Iriomote Oyamaneko – The Iriomote Great Mountain Cat
22 May 2012 4 Comments
in From Mizuki Shigeru, Magical Animal Stories, Yōkai Stories Tags: From Mizuki Shigeru, mysterious animals
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara
Iriomote Island in the Okinawa island chain is sometimes called the Galapagos Island of the East. When the Iriomote yamaneko (Iriomote mountain cat; 西表山猫) was discovered, it came as no surprise to the inhabitants. In fact, the islanders insisted there were two distinct species of feline predators on the island, the house pet-sized yamaneko and a great cat the size of a panther. Biologists deny the existence of any “great mountain cat,” even though islanders have several names for the beast.
Yamamaya is the local name for the discovered Iriomote yamaneko, “maya” being the word for cat in the Iriomote dialect. His larger cousin is alternatively called the yamapikaryā (meaning “the glittering thing on the mountain”), the mēpisukaryā, or the pingimaya. The names mēpisukaryā and pingimaya mean “shinning eyes.” All of the terms come from the beasts’ mysterious eyes that glow in the dark of the forest.
The Iriomote Yamaneko was discovered in 1965 by Ryukyu University professor Takara Tetsuo. Before the official discovery, the island was investigated by animal-author Togawa Yukio who claimed that there was good evidence for the existence of the yamapikaryā as well. He estimated that the population was even smaller than the elusive yamamaya, which numbers about 250 cats. Although evidence of the yamapikaryā has never been found, Iriomote islanders can tell terrifying stories of walking through the dense mountain forests and finding themselves under the gaze of a pair of lamp-like eyes staring out from the dark.
Hearing that, I think the great mountain cats still exist today.
Translator’s Note:
I found this oddity while flipping through my Mizuki Shigeru books looking for cat yokai that would fit with my current theme. The Iriomote yamaneko is an actual animal, a rare endemic cat species discovered as stated in 1965 by Takara Tetsuo.
I think this is an interesting Shigeru entry because it shows just how wide is Shigeru’s definition of the word “yokai.” In English, the “great mountain cat” is what we would categorize as a cryptid, along the same lines as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and other “great cat” legends such as England’s Beast of Exmoor. To Shigeru, however, these are all yokai.
Japan has a few legends of big cats. The original stories of the neko-mata was of a great beast like a tiger, and not the split-tailed cat we know today. It is unknown if these accounts were based on an actual creature; there is fossil evidence of a small prehistoric Japanese tiger, which could be a factual basis of the yamapikaryā.
Further reading:
Read more yokai magical animal tales on hyakumonogatari.com:
Kasha – The Corpse-Eating Cat Demon
Nekomata – The Split-Tailed Cat
The Tanuki and the White Snake
The Appearance of the Spirit Turtle
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Kasha – The Corpse-Eating Cat Demon
09 May 2012 10 Comments
in Death Customs, Magical Animal Stories, Yōkai Stories Tags: mysterious animals, Yōkai Stories
Sourced and translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Hyakumonogatari, Kaii Yokai Densho Database, Japanese Wikipedia, Yokai Jiten, Nihon Kokugo Dai-ten, and Other Sources
If you have been a bad person all your life, your troubles are not over when you are dead. During your funeral procession, as the priest and the mourners carry your coffin there is suddenly a crack of thunder and roaring from the sky to steal your dead body and drag it to hell comes … what? A flaming chariot? A cat demon? A cat demon riding a flaming chariot?
Or maybe you have just died at home, and your once beloved house pet thinks that your sin-ridden body would make a delicious snack.
Kasha are one of the most confused of Japan’s yokai. Over the centuries kasha have evolved from a fiery cart pulled by devils to an aged cat that changes form into a corpse-eating monster. Even the calling them yokai is dubious. Although yokai can be a catch-all term for Japan’s monsters, the kasha are more properly demons. They have more in common with Hell-dwellers like oni, and are found on Kamakura period Hell Portraits designed to terrify people into following the righteous path of the Buddha.
What does Kasha mean?
Kasha uses the kanji火車 which translates easily as Fire (火) chariot (車). The kanji can also be read more explicitly as hi no kuruma (火の車 ) meaning the same thing.
That’s the easy part. Now what is a kasha? That’s the hard part.
Kasha – The Fire Chariot
During the Kamakura period (1185–1333), there was an apocalyptic belief in mappō, meaning the Latter of the Days of Law. Like some Christians today, Buddhist believed they were living in End Times and had no more life times in which to which to redeem their souls; they were stuck between Hell and redemption by the Amida Buddha. This lead to a form of art called Hell Scrolls (地獄草紙; Jigoku Zoshi), which depicted the painful suffering awaiting those who didn’t hurry up and get saved.
Most of these paintings depicted oni tearing people apart and feasting on their body parts. And sometimes these oni carried these poor bodies in flaming carts. The belief eventually developed that oni crawled the Earth looking for sinners and piled them in flaming carts or chariots to drag before the dread judge of Hell Emma-O.
As with much Japanese folklore, the image of the flaming chariot took a nap while Japan fought the massive civil war known as the Sengoku era, and was re-awakened during the Edo period yokai boom. Stories began to appear in kaidan-shu collections of the kasha, or hi no kuruma, a flaming cart that descended from the sky. The cart was said to be accompanied by thunder and great winds, and a funeral procession where thunder was heard raised an alarm that the kasha was coming.
The role of the kasha was undecided early on. In the early Edo period book Kiizoda-shu (奇異雑談集; 1687; A Collection of the Idle Chat of Mysterious Things) there is a story called “The Thing that came from the storm clouds to steal a corpse in the Manor House near the rice fields of Echigo.” During a funeral procession there was a loud clap of thunder and a beast riding a flaming cart came down from the sky and snatched the dead body. An illustrator depicted the kasha as being ridden by Raidin, the Shinto deity of thunder and lighting.
Another story, from Shin Chobun-shu (新著聞集, 1749, New Tales of Things Known the World Over) called “Saint Neyo and a visit from the Kasha,” had the Buddhist saint Neyo come out to meet the flaming chariot. But instead of a messenger from Hell, it was an ambassador from the Jyodo Pure Lands. The saint begged the kasha for a little bit more time on Earth, and the cart came back exactly a year later to take him to the Pure Lands.
All of the appearances of this kasha were heavily influenced by Buddhism. Most of the stories follow the same theme; a flaming cart that snatches up the bodies of those who have accumulated a lifetime of misdeeds. To protect these bodies from kasha, priests placed rosaries around the necks of the dead bodies, although that was no guarantee. Some said that the kasha was either a messenger of the divine or the infernal depending on the karmic state of the dead body.
Kasha – The Corpse-Eating Cat Demon
So how did this flaming cart from the sky become a cat?
Like much with yokai, the origin of the cat-like form of kasha is said to come from artist Toriyama Sekien. When Sekien drew a kasha for the second volume of his Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (画図百鬼夜行; “The Illustrated Night Parade of a Hundred Demons) in 1776, he drew the bizarre cat-demon covered in flames. Like his spiritual successor Mizuki Shigeru, Sekien often blended his own imagination in with folklore, and simply invented things as well. He didn’t begin to add notes to his yokai prints until the successive volumes, so we don’t know why he chose to make the kasha a cat.
For whatever reason, Sekien’s influence on yokai was so profound that people accepted the cat-like kasha and the stories began to follow. In Boso manroku(茅窓漫録; Random Talk of Outside Cogon Grass, 1833) a typical story was told of a funeral procession interrupted by a mighty wind and thunder that swept away the coffin as a kasha came down to retrieve the corpse. This kasha was not the flaming chariot however, and was identified as a moryo, an flesh –eating animal spirit, and was drawn resembling a cat—some also point out the resemblance of the Chinese pronunciation of moryo, kuhasha, as being related to the association of cats with kasha.
In another book, Hokuetsu Seppu ( 北越雪譜; Snow Country Tales, 1837), a story is told—said to come from the Tensho era (1573-1592) in Eichigo province (Modern day Nigata prefecture)—where a funeral is interrupted by a gust of wind and a fireball that comes from the sky. Inside the fireball is a massive two-tailed cat (the calling card of the nekomata) that snatches up the coffin. But the priest attending the funeral beat away the kasha with his staff.
Over time, this cat-form of kasha began to dominate, and other Japanese cat legends became associated with kasha. Like the neko mata and the bakeneko, kasha were said to be transformed house pets that lived an unusual span. Others said it was the presences of corpses that cause the transformation. Cats who jumped over coffins were said to be able to wake the dead. A cat left alone too long with an unattended corpse would transform into a kasha and drag the body away. Fear of the kasha became so great that when someone died the household cats were instantly banished, and coffins were even weighed down with rocks to prevent them from being drug away.
This particular element makes logical sense. Cats eating their dead owners is a real thing. The phenomena is called postmortem predation and, while dogs do it too, cats are well known to waste little time making a meal of their former owner. After a day or two alone with a corpse cats will start to chow down. If a person dies alone, and the corpse is undiscovered for weeks, the family pet might make a nice little feast and leave little left to be discovered. Because of this it doesn’t take too much imagination to see how the flaming chariot that comes from the sky to snatch bodies became mixed with the very real situation of a cat eating a corpse.
Other Kasha
Japan has many other yokai similar to kasha, some even using a variation of the name. The kasha baba is one common variation, which has the same story of someone who snatches corpses from funerals but instead of a cat-like creature it is an old woman. In Kanra-machi in Gunma prefecture there was the legend of the tenmaru that snatched corpses from funerals and graveyards. To protect the dead bodies, caskets were protected by bamboo cages as part of the burial.
Read more yokai magical animal tales on hyakumonogatari.com:
Nekomata – The Split-Tailed Cat
The Tanuki and the White Snake
The Appearance of the Spirit Turtle
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Nekomata – The Split-Tailed Cat
21 Apr 2012 13 Comments
in Magical Animal Stories, Uncategorized, Yōkai Stories Tags: mysterious animals, Yōkai Stories
Translated and sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujara, Yokai Jiten, Japanese Wikipedia, and other sources
Beware of keeping your sweet and patient house cat for too long. According to Japanese folklore, once that venerable pussy reaches an ancient enough age, its tail will split into two and it will begin to walk on its hind legs. Only then will your cat begins its second life as a nekomata, a cat-like yokai with a split-tail.
What does Nekomata Mean?
Nekomata is not an easy word to translate. Most translations for names of yokai depend on the kanji, and nekomata can be written in three different ways. Note that all three are pronounced the exact same way. The most ancient form was 猫また, which uses the kanji for cat 猫(neko), with the remainder written in hiragana. Words written in hiragana have no inherent meaning and often the definition can only be guessed at.
A later variation wrote nekomata as 猫股 which again uses the kanjI 猫(neko) for cat, but then uses 股 (mata) meaning “forked.” The meaning of this is straight forward, and translates as the descriptive “forked cat.”
But the most common variation is the most confusing. Nekomata is most commonly written as 猫又, which combines 猫(neko) with又(mata) meaning “again. This version directly translates as “the again cat,” but the reason for this is disputed. Some say it stands for the split of the tails, with “mata” being a numerical counter for tails, while some say it refers to the second life of a cat as a nekomata, thus the term “again cat.”
However, both of these kanji are most likely later additions trying to add explanations to a pre-existing word, what in English would be called a folk etymology. In its original form, with “mata” written in hiragana, is thought to relate somehow to the image of the nekomata living in the forest like a monkey, leaping from tree to tree. All of these explanations are, however, pure speculation. Nobody really knows what nekomata means.
The Kamakura Period – The Nekomata of the Mountains
Most Japanese yokai were born during the Edo period, but the nekomata has more ancient roots. Mention of the nekomata first appeared during the Kamakura period (1185-1333), where it was mentioned in the literary jottings of Yoshida Kenko in his scroll Tsurezure-gusa (徒然草; The Harvest of Leisure, also known as Essays in Idleness). Yoshida wrote “Deep in the mountains there is a creature called the nekomata. It is said that it feeds on humans.” At around the same period, Fujiwara Sadaie recorded in the scroll Meigetsuki (明月記; The Record of the Clear Moon, sometimes called Diary of the Clear Moon) that on August 8th in the first year of Tenpuku (1233) in Nanto (modern day Nara prefecture) a nekomata from the mountains killed and ate several people.
These are typical of Kamakura period accounts of nekomata. Far from the bizarre split-tailed cat of modern accounts, the ancient nekomata was a feared beast of the mountains rumored to attack, kill, and eat humans who wandered too deep into the mountain recesses. A physical description is given in the Meigestu-gi saying a nekomata has “eyes like a cat and a body the size of a great dog.”
There was nothing supernatural about these accounts of the nekomata during the Kamakura period, and it was treated like any other mountain predator. It is unknown if these accounts were based on an actual creature; there is fossil evidence of a small prehistoric Japanese tiger, and tigers were often imported from China and one could have gotten lose and made its way into the forest. Suggestions have even been made that ancient nekomata legends are based on a rabies-infected animal explaining its tendency to stalk and attack humans. But again, this is pure speculation.
The Early Edo Period – The Supernatural Nekomata
Like any good folk legend, the stories of nekomata began to change in the telling, and with each passing year nekomata increased in size. In 1685, in the book Shincho Monjyu (新著聞集; A Literary Collection of New Hearings) described the nekomata as being as larger than a wild boar. In 1775 the book Waku-shiori (倭訓栞; A Bookmark of Chinese Characters) described the nekomata to be as large as a lion or a panther, with a cry that resounded through the mountains. By 1809, in the book 寓意草 the nekomata was described as being over six feet long and large enough to carry a dog in its mouth.
The Middle Edo Period – The Nekomata Comes Indoors
The real transformation in the legends of the nekomata came during the mid-Edo period. While the mountains were still considered the abode of the great beasts, a belief arose that nekomata evolved from regular house cats that had lived a very long time. When cats grew old enough they changed into a new form and left they households to begin their new existence as nekomata in the mountains.Because of this, it was considered dangerous to keep a cat for too long in your house.
The belief was expounded on by Yusoku Kojitsu and Ise Fudatake, who wrote in their respective books Ansei Zuihitsu (安斎随筆; The Literary Jottings of Ansei) and Kazusai no Neko (数歳; Cats of Various Ages) that the tail of these old cats would split into two tails at the time of transformation. The scholar Arai Hakuseki further popularized this new belief in his essays on the mysteries of cats that were printed in widely-circulated newspapers.
One of the most famous accounts of nekomata is the 1708 Yamato Kaiiki (大和怪異記; Mysterious Stories from Japan) story The Nekomata Fire (猫股の火) which tells the tale of a samurai whose house is taken over by a poltergeist-like haunting that is only ended when the family cat is killed and revealed to have two tails. This story was later adapted by Mizuki Shigeru for his comic Nekomata.
This version of the nekomata has completely taken over the Kamakura period beliefs, and it is almost impossible to find a modern depiction of nekomata that does not show the split-tailed monster.
Nekomata Art
During the Edo period, illustrated reference books called zukan were published, including the popular kaidan emaki—illustrated kaidan manuals. Nekomata regularly appeared in these manuals.
Possibly the most famous picture of a nekomata comes from the book Hyakki Zukan (百怪図巻; An Illustrated Manual of One Hundred Weird Tales) by Sawagi Sushi. Sawagi drew an unconventional and ironic picture of a nekomata looking like a young woman playing the shamisen. At the time, shamisen were made from the stretched skin of female cats, and the cat looks to be singing a melancholy song while playing an instrument possibly made from a relative. Because the nekomata is dressed in the garb of a geisha, it is also a possible reference to a geisha whose nickname was “Cat.”
Toriyama sekien’s picture of a nekomata from his Gazu Hyakki Yako (画図百鬼夜行; The Illustrated Night Parade of a Hundred Demons) is also tinged with humor. His illustrations shows three cats, one a nekomata with a split-tale and two regular cats. The nekomata appears to be showing off walking on its hind legs, while the younger cat tries to imitate it can’t, because it isn’t old enough to transform yet.
Like many Japanese folklore creatures, in modern times the nekomata is depicted as cute and is far removed from the ferocious, man-eating beast of the Kamakura period. Probably the most famous modern nekomata is the character Kirara from the comic book InuYasha.
Nekomata and Other Supernatural Cats
Japan is full of supernatural cats and cat-lore, of which the nekomata is only one. Because of the glint in a cat’s eyes and their mysterious nature, cats have been thought to be supernatural from ancient times, and able to deliver curses. It was said that to kill a cat would result in seven lifetimes of inauspicious rebirth.
Other cat yokai include the kasha (火車), a type of demon that arouse from a cat owned by someone who died. If people weren’t careful, the cat would transform into a kasha and steal the body away before a funeral could be held. Nekomata are often mistaken for bakeneko(化け猫), another transformed cat, although they are two different creatures.
You can still see the lingering evidence of nekomata beliefs in place names around Japan. In Echu province (modern day Toyama prefecture) there was a mountain that was said to be the site of several nekomata slayings named Nekomata Mountain, and in Aizu provice (modern day Fukushima prefecture) a mountain named Nekomata Peak is has several nekomata legends associated with it.
Translator’s Note:
This was posted by request for reader Aub Driver, who was looking for references for a nekomata tattoo. I found a whole lot of history, but not a whole lot of images. Sorry Aub! Hope the article sparks some inspiration though!
Further Reading:
Read more yokai magical animal tales on hyakumonogatari.com:
The Tanuki and the White Snake
The Appearance of the Spirit Turtle
Like this:
Nure Onago – The Soaked Woman
15 Feb 2012 3 Comments
in From Mizuki Shigeru, Magical Animal Stories, Yōkai Stories Tags: From Mizuki Shigeru, mysterious animals, Ubume, Yōkai Stories
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujara
In Tsushima in Nagasaki prefecture, when the rain falls at night, the bakemono known as the Nure Onago appears. The Nure Onago can appear near any body of water, from a small pond to the ocean. Her entire body is drenched, and she is soaked from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.
The Nure Onago can be found in several parts of Japan. In Nuwa in Ehime prefecture, it is said that you can see her hair stretched out and floating on the surface of the ocean, and it is from there that she appears. In the Uwa district, the Nure Onago doesn’t come from the ocean, but it is said that she appears from a soaking wet mop of hair.
The Nure Onago always has a wicked smile, and laughs hideously. If by chance you hear her and, thinking she is just a regular woman amused at something, should laugh along with her, then she will attack you swiftly and without mercy.
In Kagoshima prefecture, in the cape of Tajiri where the famous festival for the god Ebisu is held, there is a similar yokai. They call her the Iso Onna (Beach Woman), and like the Nure Onago she is soaked head to foot. The Iso Onna appears anywhere there is sand, either on the actual beach or inland if there is sand. The main different between the Nure Onna and the Isa Onna is the lower half of their bodies. The Isa Onna is said to have no lower half, but instead is formed like a snake below the waist. Both the Iso Onna and the Nure Onago are types of the yokai called Nure Onna.
Most depictions of the Nure Onago show her as being nothing different than a regular human woman, dripping wet. The Nure Onago is a relative of the Hari Onna (Needle Woman) from western Japan.
Translator’s Note
Mizuki Shigeru’s depiction of the Nure Onago is quite different than most portrayals. Mizuki’s description is more in tune with the name Nure Onna 濡女子 which means literally “Wet Woman-child” or “Soaked Woman-child.” The related Nure Onna is traditionally drawn as a snake with the head of a woman. She is also sometimes described as carrying a small child (odd considering the lack of arms) which then turns out to be a bundle of leaves. This story is taken directly from the Ubume legends.
Further Reading:
Read more yokai tales on hyakumonogatari.com
Inen – The Possessing Japanese Ghost
Enju no Jashin – The Evil God in the Pagoda Tree
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The Appearance of the Spirit Turtle
01 Sep 2011 8 Comments
in Magical Animal Stories Tags: mysterious animals
Translated from Edo Tokyo Kaii Hyakumonogatari
In the 2nd year of Koka (1845), there was a turtle who was worshiped in Lake Shinobazu, in Ueno. This turtle was different from normal turtles. Its shell was white, and had faint markings on it that could be read as kanji characters. Its neck, legs, and arms were unusually thick. The turtle was originally from the great lake of Nagai in Settsu, and had been brought to Lake Shinobazu by virtuous local men who had purchased the turtle in Osaka then brought it home and dedicated it to the goddess Benzaten.
White turtles have a history of sacredness. There is a legend from India of a one-eyed white turtle who listened intently to the sermons of the Buddha Shakuson. China speaks of a white turtle who descended from Heaven and brought with it peace and tranquility. And in Japan the white turtle is revered as a symbol of peace. The appearance of a white turtle is thought necessary to ensure a peaceful Imperial reign.
To see a white turtle was said to result in an unending spring of good fortune. A long life for you, prosperity for your descendents, and freedom from illness were all said to be blessings conferred by the white turtle. There are many other legends where turtles appear as omens or signs.
In the 16th year of Meiji (1883), May 10th , the Iroha newspaper published the story of a “straw-raincoat wearing turtle.” Whether it was called a straw-raincoat wearing turtle, or a spirit turtle, or even a God turtle, the appearance of an unusual turtle was an auspicious sign during a change in Imperial eras.
The particular turtle was sighted by Yamada Miyakawa, in Mie prefecture. In that same place the turtle was purchased by the merchant Tahata Shudo, acting under the guarantee of Nakagawa Chubei of Nippon-bashi ward. Nakagawa had previously engaged the sake dealer Yorozuya Taijiro to aquire a turtle, and Tahata and Yorozuya took 1,000 yen of Nakagawa’s money to go and buy the straw-raincoat wearing turtle and to bring it back with them. They were able to make the purchase, and with the guidance and advice of a local museum, brought back the previous turtle with great care.
Kiyomizu Seifu of the Iroha newspaper saw the straw-raincoat wearing turtle on its trip back to be enshrined, and drew a picture of it. From the area of its shoulders, blue hair streamed like fine silk thread. It looked exactly as if the turtle were wearing a straw-raincoat. The turtle was not much different from normal turtles other than its hair, which needed to be combed every day with great care to prevent tangles and to prevent the hair from pulling out.
Translators Note: The straw-raincoat wearing turtle in this story is called a minogame (蓑亀; 蓑=Straw Raincoat 亀=Turtle) in Japanese. Minogame are an actual phenomenom, where pond plants root and grow on the back of turtle shells.
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