Suddenly, the sun went down and the roadway became dark. This seemed strange because it was too early for the sun to go down. Yukichi felt that he had to be careful lest something terrible might happen. He sat down in the grass beside the road and rested. Just then a person came by and said to him, “What are you doing? Were you tricked by a fox? Why don’t you come with me?” Thinking it was okay, he went with the stranger. Suddenly his entire body felt strangely cold. He looked around and realized that somehow he was in a river soaked to the skin. In addition, there was horse manure on his chest. The stranger was nowhere to be seen. (234-203)
The following story appeared in the Iwate Prefecture Mainichi newspaper of November 13, 1921. Past the hamlet of Wainai and beyond Oguni, there is a natural hot mineral water spring maintained by a sixty-seven-year-old man named Ishidate Chukichi. It was on the night of the seventh day of the eleventh month, according to the newspaper, when someone knocked on Chukichi’s house door. He got up to see who it was.
There were six large men holding hunting rifles with the barrels aimed at him. They demanded three hundred yen and threatened to kill him if he didn’t pay it. Terrified, he pulled out his purse, which had a little more than thirty-five yen in it, but the men said, “It is not enough. Give us three hundred yen or we will shoot you.” The six men were about to pull the triggers on their guns when, as if in a dream, he dashed off to Wainai, screaming, “Murderers! Murderers!” Thinking this was terrible, the villagers, including the police, firemen, and youth groups, gathered together and rushed off to see what was going on. The six robbers were gone, and, strangely, the purse the old man had offered earlier was left on the floor. Thinking this unusual, they looked around his small house. Fish and rice had been eaten or scattered about. And there were fox paw prints all around.
The villagers concluded that old Chukichi had been bewitched by foxes, and they went off laughing. Evidently, four or five days earlier, the old man had smoked out a fox den by burning some pine needles. He caught one fox and sold it for its fur. It was reported that the villagers discussed this and concluded that the foxes must have been taking revenge on the old man for what he did. (235-204)
Masakichi was young and lived in Otomo village. On the third day of the first month, it became dark when he was on the way home from the Shibahashi house in Otomo. A woman appeared walking ahead of him, rocking a baby on her back. The baby cried from time to time. At first, he thought it might have been a woman he had known earlier, but he felt it odd that even though she was carrying a baby on her back, no matter how fast he went to catch her, he couldn’t. And just when he thought he had caught up with her, she left the road and glided easily across the rice fields with the child still crying.
Because there was no path and she was going over snow, he thought she must be an okon (a fox that had transformed into a woman). When he got to his hamlet and was about to enter his home, the same woman entered the house ahead of him. There were a number of young people gathered in the house enjoying themselves.
Masakichi ran inside abruptly and asked, “Did a woman just come in?” They all laughed and said he had been bewitched by a fox. Just to be on the safe side, they opened the door and took a look. Exactly as Masakichi had thought, a fox was sitting quietly in front of the outside bathing area, gazing provokingly toward the house. He grabbed his hunting rifle, loaded the musket ball, and lit the match cord, but the flame kept going out and he couldn’t ignite the gunpowder. Then he had the idea to have a friend hold the rifle aimed at the fox while he went around to the stable door with another rifle. He had a shot at the fox from the side and killed it. It was a really huge fox. It is said that in the evening they enjoyed fox stew. The old man knew many other fox stories, like the one about when he was tricked by a fox in Otomo and threw away three salted salmon. Generally, the same kind of stories can be found in other regions. (236-206)
An old hunter from Kanezawa village was hunting on Mt. Shiromi and it became dark. He decided to head home and, as he passed a pond, suddenly three flickering candles appeared ahead of him. He stopped and looked, and the three candles seemed to gradually merge into one. As the flame burned brighter, the face of a woman with wild hair was visible. She laughed in an eerie and uncanny way.
The hunter is said to have regained consciousness late at night. This was probably the doings of a fox or badger. It happened in the autumn of 1913. This story was told by a local Kobayashi district police chief, who had heard the story in Kanezawa village. This is like the story “Mujina” in Lafcadio Hearn’s Kwaidan. (237-115)
There were events like the following during the Meiji era (1868–1912). The daughter of the Hakoishi family married into another family and died after giving birth to a child. Feeling sorry for the baby, the Hakoishi family brought it to their home to raise it. One night as usual, the grandfather fell asleep holding the baby. When he woke up in the morning, he looked around sensing something missing and found the child dead in the corner of the room.
Looking carefully, he realized it had been chewed to death by the “tiger-striped cat” kept in the house. They thought they would take the cat to the police to have them dispose of it, but it had already run off. Later, some people said they saw the cat on Mt. Atago, but it didn’t show itself a second time. (238-175)
It is said that the lord of the Cat River (Nekogawa) in Aozasa village is a cat. When the river floods, it rises above the river bank and does considerable damage. It is said that cats have always liked things that rise up high. (239-176)
One winter night, the warrior-retainer Korekawa Uhei of Tono took his child to see an outdoor play near the fire tower. His wife was at home alone taking care of the house and sewing beside the hearth when the “tiger-striped cat” beside her suddenly spoke with a human voice, saying, “You must be bored? I will recite the ballad drama (jorui) that your husband and others are listening to.” The cat spoke clearly and cautioned her not to tell anyone about what had just happened.
When her husband came home, the cat appeared to doze off as if nothing had happened. The chief priest of Jojuin Buddhist temple often played the board strategy game called “go” with Korekawa. Once, when they were talking together at Korekawa’s home, the priest saw the “tiger-striped cat” dozing off beside the master. He said, “Oh, it’s that cat!”
Recently, on a moonlit night, a fox came into his yard and danced. It said, “If a tiger-striped cat doesn’t come, it is no fun dancing.” With that, a tiger cat with a red towel on its head came, and they danced together. But they couldn’t get into the spirit of things that evening. “Let’s stop,” the fox said and went away.
The two men agreed that it was certainly the same tiger cat. That night, after the high priest left, the wife reportedly told her husband about how the tiger-striped cat recited the ballad drama (jorui) that he had gone to see. The next morning, when his wife didn’t get up as usual, the husband went to look for her. He found his wife dead with her windpipe chewed up. From then, it is said that the tiger cat was gone and never came back. This is a story from some eighty years ago. (240-174)
Mogura-yoke is a spell for chasing off moles (mogura) that dig holes in and damage the rice fields. This involves namako-hiki, which simulates dragging an ocean bottom, marine sea cucumber (namako) around the fields. Moles don’t like the slime and smell of the sea cucumber. In place of the sea cucumber, straw horse boots, which look similar, are dragged around the house and property. While doing this, the farmers chant,
The sea cucumber passes by.
The mole goes elsewhere! (241-283)
I think this took place at Myojin Pond on the Kozuchi River. In this area, every night a large cow comes out and compulsively eats the valuable barley in the fields. The owner of the fields went after it, firing his rifle over and over. The cow plunged into the river pond with a splash and disappeared. Cows are related to water deities. (242-177)
There is a shrine at Otomo Pa
ss on the way from Ayaori to Otomo. In a swamp in this area, there is a pond that people seldom see. It is said that all kinds of fish from the ocean and rivers live in this pond. If by chance someone should see the pond, it will make them sick and they will die. (243-37)
After dark, old Matsu from the large residence of Nozaki in Tsuchibuchi village was splitting wood in the woodshed. Suddenly, a wild boar (inoshishi) came charging into the shed. He welcomed it, jumped on its back, and straddled it like a horse. He thrust his fingers into the boar’s eyes and scratched them out. He finally killed it. This story is from the late 1880s. (244-215)
Mr. Sasaki’s relative once taught at the Otsuchi town primary school. He liked to hunt and, when he had free time during the hunting season, he would go into the mountains. One time, he set out as usual, but he became discouraged because there was so little game to be seen. Then he heard five or six jaybirds squawking on a tree branch. The jay was good eating, so he shot one. The other jays flew higher up in the tree, making horrible screeching sounds. Then a large number of jays came from the hills and valleys in all directions. They gathered together and dove at him from all sides, trying to scratch him. Since he had come into the mountains alone, he was scared but decided not to be intimidated by the birds. He continued shooting at the flocks of birds until he ran out of bullets. One after another, he shot some thirty to forty birds. But their numbers just increased, and the screeching got louder.
Out of ammunition, he had no alternative but to gather up the birds he had shot and head home. The birds followed him, screeching all the way home. Once he got inside, he had his wife get more ammunition, and he resumed firing at the flocks of jays. The birds he shot were scattered all over the yard and in the surrounding fields. Later, he counted some 160 dead birds. The remaining birds flew around the house until dark. As one might expect, the birds flew off at night. He often said, “A bird’s tenacity is a scary thing.” (245-218)
When Sasaki Kizen was still a very young man, there were two families in his neighborhood who had dogs. One dog was small and weak. The other dog, which was large and strong, belonged to a poor family. In the Kumano Forest, there is a specific place for disposing of dead horses and other animals. Dogs from the village and other animals would go there for food. The small dog was scared of the other animals and didn’t go to the disposal area, but it would howl in envy from under the eaves of its house. The large dog felt sorry for the small dog and would chew off pieces of the dead animals and take them to the small dog. The small dog was appreciative and ate it. Because the family of the large dog was so poor, they never had enough food for their dog, and on most days the dog went hungry. The small dog knew this and would regurgitate some of the food it received each day for the large dog to come and eat. The large dog was appreciative, though anyone seeing this might think it repulsive. The villagers who discussed it found the story touching. (246-216)
There is a deep downstream pond called Gorobei on the Sawahi River in Hashino. Once there was a person in the house in front of the pond who took a horse to the water to cool it down. He left the horse alone briefly while he went home, and a kappa (a mischievous water spirit) tried to pull the horse into the pond by tying the horse’s reins around its waist. But, instead, the horse dragged the kappa back to its stable. In the stable, the kappa had no place to hide except under the horse’s feed bucket. When a servant got ready to feed the horse, he turned over the bucket and discovered the kappa.
The kappa apologized for its misdeeds. It promised to stop its mischief if it were forgiven. It wrote a letter of apology before leaving. It is said the letter of apology is still in the landlord’s house. (247-178)
7
Glimpses of Modern Monsters
And then there are the more frightening political monsters, the Meiji government officials who see folk practices as superstition and something to be eradicated. By the late 1920s, when this collection of tales was first compiled, Japan was well on its way to becoming an imperialist superpower, and the negative side effects of Japan’s industrialization were beginning to be felt at home. While Yanagita Kunio supported Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), by the 1930s, he and other folklorists were opposed to the negative impact of the government’s religious and educational reforms. Grassroots opposition to the arrogance of the police and public officials and veiled dissent toward government regulations are prominent in the tales that follow.
Around nine o’clock in the morning on January 24, 1927, an airplane flew over Tono for the first time. The first flight in Japan of the Japanese-made Kaishiki No. 1 airplane was made on May 5, 1911.
The plane, which flew in the clear beautiful sky, came from Mt. Rokkoushi, cut across the sky above Tsuchibuchi village, and flew off toward Mt. Hayachine. Of course, the villagers had never seen an airplane before, and a large number had never even heard one. They were moved by the sound of the propeller echoing in the sky. Mr. Sasaki, who had some previous knowledge of airplanes, ran along the village road, shouting, “An airplane! An airplane!”
Surprised housewives and daughters came out of their homes in large numbers and ran about, saying, “Where is it? Where is it?” Soon, the body of the plane, glittering in the sun, was hidden in the shadows of the mountains and disappeared. The roar of the propellers could still be heard for a while longer. The people seemed stunned and said nothing. On the fifth day of the eighth month in the same year, a plane flew low along the Kogarase River. This time, because of a rainstorm, most people didn’t see it. (248-236)
This took place in the 1870s. A rumor spread from village to village that the “fat collector” (abura-tori) was coming. There was considerable change and uncertainty in Japan in the 1870s, especially surrounding the new Conscription Law (1873). Riots were taking place across the country in opposition to new Meiji government policies. Stories of abura-tori were often mixed with rumors about collecting a “blood tax,” the blood to be provided for soldiers or for sale abroad. Kakushi-gami (yokai, or monsters in hiding) were also rumored to be kidnapping children.
It was said that the village officials had issued a decree that women and children should not be outside after dark. Rumors were rampant that it seemed that every day someone’s daughter went out to play and was kidnapped or children disappeared.
Just at that time, the remains of a small hut being built on a dry riverbed were found, along with some skewers used for grilling. It is said people were very frightened and thought that the “fat collector” got fat out of the children by poking them with the skewers. It was said that “fat collectors” wore blue coveralls and blue coverings on the back of their hands. Rumor has it that if a fat collector appears, war will break out.
This story was told by the famous Tono storyteller Haneishi Tanie (1858–1937), and similar stories have been heard in the ocean coastal areas. Old Jisaburo, Tanie’s husband, was raised in the area of Otsuchi Port as a child, and it is said that he was frightened by these rumors as well. (249-234)
Kasegi-dori was a common January activity, but because of new Meiji government police interference, it doesn’t occur as often as it used to. Stopping this was one way for the Meiji authorities to weaken rural autonomy and independent village organizations. Kasegi-dori means “imitating hens” or perhaps “wearing a bamboo leaf hat,” and it involves the young men of a village dressing up and going around to other villages to receive favors or money.
According to village regulations (mura-ginmi), each house provides a young person to participate in a group made up of twenty or thirty youngsters. They wear white bamboo grass hats that hide their faces, wear straw raincoats, and carry sticks with straw tied to the end. The village groups do not go into their own hamlet but go into other ones. Each village also prepares a defensive group to fight off the other groups.
The kasegi-dori first push their way into the representative wealthy peasant houses in neighboring villages. There, they bend over
under the eaves of the house, imitating hens, and make bird sounds. They throw a wooden weight measure box into the house. It is the rule that the house fills the box with rice cakes and uses a hatchet to cut off a piece of the box before returning it. Before the measuring box is returned, the young men of the village under attack pour tubs of water over the heads of the attackers to try and prevent them from getting the rice cakes. Then the fighting between the two groups begins. If one kasegi-dori group meets another group along the road between villages, both sides imitate hens and then fight. The winner takes all the rice cakes that the losers had. (250-287)
It is said there were many touching stories floating around during the 1850s and 1860s (the years leading up to the Meiji Restoration in 1868). This was when the ruling Tokugawa government was under attack from rebellious provincial powers. In Iwate Prefecture, the Tono Nambu military and the larger Morioka domain soldiers fought on the losing (Tokugawa) side in the 1868 Meiji Restoration battles. There were stories of family members of a ruling Tokugawa lord scattering in all directions after the imperial forces captured their castle.
One day, a beautiful princess and her attendants, probably fleeing a castle under attack, lost their way in a village. The princess was a little younger than twenty and was more beautiful than anyone had ever seen in pictures. She was riding in a palanquin followed by an older woman attendant, also in a palanquin. They were accompanied by six soldier warriors, four young servants, a doctor, and a Buddhist priest. Young villagers joined in to carry the palanquin.
Folk Legends From Tono: Japan's Spirits, Deities, and Phantastic Creatures Page 13