The traditional Japanese nightmare-devouring
baku originates in
Chinese folklore from the
mo (
giant panda) and was familiar in Japan as early as the
Muromachi period (14th–15th century). Hori Tadao has described the dream-eating abilities attributed to the traditional
baku and relates them to other preventatives against nightmare such as
amulets.
Kaii-Yōkai Denshō Database, citing a 1957 paper, and Mizuki also describe the dream-devouring capacities of the traditional
baku. Before its adaptation to the Japanese dream-caretaker myth creature, an early 17th-century Japanese manuscript, the
Sankai Ibutsu (), describes the
baku as a shy, Chinese mythical
chimera with the trunk and tusks of an
elephant, the ears of a
rhinoceros, the tail of a
cow, the body of a
bear and the paws of a
tiger, which protected against pestilence and evil, although eating nightmares was not included among its abilities. The elephant's head, trunk, and tusks are characteristic of
baku portrayed in classical era (pre-
Meiji) Japanese wood-block prints (see illustration) and in shrine, temple, and
netsuke carvings. Writing in the
Meiji period,
Lafcadio Hearn (1902) described a
baku with very similar attributes that was also able to devour nightmares. Legend has it that a person who wakes up from a bad dream can call out to
baku. A child having a nightmare in Japan will wake up and repeat three times, "Baku-san, come eat my dream." Legends say that the
baku will come into the child's room and devour the bad dream, allowing the child to go back to sleep peacefully. However, calling to the
baku must be done sparingly, because if he remains hungry after eating one's nightmare, he may also devour their hopes and desires as well, leaving them to live an empty life. The
baku can also be summoned for protection from bad dreams prior to falling asleep at night. In the 1910s, it was common for Japanese children to keep a
baku talisman at their bedside. ==Gallery==