The , also called , were a people of ancient 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...

, believed to have lived in the Japanese Alps

Japanese Alps

The is a series of mountain ranges in Japan that bisect the main island of Honshū. The name was coined by William Gowland, the "Father of Japanese Archaeology," and later popularized by Reverend Walter Weston , an English missionary for whom a memorial plaque is located at Kamikochi, a tourist...

until at least the Asuka period

Asuka period

The , was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 , although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period...

. The name means "ground spider

Atypus karschi

Atypus karschi is a mygalomorph spider that lives in Japan, China, and Taiwan. In Japan, it is known as ji-gumo.These spiders are black or dark brown and range from 17mm to 20mm. Like other spiders in its infraorder, it has fangs that point straight down rather than crossing.This spider has an...

", likely due to perceived physical traits that were later exaggerated or embellished.

Suggested Reading

Asiatic Society of Japan. Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan: Volume 7. The Society. (1879)

Aston, William George. Shinto: the way of the gods. Longmans, Green, and Co. (1905)

Brinkley, Frank and Dairoku Kikuchi. A history of the Japanese people from the earliest times to the end of the Meiji era. The Encyclopædia Britannica Co. (1915)

Horne, Charles Francis. The Sacred books and early literature of the East. Parke, Austin, and Lipscomb: (1917)

Oriental Institute (Woking, England), East India Association (London, England). The Imperial and asiatic quarterly review and oriental and colonial record. Oriental Institute. (1892)

Studio international, Volume 18. Studio Trust. (1900)

Trench, K. Paul. Nihongi: chronicles of Japan from the earliest times to A.D. 697: Volume 1. The Society. Trübner. (1896)