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Kappa (mythology)
Encyclopedia
, alternatively called or , are legendary creature
s, a type of water sprite
found in Japanese folklore
. In Shintō
they are considered to be one of many suijin
. A hair-covered variation of a Kappa is called a .
Kappa are similar to Finnish Näkki
, Scandinavian/Germanic Näck/Neck, Czech Vodník
and Scottish Kelpie
in that all have been used to scare children of dangers lurking in waters.
s and river
s of Japan
and have various features to aid them in this environment, such as webbed hands and feet. They are sometimes said to smell like fish
, and they can certainly swim like them. The expression kappa-no-kawa-nagare ("a kappa drowning in a river") conveys the idea that even experts make mistakes. Their most notable feature is an indentation on the top of their head that holds water; this is regarded as the source of their power. This cavity must be full whenever a kappa is away from the water; if it spills, the kappa will be unable to move. Although they are reported to inhabit all of Japan, they are often said to be particular to Saga Prefecture
.
or looking up women's kimono
s, to the malevolent, such as drowning people and animals, kidnapping children, and raping women.
As water monsters, kappa have been frequently blamed for drownings, and are often said to try to lure people to the water and pull them in with their great skill at wrestling
. They are sometimes said to take their victims for the purpose of eating their livers or their , a mythical ball inside the anus. Even today, signs warning about kappa appear by bodies of water in some Japanese towns and villages. Kappa are also said to victimize animals, especially horses; the motif of the kappa trying to drown horses is found all over Japan. In these stories, if a kappa is caught in the act, it can be made to apologize, sometimes in writing.
Kappas are also known as ravishers of women. An 18th-century ukiyo-e
image by Utamaro
depicts kappas raping an ama diver underwater. In his Tōno Monogatari, Kunio Yanagita
records a number of beliefs from the Tōno
area about women being accosted and even impregnated by kappas. Their offspring were said to be repulsive to behold, and were generally buried.
It was believed that if confronted with a kappa there was but one mean of escape: kappas, for one reason or another, obsess over being polite, so if you were to gesture a deep bow to a kappa it would more than likely return it. In doing so, the water kept in the lilypad-like bowl on their head would spill out and the kappa would be rendered unable to leave the bowed position until the bowl was refilled with water from the river in which it lived. If a human were to refill it, it was believed the kappa would serve them for all eternity.
Kappa are not entirely antagonistic to humankind, however. They are curious of human civilization, and they can understand and speak Japanese
. They thus sometimes challenge those they encounter to various tests of skill, such as shogi
or sumo
wrestling. They may even befriend human beings in exchange for gifts and offerings, especially cucumber
s, the only food kappa are known to enjoy more than human children. Japanese parents sometimes write the names of their children (or themselves) on cucumbers and toss them into waters believed to be infested with kappa in order to mollify the creatures and allow the family to bathe. There is even a kind of cucumber-filled sushi
roll named for the kappa, the kappamaki.
Once befriended, kappa have been known to perform any number of tasks for human beings, such as helping farmers irrigate
their land. They are also highly knowledgeable of medicine
, and legend states that they taught the art of bone setting to humankind. Due to these benevolent aspects, some shrine
s are dedicated to the worship of particularly helpful kappa. Kappa may also be tricked into helping people. Their deep sense of decorum
will not allow them to break an oath, for example; so if a human being can dupe a kappa into promising to help him, the kappa has no choice but to follow through.
Legendary creature
A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature.-Origin:Some mythical creatures have their origin in traditional mythology and have been believed to be real creatures, for example the dragon, the unicorn, and griffin...
s, a type of water sprite
Sprite (creature)
The term sprite is a broad term referring to a number of preternatural legendary creatures. The term is generally used in reference to elf-like creatures, including fairies, and similar beings , but can also signify various spiritual beings, including ghosts. In Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl books,...
found in Japanese folklore
Japanese folklore
The folklore of Japan is heavily influenced by both Shinto and Buddhism, the two primary religions in the country. It often involves humorous or bizarre characters and situations and also includes an assortment of supernatural beings, such as bodhisattva, kami , yōkai , yūrei ,...
. In Shintō
Shinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
they are considered to be one of many suijin
Suijin
is the Shinto god of water in Japan.The term Suijin refers to the heavenly and earthly manifestations of the benevolent Shinto divinity of water. But it also refers to a wide variety of mythological and magical creatures found in lakes, ponds, springs and wells, including serpents , eels, fish,...
. A hair-covered variation of a Kappa is called a .
Kappa are similar to Finnish Näkki
Näkki
In Finnish mythology, a Näkki is a Neck that resides in murky pools, wells, docks, piers and under bridges that cross rivers.He has been borrowed from Näcken in Scandinavian folklore and is closely related to Russian Vodyanoi....
, Scandinavian/Germanic Näck/Neck, Czech Vodník
Vodnik
Vodnik is a bandy club from Arkhangelsk in Russia. Vodnik was founded in 1925 and in the mid-1990s it became a major team in both Russian and international bandy...
and Scottish Kelpie
Kelpie
The kelpie is a supernatural water horse from Celtic folklore that is believed to haunt the rivers and lochs of Scotland and Ireland; the name may be from Scottish Gaelic cailpeach or colpach "heifer, colt".-Description and behaviour:...
in that all have been used to scare children of dangers lurking in waters.
Appearance
Kappas are typically depicted as roughly humanoid in form, and about the size of a child. Their scaly, reptilian skin ranges in color from green to yellow or blue. Kappas supposedly inhabit the pondPond
A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...
s and river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
s of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and have various features to aid them in this environment, such as webbed hands and feet. They are sometimes said to smell like fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, and they can certainly swim like them. The expression kappa-no-kawa-nagare ("a kappa drowning in a river") conveys the idea that even experts make mistakes. Their most notable feature is an indentation on the top of their head that holds water; this is regarded as the source of their power. This cavity must be full whenever a kappa is away from the water; if it spills, the kappa will be unable to move. Although they are reported to inhabit all of Japan, they are often said to be particular to Saga Prefecture
Saga Prefecture
is located in the northwest part of the island of Kyūshū, Japan. It touches both the Sea of Japan and the Ariake Sea. The western part of the prefecture is a region famous for producing ceramics and porcelain, particularly the towns of Karatsu, Imari, and Arita...
.
Behavior
Kappa are usually seen as mischievous troublemakers. Their pranks range from the relatively innocent, such as loudly passing gasFlatulence
Flatulence is the expulsion through the rectum of a mixture of gases that are byproducts of the digestion process of mammals and other animals. The medical term for the mixture of gases is flatus, informally known as a fart, or simply gas...
or looking up women's kimono
Kimono
The is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...
s, to the malevolent, such as drowning people and animals, kidnapping children, and raping women.
As water monsters, kappa have been frequently blamed for drownings, and are often said to try to lure people to the water and pull them in with their great skill at wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
. They are sometimes said to take their victims for the purpose of eating their livers or their , a mythical ball inside the anus. Even today, signs warning about kappa appear by bodies of water in some Japanese towns and villages. Kappa are also said to victimize animals, especially horses; the motif of the kappa trying to drown horses is found all over Japan. In these stories, if a kappa is caught in the act, it can be made to apologize, sometimes in writing.
Kappas are also known as ravishers of women. An 18th-century ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e
' is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters...
image by Utamaro
Utamaro
was a Japanese printmaker and painter, who is considered one of the greatest artists of woodblock prints . His name was romanized as Outamaro. He is known especially for his masterfully composed studies of women, known as bijinga...
depicts kappas raping an ama diver underwater. In his Tōno Monogatari, Kunio Yanagita
Kunio Yanagita
was a Japanese scholar who is often known as the father of Japanese native folkloristics, or minzokugaku.He was born in Fukusaki, Hyōgo Prefecture. After graduating with a degree in law from Tokyo Imperial University, he became employed as a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce...
records a number of beliefs from the Tōno
Tono, Iwate
is a city located in Iwate, Japan. The city of Tōno lies near the center of Iwate Prefecture in the floodplain of the Sarugaishi River. It is known as "The City of Folklore" for its rural nature, its preservation of traditional culture and especially for the collection of folktales, Tōno...
area about women being accosted and even impregnated by kappas. Their offspring were said to be repulsive to behold, and were generally buried.
It was believed that if confronted with a kappa there was but one mean of escape: kappas, for one reason or another, obsess over being polite, so if you were to gesture a deep bow to a kappa it would more than likely return it. In doing so, the water kept in the lilypad-like bowl on their head would spill out and the kappa would be rendered unable to leave the bowed position until the bowl was refilled with water from the river in which it lived. If a human were to refill it, it was believed the kappa would serve them for all eternity.
Kappa are not entirely antagonistic to humankind, however. They are curious of human civilization, and they can understand and speak Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. They thus sometimes challenge those they encounter to various tests of skill, such as shogi
Shogi
, also known as Japanese chess, is a two-player board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, and Chinese Xiangqi, and is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan...
or sumo
Sumo
is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
wrestling. They may even befriend human beings in exchange for gifts and offerings, especially cucumber
Cucumber
The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...
s, the only food kappa are known to enjoy more than human children. Japanese parents sometimes write the names of their children (or themselves) on cucumbers and toss them into waters believed to be infested with kappa in order to mollify the creatures and allow the family to bathe. There is even a kind of cucumber-filled sushi
Sushi
is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients . Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari...
roll named for the kappa, the kappamaki.
Once befriended, kappa have been known to perform any number of tasks for human beings, such as helping farmers irrigate
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
their land. They are also highly knowledgeable of medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, and legend states that they taught the art of bone setting to humankind. Due to these benevolent aspects, some shrine
Jinja (Shinto)
A Shinto shrine is a structure whose main purpose is to house one or more Shinto kami....
s are dedicated to the worship of particularly helpful kappa. Kappa may also be tricked into helping people. Their deep sense of decorum
Decorum
Decorum was a principle of classical rhetoric, poetry and theatrical theory that was about the fitness or otherwise of a style to a theatrical subject...
will not allow them to break an oath, for example; so if a human being can dupe a kappa into promising to help him, the kappa has no choice but to follow through.
See also
- Ethereal beingEthereal beingEthereal beings, according to some belief systems and occult theories, are mystic entities that usually are not made of ordinary matter. Despite the fact that they are believed to be essentially incorporeal, they do interact in physical shapes with the material universe and travel between the...
- Golduck
- Kappabashi-doriKappabashi-doriKappabashi-dori, also known just as Kappabashi or Kitchen Town, is a street in Tokyo between Ueno and Asakusa which is almost entirely populated with shops supplying the restaurant trade...
- MermanMermanMermen are mythical male equivalents of mermaids – legendary creatures who have the form of a human from the waist up and are fish-like from the waist down.-Mythology:...
- NommoNommoThe Nommo are ancestral spirits worshipped by the Dogon tribe of Mali. The word Nommos is derived from a Dogon word meaning, "to make one drink," The Nommos are usually described as amphibious, hermaphroditic, fish-like creatures...
- Summer Days with CooSummer Days with Coois a 2007 Japanese animated film about a kappa and its impact on an ordinary suburban family, directed by Keiichi Hara.-Reception:The film won the Best Animation Film award at the 2008 Mainichi Film Awards and was nominated for Best Animation Film at the 2008 Japanese Academy Awards, and for Best...
- YōkaiYōkaiare a class of supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore. The word yōkai is made up of the kanji for "otherworldly" and "weird". Yōkai range eclectically from the malevolent to the mischievous, or occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them...
External links
- Mark Schumacher (2004). Kappa -- River Imp or Sprite. Retrieved March 23, 2006.
- Garth Haslam (2000). Kappa Quest 2000. Retrieved December 14, 2006.
- Kirainet (2007). For a look at Kappa in popular culture Kirainet. Retrieved May 6, 2007.
- Hyakumonogatari.com Translated kappa stories from Hyakumonogatari.com
- Kappa Unknown Explorers