Kappa (folklore)

of a kappa'' The name kappa is a contraction of the compound from kawa "river" and "child, boy", Among older literature, the (1775) lists several local names such as '''''' in Etchū Province (Toyama Prefecture). Ono Ranzan's Honzōkōmoku keimō (1803) also listed about 20 local names. Alternate names close to the standard include: Some regions employ the term ' with widespread examples from Tōhoku region to Kyūshū. In the local water deity worship found in Aomori Prefecture, the or "Exalted Water Tiger" is the deified form of the kappa. (Gifu, Hokuriku region); ' Of these, the subtype dochi (Gifu Prefecture, etc.、) was already discussed above. There are also the Wakayama Prefecture version called and the Ibaraki Prefecture version . A is the winter-time transformation of the kappa according to the folklore of Kyūshū, where it is said that the creatures remove themselves into the mountains during the cold climate and returning to the rivers in the spring (Cf. ). The () of the Amami Islands also exhibits this wintering behavior, and in the illustrated commentary of the creature in the , it is equated to the and ("mountain boy"). In Shimominochi District, Nagano, the local version of kappa is called or which is apparently a corruption of ("water deity"). ==Appearance and traits==

'' (c. 1700), Harry F. Bruning Collection of Japanese Books and Manuscripts, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.|alt= '' diver underwater as her companion looks on from above. The currently popularized image of the kappa describes it as roughly humanoid in form and about the size of a child. They are also usually equipped with webbed hands and feet, and bears a turtle-like carapace on their back. Head dish They have an indentation (so-called "dish" or "saucer") atop their head to retain water From around their bald depression, strands of long hair hang down. is one early work that refers to the strategy of upsetting the water in the dish in order to weaken the kappa to facilitate its capture. Sliminess and odor Kappa are said to be slick or slimy, (though possibly scaly) and smell gamy or fishy. Their gaminess is referred to in (pub. 1709), which states that "the gaminess saturates the nose, and trying to stab it with a wakizashi fails to hit, and since the body is covered in slime, it is difficult to capture". But even though sword cuts fail to deliver wounds to it, a sharpened hemp-shaft will penetrate it, according to the dictionary (1778–1887). Joined arms According to some accounts, a ''kappa's'' arms are connected to each other through the torso and can slide from one side to the other. That is to say, if one tugs on one arm, the other arm begins to shrink, and even come loose and fall straight out. It has been conjectured that this is an introduced piece of lore taken from fabulous Chinese descriptions concerning the gibbon. Apish subtypes As aforementioned, the ape-like form has survived in folklore into the modern age in the Chūgoku and Shikoku regions where the enkō nickname has remained current. The enkō-type kappa is based on ape, but endowed with river-dwelling characteristics; this relationship is somewhat analogous to the Kyūshū region lore of the mountain spirit (yamawaro) becoming the river-dwelling kappa, called either or depending on zone (as discussed further under ). ==Behavior==

Kappa are regarded as dwelling in some body of water, a river, pond, swamp, pool, or make apologetic vows of good behavior, submit a letter of apology (written oath or help out with work in the fields Similarly the fish-giving stops after a fish is left on a deer antler hook (kappa also hates antlers) in the example as well as the tale attached to the in the Wakamiya Shrine of Akehama, Ehime (now part of Seiyo city). Already in the Wakan sansai zue (1712) it is stated that kawatarō "steals squashes, eggplants, and cereals from the fields", while the Honzō kōmoku shakugi records its favorite foods as cucumber and (variety of persimmon). A similar observation has been made by Minakata Kumagusu. Legend or folktale exhibiting this motif is ubiquitous and found from the Tōhoku region (Iwashiro Province, Rikuchū Province), Kantō region (Hitachi Province, Musashi Province, Sagami Province), Chūbu region (Echigo Province, Suruga Province, Mikawa Province, Kai Province, Shinano Province, Hida Province, Mino Province, Noto Province）, in Yamashiro Province (Kyoto), Harima Province (Hyōgo Prefecture), Chūbu region (Izumo, Nagato Province), Shikoku (Awa Province, Tosa Province), Hizen Province (Saga and Nagasaki prefectures), etc. As in the Izumo version, many versions call for the kappa to be dragged by the horse to the stable where it is most vulnerable, and it is there it is forced to submit a not to misbehave. Already the Wakan sansai zue (1712) has recorded the folklore that the kawatarō makes use of his stretchable arm to draw in cattle and horses, sucking all blood from the rumps. Weaknesses The kappa reputedly abhors iron and deer antler. Wintering in the mountains In certain parts of the Japan, the appearance of the kappa in rivers is considered seasonal, as they are partly mountain-dwelling. In late autumn or winter, they travel up the mountain and confine themselves there until later spring or early summer when they descend to the rivers. Their river-dwelling forms are referred to as or . The name is used in the Ōita, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, and Nagasaki prefectures, and seko (var. sekoko) supposedly derives from the notion they shout out loud like , or men who make loud noises to scare the game during the hunt. In some parts of Kyūshū the kappa is called , and here also, the creature is said to become a yamawaro upon entering the mountain. Great hordes of these yamawaro are said to come down from the mountains, walking from rooftop to rooftop above the village homes to reach their rivers and become , according to the lore around Kumamoto Prefecture. In Yoshino District, Nara, it is said that the '''''' enters the mountains to become . In Wakayama, they become . ==Iconography==

Broad classification The 1820 work Suiko kōryaku, etc., (explained further below) contain illustrated explanation of kappa broadly categorizable into two types: the types carrying a turtle-like shell which are hairless, and the furry types that are shell-less. The image of the kappa before the 18th century appears to have favored the ape-type (furry, mammalian type), and non-herp types. For instance in the Kagakushū ("Collection of Low/Mundane Studies", prefaced 1444, with later copies), it is claimed that the otter grown old becomes a (kappa), and in the Nippo Jisho (Japanese-Portuguese dictionary by the Jesuits, 1603) the entry for defines it as an ape-like creature. The Wakan sansai zue (1712) carried a woodcut of the depicted as a furry, apelike creature (cf. fig. left). Another prime example of the turtle-froglike kappa is that represented by Toriyama Sekien's Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (An'ei7/1778). Sekien here depicted a scale-covered creature with (stripe) marks, and blobby flaccidity. While in the , the markings using fined dots represents spotted patterns like those of frogs or turtles, according to Hana Ozawa's paper. In the early 19th century, was created by at the behest of the daikan magistrate of the , the task being assigned to a Confucian scholar Hirose Saburōemon The inquiries resulted in 6 eyewitness cases, from Bungo and Chikugo Provinces (with 4 cases involving sumo wrestling challenge). This work's color illustrations did not survive, but are known to have existed, and from copies made, these were all of the hairy ape-type (as explained below). When afterwards ed. appeared, it offered a collection of 12 kappa anecdotes, of which 6 were a rehash from the Hita Domain report, so that the 6 accompanying illustrations have been judged to be facsimile copies of the original color-painted drawings. These 6 are all kappa of the ape-type (covered with fur), with a dish on its head, somewhat like a tonsure, but with untidy strands of hair hanging loose on the side. One kappa figure is shown wearing a sumo wrestler's loincloth (mawashi). On the page opposite to it, there is a detailed drawing of a webbed foot, so that might count as technically as the 7th drawing copied. The other half of the kappa illustrated in Suiko kōryaku are 6 illustrations of the "softshell turtle-type". Another turning point in pictorial representation occurred when naturalist Kurimoto Tanshū (d. 1834) published his depictions of the kappa in his work , which showed the creature with a tapered mouth, probably based on a life drawing from a real softshell turtle. Tanshū also authored the (date unknown, a Tenpō 13/1843 copy is extant). The (cf. Fig. right) also contains softshell turtle-like depictions of kappa as well as some ape-types. This single-sheet work was authored by Kishū Domain physician and naturalist and illustrated by his brother Juntaku, also a physician. Being of later vintage, there are some modifications made with additional material, but this is still considered a derivative work descended from the 12-kappa Suiko kōryaku family of codices. A kappa by Katsushika Hokusai in Hokusai Manga, Volume 3 is posed in a squatting position (cf. Fig. above), depicted with a beak-like mouth and carapace, and may arguably be considered a turtle-type example. There is another depiction of kappa in Hokusai Manga, under Volume 12, which is clearly based on a soft-shell turtle. A disciple named also drew depicting a kappa riding a giant cucumber, and it is of the tapered-mouth type. It wears a mino cape around its waist. . By the mid-19th century, frog-like features started to creep in more on the kappas image. In Utagawa Toyokuni III's , the kappa has the turtle's shell and rather turtle-like sharp claws, but has a mouth-shape and patterning rather like a frog. And in the contemporaneous series by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, , the album on features a kappa without even a turtle-shell, furthering its likeness to a frog (cf. fig. left and fig. above). Then a more "comical and affectionate" image of the kappa was formed by ukiyo-e artists. A prime example of this was a piece by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi called (1881, cf. Fig. right), showing two kappa being farted on by a human, and one kappa turning yellow. Later in the modern age, Nihonga artist (1868-1938) favored the kappa theme and drew many, earning him the moniker . Late in his life he published the collection Kappa hyakuzu (1938), developing a vivacious image of the kappa. The humorous kappa given birth in the Edo Period was carried on by later generations. In the Shōwa era, manga artist serialized Kappa kawatarō which ran in Shōgakusei Asahi magazine, 1951–1952, and that ran in the Shūkan Asahi weekly, 1953–1958, through which a cute and comical image of the kappa penetrated to the masses. At the same time Usen's work is seen to have humanized the image of the kappa, as he drew them engaging in a whole array of human activities. Thus, while the turtle-shell persists, the heavily frog-like form has established itself as the standard kappa image. == Local legends ==

The kappa is among the best-known yōkai in Japan. The tendency to identify the kappa as the principal enshrined being at suijin festivals appears more prevalent in Western Japan, while at the of Nankoku, Kōchi enshrines a kappa by the name of enkō. Kyūshū region In Kyūshū there is a legend concerning , the name of a kappa boss. Kusenbō (whose name means "Nine-thousand fellow") had 9000 underling kappa, and was based in the Kuma and Chikugo River holding dominion over all of Saikaidō (Kyūshū). Legend has it that the warlord Katō Kiyomasa angered by the Kusenbō gang's misdeeds gathered all the apes he could from Kyūshū to help subdue them. Another legend has it that the gang lost the war over the Tone River against the local gang under neneko. For the Kumamoto Prefecture lore about the kappa descending in hordes after winter cf. also above. Fukuoka Prefecture The decisive sea battle in the War between the Genji and Heike was the Battle of Dan-no-ura that took place in the straight between today's Yamaguchi Prefecture and Fukuoka Prefecture. There is legend in Yamaguchi about that the Heike men turned into Heike crabs while the women-folk escaped to Fukuoka. One such legendary escapee is the (the historical ). is the document explaining the origins of , commonly called , explains that the ghosts of the dead and fugitives attached to the losing Heike clan turned into kappa (or kahaku), and the music was devised in order to assuage these hapless spirits.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Within the origin documents are liturgical texts by such titles as while the place of origin of the music was a (fictive) village called in Chikugo. Even though Kappa-gaku is still performed at certain spots within Chikugo (Fukuoka Prefecture), e.g. at the , there are far more places where Kappa-gaku is kept alive in Buzen or Bungo (Eastern Fukuoka and Ōita Prefecture). now held by the As aforementioned, Ōita is more of the epicenter of nowadays, even thought the repertoire is also called as it had originated in Chikugo (Fukuoka Prefecture). Saga Prefecture At in former village, Kishima District (now part of Takeo city), the Shibue clan (branch of Tachibana clan) is enshrined as a kappa-tamer serving the water god. Within its grounds once stood the , commemorating an alleged event that a kappa was caught and bound up by a Shibue family ancestor and made to swear never to take another human until a flower blooms on this very stone. The Shibue clan used to bring bamboo shoots as food gift every May festival (lunar Double Fifth), so it is told, later leading to the custom of (everyone) offering bamboo shoots to the water god. (The Shibue family of shrine-keepers, the kappa, and bamboo shoots also appears in the legends of ). Kumamoto Prefecture The legend of Katō Kiyomasa gathering an army of monkeys to subdue the kappa is localized in Kumamoto. Chūgoku region Shimane Prefecture In Izumo Province, the Yakushi temple pavilion in (now in Yatsuka District, Shimane) boasted of holding in its possession a . The ( "otter") is a local name for the kappa, which the villagers also called in slang , within the narrative that is told. The kawako attempted to draw away a horse, but was dragged towards the village instead and captured. For a while it agreed to help out with work in the fields, but it could not check its old habit of targeting the buttocks, and the villagers had to fend it off with a roof tiles. Eventually, it was made to ink-stamp a written promise to do no more harm, and released. Thus if a child chants "Unshū [Izumo Province] Nishikawachi-mura" this is said to fend against drownings in parts of Izumo. In his Tōno Monogatari, Kunio Yanagita records a number of beliefs from the Tōno area about women being accosted and even impregnated by kappa. Tokyo district in Tokyo The kappa has been venerated at the Sōgen-ji temple at Asakusa, Tokyo since the Bunka era (1804–1818), when the temple's legendary records say the creature helped with the drainage of marshes and land reclamation in the surrounding marshland that was unfit for habitation. The temple also houses a mummified hand of an alleged kappa. The origin tale around Kappabashi also speaks of kappas involvement in the building of the bridge. The historical fact that was the germ behind this legend was that a philanthropist named Kappaya Kihachi () contributed to the water management effort and was interred at the Kappa-dō pavilion of this temple. ==Parallels==

Similar folklore can be found in Asia and Europe. In Chinese and in Scandinavian lore, there is a comparable river monster that, like the kappa, likes to draw horses into water, or demands horse as sacrifice. The Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue quotes Wu Zixu recounting a man named Jiao Qiusu losing his horse to such a river spirit. ==Origins==

An oft-cited hypothesis attributed to Kunio Yanagita is that the kappa is a debased end-product of what used to be a venerated water deity (suijin). Using this hypothesis as a linchpin, Eiichirō Ishida's sought to establish that the kappas horse-tugging nature had its roots in some sort of cattle or horse sacrifice ritual to the water deities. But as attestation of such was wanting in Japan, he expanded his search to the Eurasian continent. Noting that in China there was an ancient practice of submerging cattle or horse as offering to the "Lord of Rivers" (Hebo, ), Ishida conjectured that kappa may be traced back to an importation of lore from China. Regardless of whether the Japanese veneration of the water deity owes its origin to China, there are enshrinements, festivals, or rituals associated with the kappasuijin (water god) in various places in Japan (as discussed below in ) If the primordial kappa was a Shinto deity, it would fit well with the model that the Yama-no-Kami (mountain god) can turn into a river god by shifting his spot of residence, as local kappa (such as hyōsubo) are purported to exhibit this mountain-to-river seasonal migration behavior, as already discussed in . It has also been speculated that the ("man-shape", cutout paper dolls, etc.) employed as yorishiro (medium for spiritual possession) may have influenced the iconography of the kappa. It is also considered possible that kappa may have originated from a or a scarecrow, which squares with the kappas attributed notion that pulling its right arm shrinks its left. And according to the local lore of Tōno, Iwate, the redness of the kappa of this northerly region is ascribable to the creature being a metaphor of economically induced infanticide (, "thinning"). Bowl or hat origins of dish Regarding the head dish, folklorist Shinobu Orikuchi's monograph Kappa no hanashi (1930) delves into the possibility that the kappas head-dish may have its origins in the Ta-no-Kami ("rice paddy deity") wearing a conical kasa type hat. Scholar (1962) (who was mentored by Orikuchi) extrapolated that if the head covering was the god's umbrella-hat, then the kappas shell (carapace) must also represent the otherworldly god's mino-type straw cape. Orikuchi's exposition in attempting to argue this point, which is rather a train of thought, is as follows: He first makes comparison with the kappas head-dish and the folklore about "bowl-lending" (-gashi), where leaving a note at a certain river-pool or mound causes the necessary number of bowls to be produced on a loan, and since the pool or mound in question is often said to be connected to the Ryūgū ("Dragon Palace" of the sea god), this must be water deity related lore. A motif within the bowl-lending is that the correct number must be returned, or the blessing will ceased to be given. Orikuchi relates this to dish-counting in children's songs, and the episode of a woman's voice counting of dishes at the well in the famous Sarayashiki ("Dish mansion") ghost story. Orikuchi relates this well with the tradition of steeping virgins in mud to propitiate a bountiful rice harvest, which some have believed must have once been human sacrifice rituals, but Orikuchi believed rather to have been a ritual of giving away a woman as bride to the water deity, possibly to be some sort of shrine servant. Orikuchi also brings up the example of the Hachikazuki ("Bowl-bearer princess") which is part of the Otogi-zōshi repertoire, opining that such a bowl when expanded into a wider-brimmed hat, can conceivably be like the water deities kasa-hat, or so summarized by Takahashi, as above. Takahashi in another piece of writing (1939) writes that if one were to pose the question 'What is the kappas head-dish?' the answer must lie with the or "Pot-Wearing/Crowning Festival" of Maibara, Shiga, and with the "bowl-lending pool" folklore. Elsewhere, sociologist Muriel Jolivet (2000) has suggested that since the kappa may be connected to population-control infanticide, the water-retaining depression on its head may have been inspired by the soft fontanelle spot on a newborn's head. Wildcat type as migratory legend Kyōgoku and (2000) observes some kappa fall into the wildcat-type category. They note that in the lore of Tsushima Island kappa is known either as ('"river tiger") or which do not have the looks of the local Tsushima leopard cat, but shares the wildcat's behavior. The authors also note that in the Korean language "river tiger" would sound just like (possibly [?], McCune–Reischauer: , ). Conflation with kasha Kyōgoku and Tada's older collaboration (2000) also discusses the "kasha type", where they discuss the possible conflation between the kasha, which was a dead body-snatching cat-type yōkai, and therefore comparable to some types of kappa (which also abducted humans). The comparison is already made by Orikuchi (1930), who cited Minakata Kumagusu's observation even earlier, that Wakayama Prefecture's local alias for kappa, the , probably derives from some sort of association with the kasha yōkai. Suiko as Chinese name During the Edo period in Japan, numerous treatises appeared which referred to the kappa as , a mythical semi-aquatic called by the Chinese in their older natural history literature. Equating these creatures effectively means they are seen as having a common origin, though there have been notable dissenting opinions on this. An early example is the physician 's , which glossed the water-tiger as . Dissident opinion was given in the encyclopedia Wakan sansai zue (pub. 1712) which decided the two creatures were different and discussed the Japanese kawatarō (i.e. kappa) and the Chinese suiko/shuihu as separate entries. However the that appeared only a few years after came to the conclusion that the Chinese suiko and the Japanese kappa were one and the same, even though like the Wakan sansai zue it was built largely on the work of the Chinese pharmacopeia, Bencao gangmu. There is a whole family of illustrated treatise on the kappa that bears the name suiko in their titles, which drew from early versions and built on them. They bear such titles as ,, , and the single-sheet print . Their chronology and content will be discussed below under . In another example, 's , gives the headline as "Talk on the Ōmi Province suiko, Talk on the Hizen Province suiko" but the word suiko is not actually used in the underlying passages. In the Ōmi Province (Lake Biwa) anecdote, the lake monster's name is , and in the Hizen Province episode from Kyūshū, the creature is . Yet another example is the antiquary Yamazaki Yoshishige's As aforementioned, suiko remains in colloquial usage as an alias of kappa in certain areas of the Tōhoku region and Kyūshū (e.g., the of Aomori Prefecture). The kappa has also been equated with another mythical amphibian from Chinese literature, called the , mentioned in such works as the ("Records of the Dead and the Living"). In 's (pub. Hōreki 9/1759), equates this suiin with the Japanese or , while further down also equates the suiin with the water tiger (suiko). == Mummies ==

Purported mummies and bones of kappa as yōkai relics are held by various possessors. Writer Naoki Yamaguchi knows of three whole-bodied mummies purported to be owned in Japan, and which still exist: one is the mummy passed down the family of the Matsuuraichi sake brewery in Imari, Saga. Another piece was obtained by a misemono traveling show that operated around the Tokyo area, another held by temple in Osaka. Besides these, temple in Mashiko possesses an alleged kappa mummy. The reclining kappa mummy owned by the family of the Matsuuraichi brewery in Imari has been examined by a primatologist who counted 16 thoracic vertebrae, which didn't match humans or apes (with 12), so even supposing this was made from mammalian skeleton, it would be difficult to pin down what animal. The traveling show mummy was considered prime exhibit material () by a previous impresario who handed it down to the present owner. The attached story was that the kappa haunted around what has now become developed as Ayameike Station in Nara, Nara city. It allegedly was caught by villagers after assaulting horses and children, bound by the hands and feet and left to dry in the sun, and thus mummified. The local temple housed it, the story goes, but the temple became derelict, and the item was stolen and trafficked after World War II. There is some wear and tear since it was used in exhibit for 60 years, and currently kept out of public viewing for conservation purposes. While there were mermaid mummy and kappa mummy craftsmen during the Edo Period, not much about them is known beyond their existence. ==In popular culture==

The kappa is a popular creature of the Japanese folk imagination; its manifestations cut across genre lines, appearing in folk religion, beliefs, legends, folktales and folk metaphors. The story heavily focuses on the subject of suicide and Akutagawa killed himself the year the work was published. The 1950s cartoon series such as Kappa tengoku by Kon Shimizu was already discussed above. Kappas are a recurring image in David Peace's 2018 novel Patient X, itself about the life and work of Akutagawa. Nitori Kawashiro, a character of the Touhou Project is a Kappa. Kappa also feature in the Harry Potter series, and are mentioned in the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The Kappa is one of the more prominent figures from Japanese mythology which has been adapted into roleplaying game settings inspired by Asian cultures, such as Dungeons & Dragons' Kara-Tur. == Public installations ==

Mizuki Shigeru Road The in Sakaiminato, Tottori is lined with bronzes of yōkai after the character designs of manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, including the kappa. The figures were designed by who was a staff at the town's Regional Promotional Division. Iconic uses Even today, warning signs about the kappa appearing near bodies of water are seen in some Japanese towns and villages. which were viewed widely as TV commercials from around 1955. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi's DC Card (a credit card) uses the DC Card Kappa, a cuddly cartoon character, as mascot. Anime and games • In the anime show Inuyasha, a kappa, Sha Gojyo(Sagojō)'s descendant said to be a descendant of the legendary character from Journey of the West and together with Son Gokū's descendant, the servant of Chokyūkai to find a bride. • Kagome's grandfather gave her an alleged mummified foot of a kappa for her early 15th birthday, but she does not accept and gives to Buyo. • In episode 4 of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, Grandpa Higurashi gifted to his great-granddaughter, Moroha, a mummified kappa's foot as a gift, which she accepts and keeps. • In the Touhou Project video game Mountain of Faith, the stage 3 boss is a kappa named Nitori Kawashiro. • Kappas appear several times in official manga works of the Touhou Project. They are depicted as technologically advanced inventors. Kappa, and creatures based on them, are recurring characters in Japanese tokusatsu films and television shows. Examples include the kappas in the Daiei/Kadokawa series Yokai Monsters, the 2010 kaiju film Death Kappa, and "King Kappa", a kaiju from the 1972 Tsuburaya Productions series Ultraman Ace. • Summer Days with Coo is a 2007 Japanese animated film about a kappa and its impact on an ordinary family, written for the screen and directed by Keiichi Hara based on two novels by . • In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, the titular Turtles accidentally activate the Time Scepter, a mystical artifact, and end up travelling back in time, to Japan of the Edo period (more specifically 1603). As a running gag, some of the villagers who interact with them feel frightened by their appearance and refer to them as the legendary "kappa" throughout the film. Notably, the Turtles quickly befriend children in the village, and Leonardo demonstrates for them the modern medical technique of CPR to save a boy's life. • In One Piece, the character Kawamatsu is often mistaken for a kappa due to his appearance and strong swimming ability. Although he is actually a fish-man, several characters within the Wano Country arc refer to him as a kappa, and the series uses this misunderstanding as a recurring comedic motif. ==Eponymy==

A cucumber-filled makizushi (sushi roll) is known as a kappamaki. The kappa tick (Amblyomma kappa) is a native Japanese arachnid which occurs in the southern Ryukyu Islands and was named due to its association with reptilian hosts, particularly turtles (which share some physical similarities with the kappa). ==See also==