Kappa (folklore)
Template:Short description Template:Italic title {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}}
In Japanese folklore the Template:Nihongo is a familiar type of water monster, considered one of three major yōkaiTemplate:Refn
Kappa are said to be inhabiting the ponds and rivers of Japan.Template:Sfnp It is also known by various local names, including Template:Nihongo.Template:Sfnp
The Template:Transliteration had been dangerous mankillers that drowned people,<ref name="de_garis&sakai2009"/> also targeting horses and cattle to be dragged into water.<ref name="terashima1712"/><ref name="tsutsumi2024"/><ref name="Kappalegend"/> Later, they came to be depicted as mischievous beings which get punished (captured, having its arm severed, etc.), and in exchange of forgiveness, gratefully performed labor, or revealed a secret medicinal recipe (Template:Interlanguage link).Template:Sfnp
Accounts typically depict them as green, slimy (or scaly), human-like beings with webbed hands and feet and turtle-like carapaces on their backs. A depression on the head, called a "dish" (Template:Transliteration), retains water,<ref>Template:Harvp; Template:Harvp</ref>Template:Refn and if this receptacle is damaged or if its liquid is spilled or dried, a Template:Transliteration becomes severely weakened.<ref>Template:Harvp; Template:Harvp; Template:Harvp</ref>
The Template:Transliteration favor cucumbers and love to engage in sumo-wrestling.Template:Sfnp They are often accused of assaulting humans in water and removing a mythical organ called the Template:Transliteration (Template:Lit "buttocks-wee-ball") from their victim's anus.Template:Sfnp
Nomenclature
The name kappa is a contraction of the compound Template:Transliteration from kawa "river" and Template:Transliteration "child, boy",<ref name="DigitalDaijisen"/> or of Template:Transliteration, from Template:Transliteration (=Template:Transliteration, "child").<ref name="NihonKokugoDaijiten"/>Template:Refn Another translation of kappa is "water-sprite".<ref name="shamoon2013"/>
In earlier times, there was a clearer demarcation in terminology, where the creature tended to be known as kappa in the eastTemplate:Refn and known rather as Template:Transliteration in the west (Kyūshū and Kansai regionTemplate:R) from 18th century literature.Template:SfnpTemplate:RefnTemplate:RefnTemplate:Refn
The kappa are also known regionally by at least eighty other names.<ref name="foster1998-ono-1994">Template:Harvp, citing Ōno (1994), p. 14</ref> Among older literature, the Template:Interlanguage link (1775) lists several local names such as Template:Transl in Etchū Province (Toyama Prefecture).Template:RefnTemplate:Sfnp Ono Ranzan's Honzōkōmoku keimō(1803) also listed about 20 local names.Template:Sfnp
Alternate names close to the standard include:Template:Efn Template:Nihongo<ref name="terashima1712"/>Template:Refn or Template:Nihongo;<ref name="ShogenJikoSetsuyoshu"/> Template:Transliteration<ref name="foster1998-ono-1994"/> (Kyūshū , Niigata incl. Sado Island<ref name="HonzokomokuShakugi"/>); Template:Transliteration (cf. infra.);<ref name="foster1998-ono-1994"/> kawatarō;<ref name="foster1998-ono-1994"/> Template:Transliteration;<ref name="foster1998-ono-1994"/> Template:Transliteration (Yamanashi<ref name="ShogenJikoSetsuyoshu"/>); Template:Interlanguage link (Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Kagoshima incl. Tanegashima);Template:SfnpTemplate:RefnTemplate:Refn Template:Transl (Fukui, SW Hyōgo, Kagawa<ref name="HonzokomokuShakugi"/>); Template:Nihongo (Shimane);<ref name="KasshiYawa-65kan"/><ref name="sasama2005"/> Template:Nihongo (Template:Interlanguage link quarters in the city of Ise, Mie);<ref name="HonzokomokuShakugi"/> Template:Nihongo (Template:Interlanguage link quarters in Suzuka, Mie<ref name="HonzokomokuShakugi"/>); Template:Nihongo (Kyūshū, Kansai region, Sado Island<ref name="ButsuruiShoko-KojiRuien"/><ref name="NihonHogenDaijiten"/>Template:Refn); Template:Transl (Fukuoka<ref name="HonzokomokuShakugi"/>).
The form Template:Nihongo occurs widely in the Chūgoku region and perimeter of the Seto Inland Sea (e.g., Kasaoka, Okayama<ref name="kasaoka-city1983"/>), but it is often heard pronounced as Template:Transliteration.Template:SfnpTemplate:Refn The form kawako has also been used in Izumo Province (Shimane Prefecture) and recorded by Lafcadio Hearn who was based in that area.<ref name="hearn1894"/>
The form Template:Transl used in Fukusaki according to Kunio Yanagita's memory from his birthplace (cf. Template:Section link).<ref>Yanagita (1956) Yōkai dangi: quoted in English in: Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="yanagita1959"/> He also heard from an acquaintance that the local name was Template:Transl in Akashi not far from hometown, and spent a lifetime trying to corroborate it, but to no avail.<ref name="yanagita1959"/><ref name="kobe_shimbunNEXT-2028-05-27"/>
In Tosa Province (Kōchi Prefecture), it has been called gatarō, Template:Transl,Template:EfnTemplate:Refn or Template:Transl.<ref name="HonzokomokuShakugi"/>
The alternate name Template:Nihongo<ref name="tsutsumi2024"/>Template:Refn is localized around Kurume, Fukuoka.Template:Sfnp
The kappa was also known by simian-sounding names such as Template:Transl (Kōchi, Ehime, SE Yamaguchi PrefectureTemplate:Efn<ref name="HonzokomokuShakugi"/><ref name="yanagita1942"/>) or var. Template:Transl (Matsuyama, Ehime<ref name="HonzokomokuShakugi"/> with either of these forms found also in (Shimane, Tottori, and W YamaguchiTemplate:Efn),<ref name="yanagita1942"/>Template:Sfnp These name derive from Template:Nihongo meaning "apes and monkeys", and in the modern age where these names are current, the local lore had reported these creature to be ape-like.<ref name="yanagita1942"/> Ironically it is also said that the kappa and the ape-kind are mortal enemies.<ref name="yanagita1942"/><ref>Template:Harvp; Template:Harvp</ref>
Some regions employ the term Template:Transl with widespread examples from Tōhoku region to Kyūshū. In the local water deity worship found in Aomori Prefecture, the Template:Interlanguage link or "Exalted Water Tiger" is the deified form of the kappa.<ref name="murakami2000" /> In the Tsugaru dialect, the pronunciation of this deity is corrupted to Template:Transl.<ref name="sakamoto1986"/> During the Edo Period, it was commonplace to use suiko (literally "water tiger", a semi-aquatic mythical creature in Chinese lore) as a stilted sinitic translation for kappa (cf. Template:Section link below).
In Ehime Prefecture, the kappa is sometimes called Template:Transliteration (var. Template:Transliteration), which is usually the term for 'otter'.Template:Sfnp<ref name="foster1998-ono-1994"/>Template:Sfnp It is also called kawauso as well as kawako in a version of the tale from Shimane Prefecture.Template:Sfnp
In some areas, the kappa is called by the same name as the soft-shell turtle (which in standard Japanese is called Template:Transl), namely: Template:Transl (Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukuoka);Template:Sfnp<ref>Template:Harvp: Ecchū Province, i.e. Toyama Prefecture</ref>Template:Sfnp Template:Transl (Gifu,Template:Sfnp Hokuriku regionTemplate:Sfnp); Template:Transl<ref name="foster1998-ono-1994"/>Template:Sfnp (Okayama).Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp Thus in these places, the terrapin-based names are a giveaway that the kappa is locally considered to be very turtle-like.Template:Sfnp
The terms Template:Transl, game, and Template:Transl (var. Template:Transl) are used interchangeably in the area of Gifu, Toyama, and Ishikawa Prefectures.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp This dochirobe (etc.) is reputedly a red-bellied creature with lush flowing tail,Template:Sfnp but when it attains 1000 years of age transforms into a full-fledged kappa,Template:Sfnp known locally as Template:Transl,Template:Efn whose head resembles the reddish apish creature with a shōjō-like face and a saucer atop its head to hold water, but otherwise more or less human-shaped.Template:RefnTemplate:Sfnp In Gifu Prefecture, their Template:Transl (genuine kappa) is distinguished from the dochi which is considered an almost-kappa.Template:Sfnp Another variant name of this group is the aforementioned dochigame (Cf. also Template:Transl under Template:Section link).
The kappa is also called Template:Transl, meaning "steed-puller", attested locally around the Matsumae region,<ref name="sasama2005"/><ref name="NihonShinbutsu-komahiki"/> from the kappaTemplate:'s reputed practice of trying to drag horses into water.<ref name="sasama2005"/><ref name=foster1998-ono-1994/>
Similar creatures
Akin to the kappa are the local versions called the hyōsube in southern Kyūshū (and Saga Prefecture further north<ref name="aramata-map-hyosube"/>),<ref>Template:Harvp; Template:Harvp</ref><ref name="sasatani1958"/> as well as the Template:Interlanguage link of northern Tōhoku region.Template:Sfnp The name Template:Transl and variants (Template:Transl) are grouped together as names derving from mizuchi, a mythical water-serpent or dragon.<ref name="minakata1917"/><ref>Template:Harvp; Template:Harvp</ref>Template:Refn Of these, the subtype dochi (Gifu Prefecture, etc.、Template:SfnRef) was already discussed above.
There are also the Wakayama Prefecture version called Template:Interlanguage link<ref name="aramata-map-kashanbo"/> and the Ibaraki Prefecture version Template:Interlanguage link.<ref name="aramata-map-neneko"/>Template:Refn
A Template:Interlanguage link 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. Template:Section link). The Template:Interlanguage link (Template:Transl) of the Amami IslandsTemplate:Sfnp also exhibits this wintering behavior, and in the illustrated commentary of the creature in the Template:Interlanguage link, it is equated to the Template:Transl and Template:Transl ("mountain boy").Template:EfnTemplate:Refn
In Shimominochi District, Nagano, the local version of kappa is called Template:Transl or Template:Transl which is apparently a corruption of Template:Transl ("water deity").Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
Appearance and traits
The currently popularized image of the kappa describes it as roughly humanoid in form and about the size of a child.<ref name="tsutsumi2024"/>Template:Refn
They are typically greenish in colorTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp<ref name="kyogoku&tada2008"/> (or yellow-blue/yellow-greenTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Refn or even red in some locales (Tōno, IwateTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp).
They often have a pointedTemplate:Sfnp or beaked mouth.<ref name="okuno1988"/>Template:Sfnp<ref>Template:Harvp and from copies made, these were all of the hairy ape-type (as explained below).
When afterwards Template:Interlanguage link ed. Template:Nihongo appeared,Template:RefnTemplate:Refn 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.<ref>Template:Harvp; Template:Harvp apud Template:Harvp</ref> 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.Template:Efn One kappa figure is shown wearing a sumo wrestler's loincloth (mawashi).Template:Sfnp On the page opposite to it, there is a detailed drawing of a webbed foot,<ref>The foot in detail can be confirmed to have webbing between the digits in the {{#invoke:URL|url}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:URL with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y | 1 | 2 }} @ National Archives of Japan.</ref> so that might count as technically as the 7th drawing copied.Template:Sfnp The other half of the kappa illustrated in Suiko kōryaku are 6 illustrations of the "softshell turtle-type".Template:Sfnp
Another turning point in pictorial representation occurred when naturalist Kurimoto Tanshū (d. 1834) published his depictions of the kappa in his work Template:Nihongo, which showed the creature with a tapered mouth, probably based on a life drawing from a real softshell turtle.Template:Sfnp Tanshū also authored the Template:Nihongo (date unknown, a Tenpō 13/1843 copy is extant).<ref>Template:Cite book, from the Berlin State Library (Stabi) digitized collection.</ref><ref name="fukushima1978"/>
The Template:Nihongo (cf. Fig. right) also contains softshell turtle-like depictions of kappa<ref name="yano2009"/>Template:Refn as well as some ape-types. This single-sheet work was authored by Kishū Domain physician and naturalist Template:Interlanguage link and illustrated by his brother Juntaku, also a physician.<ref name="Suiko12Hin"/><ref name="fujisawa1959"/><ref name="kokkai2005"/> 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.Template:Sfnp
A kappa by Katsushika Hokusai in Hokusai Manga, Volume 3<ref name="HokusaiManga03"/> is posed in a squatting positionTemplate:Refn (cf. Fig. above), depicted with a beak-like mouth and carapace,<ref name="kagawa2022"/> and may arguably be considered a turtle-type example.<ref name="kagawa2022"/>Template:Refn There is another depiction of kappa in Hokusai Manga, under Volume 12,<ref name="HokusaiManga12"/> which is clearly based on a soft-shell turtle.<ref name="kagawa2022"/>
A disciple named Template:Interlanguage link also drew Template:Transl depicting a kappa riding a giant cucumber, and it is of the tapered-mouth type. It wears a mino cape around its waist.Template:Refn
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By the mid-19th century, frog-like features started to creep in more on the kappaTemplate:'s image. In Utagawa Toyokuni III's Template:Nihongo, 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, Template:Nihongo, the album on Template:Interlanguage link features a kappa without even a turtle-shell, furthering its likeness to a frog (cf. fig. left and fig. above).Template:Sfnp
Then a more "comical and affectionate" image of the kappa was formed by ukiyo-e artists.Template:Sfnp A prime example of this was a piece by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi called Template:Nihongo (Meiji 14/1881, cf. Fig. right), showing two kappa being farted on by a human, and one kappa turning yellow.Template:Sfnp
Later in the modern age, Nihonga artist Template:Interlanguage link (1868-1938) favored the kappa theme and drew many, earning him the moniker Template:Transl. Late in his life he published the collection Kappa hyakuzu (1938),Template:Sfnp developing a vivacious image of the kappa.Template:Sfnp
The humorous kappa given birth in the Edo Period was carried on by later generations.Template:Sfnp In the Shōwa era, manga artist Template:Interlanguage link serialized Kappa kawatarō which ran in Shōgakusei Asahi magazine, 1951–1952, and Template:Interlanguage link that ran in the Shūkan Asahi weekly, 1953–1958,Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp through which a cute and comical image of the kappa penetrated to the masses.<ref name="kagawa2022"/> 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.Template:Sfnp
Thus, while the turtle-shell persists, the heavily frog-like form has established itself as the standard kappa image.Template:Sfnp
Template:AnchorLocal legends
The kappa is among the best-known yōkai in Japan.<ref name="kyogoku&tada2000-YokaiZukan"/> It is known by various names according to region and local folklore.<ref name=foster1998-ono-1994/><ref name="tada1990-Genso"/>
All over Japan there remains the practice of making offerings (often cucumbers) at shrines to placate the kappa.Template:Sfnp There are places that identify and enshrine the kappa as suijin ("water deity").Template:Sfnp In fact, the kappa may have descended from the worship of such suijin deityTemplate:Sfnp (as already discussed under Template:Section link).
While it is by no means unusual for harvest rituals to occur in the spring and autumnal equinoxes, scholars have tied the timing to the welcoming back and ushering out of the kappa that spends half the year in the rivers but goes away into the mountains for the remainde r (as already discussed under Template:Section link).<ref>Template:Harvp, citing Template:Harvp.</ref>
The tendency to identify the kappa as the principal enshrined being at suijin festivals appears more prevalent in Western Japan, while at the Template:Nihongo of Nankoku, Kōchi enshrines a kappa by the name of enkō.<ref name="gorai-etal1979"/> In such Shintō framework, the kappa may be considered to be an avatar (Template:Transliteration Template:Lang) of the water deity.<ref name="frederic2002-suijin">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
Kyūshū region
In Kyūshū there is a legend concerning Template:Nihongo, the name of a kappa boss.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.Template:RefnTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp Another legend has it that the gang lost the war over the Tone River against the local gang under neneko.Template:Sfnp
For the Kumamoto Prefecture lore about the kappa descending in hordes after winter cf. also Template:Section link 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 Template:Nihongo (the historical Template:Illm).<ref name="aramata-map-heikegani"/>
Template:Nihongo allegedly survived and came to Chikugo Province, or so claims writings such as the Template:Nihongo and Template:Nihongo; she is supposedly enshrined at the Amagozen-sha shrine in Template:Nihongo town in Kurume, Fukuoka, which has been argued to be the origin of the Suitengū worship. She is also said to have become the wife of the water deity of the Template:Illm, while it is said that the Heike who defeated by Ogata Koreyoshi transformed into kahaku river spirits of the Kose RiverTemplate:Efn (accord. Template:Nihongo), thus providing rich material for kappa studies.<ref>Template:Harvp; Template:Harvp</ref>Template:Sfnp
Template:Transl is the document explaining the origins of Template:Transl, commonly called Template:Transl,Template:SfnpTemplate:Efn 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.Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:RefnTemplate:Refn
- Bibliography
[Thoughts on kappa: Seeking the true form behind the distortion]. Kyoto: Jinbun Sh
- National Museum of Japanese History; Tōru Tokumitsu edd. (2014)
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite journal ({{#invoke:URL|url}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:URL with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y | 1 | 2 }} @ CORE
External links
- Mark Schumacher (2004). Kappa – River Imp or Sprite. Retrieved 23 March 2006.
- Garth Haslam (2000). Kappa Quest 2000. Retrieved 14 December 2006.
- Kirainet (2007). For a look at Kappa in popular culture Kirainet. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
- Hyakumonogatari.com Translated kappa stories from Hyakumonogatari.com
- Kappa Unknown Explorers
- Underwater Love (2011)
- The Great Yokai War (2005)
- Summer Days with Coo (2009), an animated film featuring a kappa as the main character.
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