considerably longer than mine. Thus, with time and energy to spare I began to probe for an independent project I could work on that would not create too much work for my translators. It was at this point I began to re-read some of Lafcadio Hearn’s work on the supernatural. Hearn (1850–1904), who is known in Japan as Koizumi Yakumo, was of Irish-Greek descent and spent much time in Japan. He became famous for collecting Japanese folklore and ghost stories. Reading through his work I was impressed again by the immense amount of information he had collected, but at the same time I found myself trying to bypass his Victorian travel writing. His descriptive approach is totally understandable for his day, but now there is no need for page upon page of description or commentary about the Japanese people; we can get it all on Google.

  So the idea came to me. I could rediscover all those who in the Victorian era and slightly beyond recorded Japanese folklore and myths, and then preserve the ‘essence’ while peeling off the Victorian redundancies. This led me on a library hunt to discover writers who from the end of the nineteenth century up until the 1950s had spent their time recording the legends of the East. A record of Japanese beliefs began to emerge, which I began to arrange for a modern audience. This has led to many parts being stripped down and overly complex cultural undercurrents being removed. During this marshalling of the material came the natural development of three categories: the hellish, the heavenly and the downright curious. This volume will concentrate on all the maleficent elements of Japanese folklore.

  The old John Rylands Library on Deansgate in Manchester, the special collections branch of the University of Manchester, where I collected much of the information for this book. (Courtesy of Michael D. Beckwith under Creative Commons)

&nbs
p; I have kept the spelling, names and place names the same as in the original works. However, I have removed all diacritical marks.

  Finally, it must be remembered that these stories and legends come from all over Japan and across centuries, and therefore what was known in one area may have been unknown in another, or what was thought at one time was rejected or forgotten later. So when venturing into the dark mists of Japanese folklore, you will not always have a firm grasp of time and location.

  Mixing and Matching

  One aspect of Japanese culture that is difficult for the Western mind to grasp is the ability to integrate. With no doctrine of monotheism and no banishment of other religions, Japan has been a relatively open place for religion and custom. Of course Japan had its times of religious persecution and conflict, but no single religion ever won out for long. This has resulted in Shinto ceremonies, Buddhist funerals, Christian weddings and shamanic rituals existing happily side by side. This eclectic mix does not faze the Japanese, and nor should it faze you. From an academic standpoint you could dissect the entire contents of this book and attribute sections to Buddhism, Shinto, Confucianism, Taoism, the magic of Onmyodo, and more. Why bother? This was not an issue for the people of historical Japan, nor is it an issue in Japan today. Two further points distinguish East from West. First, as Professor John Gray writes in his extraordinary and controversial book Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals, ‘A feature of the idea of modernity is that the future of mankind is always taken to be secular … In China and Japan, where the Judeo-Christian and Islamic idea of religion has never been accepted, secularism is practically meaningless.’ Second, as author Roland Kelts points out concerning Japanese culture both today and in history:

  You only have to look to the Japanese language for insight. Common words such as ganbaru (to slog on tenaciously through tough times), gaman (enduring with patience, dignity and respect) and jishuku (restraining yourself according to other’s needs) convey a culture rooted in pragmatism and perseverance. (New Statesman, March 2015)

  Chinese Connections

  A question that is almost impossible to answer is, ‘Just what is Japanese?’ Japan and things Japanese are familiar to us all, but in truth those Japanese elements are in many cases imported. India, China and Korea have all had some influence on Japan in the past, and much of Japanese culture found its way to the islands through Chinese connections. This means that when studying Japanese systems and ways you can almost always see some hint of China in the shadow, some echo of the Asian mainland. With this in mind, do not become confused when China keeps popping up like a dragon from the ocean, and understand that many of the elements in this book can also be found in Chinese folklore.

  1

  BEASTS, ANIMALS AND CREATURES

  The line between that which is supernatural and that which is imbued with supernatural powers is thin in Japan, but it can still be drawn. This first chapter will take you into the wilderness and investigate the native creatures of Japan and the hellish reputation they have for supernatural powers and acts of mischief.

  Foxes, Raccoons, Badgers and Dogs

  Racoons and foxes are considered to have magical powers in Japan. It is considered in ancient folklore that these creatures can morph into human shape or hide as objects, goblins or other animals and that when they reach 1,000 years old they turn gold or white and sport nine tails. An ancient Japanese saying tells us of the powers of transmutation that these creatures had:

  狐の七化け狸の八化け

  (Foxes can mutate in seven ways, while raccoons can mutate in eight)

  Foxes were so powerful in the Japanese imagination that it is believed one ruler of Japan, Lord Hideyoshi, wrote a letter to the god of foxes asking the fox-king to stop one of his servants from possessing one of Hideoyshi’s servants and respectfully warning that if the god of foxes did not cooperate then Hideyoshi would kill every fox in the land.

  These creatures are also seen as tricky spirits who can possess you. Some Japanese witches (for want of a better term) would try to gain control over a fox to attach themselves to it, using it as a familiar. To gain a firm hold over a fox-spirit you should do the following:

  1. Find a pregnant vixen.

  2. Tame the vixen.

  3. Once tame, help her as she gives birth to the fox cubs.

  4. The vixen will then ask you to name one of her cubs.

  5. Once named, the cub is bound to you and will carry out your demands as a familiar.

  Possession by fox is called kitsune-tsuki, while possession by dog is called inu-tsuki or inu-gami-mouchi. In the Oki Islands, dog possession was more common than fox possession. This was once a very real issue to the Japanese, and those accused of possession by a dog or fox in Japan could be exiled from their villages and their families could be ruined. Foxes that possess a woman curse the family, for once a family had a fox reputation then its members were not allowed to marry into other families that did not have the same affliction. There appears to have been genuine persecution of those thought to be the victim of fox possession. It was also known as ‘fox-ownership’, and there was a set of regulations controlling the interaction of families who had such fox-ownership.

  A trick for avoiding demon foxes: if you are walking down a road at night and there is a ‘man’ sitting on the corner with a long snout, with a scarf over his head who may be dressed as a priest and is beating out a rhythm on his belly or scrotum – but yet appears to not be in pain – do not approach him because he is a fox or racoon spirit. There is even a ‘dance of the fox’, called kistune odori.

  It is said that the spirit of a fox could pass on from female to female in each human generation, and these females came to be known as witches and their families were harassed. As late as 1922 there were reports of Japanese witches (including males) using the spirits of foxes to possess people to do them harm or even to kill.

  One story of a badger: a badger of ill intent stole the food of a man who, upon seeing that it had been stolen by the creature, captured the badger and tied it up to his roof beams. While the wife was preparing food and the man was out in the woods, the badger took the voice of a human and spoke to the woman, saying that he would make amends by helping her to prepare the food. Untying the creature was her last mistake; it killed her and took over the food preparation, chopping her into the meal. The badger now transformed itself into the image of the wife, and when the man returned home the ‘wife’ fed him this grisly meal.

  One tale talks of flying dogs: a pupil named Shujushi saw two dogs magically leap over a great ravine and so went to find his master, Genshin. They both crossed to the other side and found a plant there, which they dug up. It had roots shaped like dogs, so the two boiled the roots and made a magic powder out of them that gave them both the power to fly.

  Wolves

  The Tenshin Katori Shinto Ryu sword school of Japan has bushcraft from the fifteenth century that involves wolves: when in the woods and confronted by wolves you should hold a stick above your head, vertical and high. A wolf will not attack anything that it cannot jump over, thus hold the stick high and the wolf will not attack.

  A story that has been passed down describes wolves who once put out a fire that woodsmen left alight within the forest. The wolf pack ran down to the river, submerged themselves and then went back to the fire and dowsed the flames.

  Hares

  The hare (remember it is not a rabbit) is associated with the moon in Japan, and it is said that they can live for an extremely long time. Between the ages of 500 and 1,000, a hare will turn pure white. Hares are generally good creatures, and one even helped to kill the evil badger in the story above; he did this by disguising himself and tricking the creature who had just fed the man his own wife. The hare is known to live on the moon, pounding away on a pestle and mortar, making the elixir of life. The hare is also a main character in the stories of the White Hare of Inaba and Kadzutoyo and the Badger.

  Cats

  It is s
aid that when Buddha died only the venomous serpent and the cat did not weep, and therefore the cat was once seen as malignant. A cat is said to be full of witchcraft and capable of changing into a woman, be it an old crone or a seductive singing girl who will put you under a spell. On the other hand, Japanese sailors prize cats for their ability to keep the spirits of the deep at bay; a cat of three colours is deemed best. A sailor feels that anyone who has drowned at sea is restless, and the white crests of waves on the shore are the hands of the dead, clawing up the beach; the cat is thought to control them.

  The ‘vampire cat’ is one such story about the evil will of the feline. Once there was a prince of Hizen who had a lover called O-toyo, whom he adored. One night O-toyo awoke to a giant cat in her room, which seized her and strangled her. It then hid the body and transformed into the guise of O-toyo herself. The prince, not seeing through the disguise, loved her as much as ever. However, little by little his health began to fail and eventually his officers saw the need for vigilance.

  Some 100 faithful samurai were stationed in his room to guard over him at night, but each night they all fell asleep and his state worsened. Night after night they could not remain awake, and no one knew the reason why. Ruiten, a priest, was called but again to no avail. One night, while the priest was getting ready for the night vigil, he saw a samurai washing himself and praying to Buddha. This samurai was Ito Soda, and he was too low in rank to talk directly to the lord but wished to serve as best he could. The next day it was decided that the young Ito Soda could remain with the lord and his 100 samurai at arms. Sleep came over the company, but Ito Soda had placed oiled paper down on the floor and stabbed himself in the leg whenever he felt sleep coming, twisting the knife to keep him awake. After a while the door opened, and in came the cat disguised as O-toyo. She smiled to see everyone asleep, but spotted the conscious Ito Soda and faked concern for the prince. The next morning the lord felt revived, and the next night the same happened again. Ito Soda could fight the magic of the cat. He told people of his experience, and they believed him as the prince was acquiring power and health again. So, under the pretext of being a messenger, he knocked on the fake O-toyo’s door and she answered. The samurai said to her, ‘Read the message.’ As she did so he lunged with his dagger, but she fended him off and reached for a halberd and met him in combat. The woman-cat, being outmatched by the samurai and the eight knights waiting for her outside, turned back into a cat and escaped. She ran into the mountains, where the prince led a hunting party and killed her.