Japanese Folklore: Tamamo no Mae: The Nine tailed fox

 

 

 Tamamo no Mae, One of the strongest and most feared Yokai.




Tamamo  is one of the most famous kitsune (Fox Spirits) in Japanese mythology.

A nine-tailed magical fox, she is also one of the most powerful yokai that has ever lived.

Her magical abilities were matched only by her sharp mind  and lust for power.

Tamamo lived during the Heian period, and though she may not have succeeded in her plan to kill the emperor and take his place, her actions destabilized the country and lead it towards one of the most important civil wars in Japanese history.

 For that reason, she is considered one of the Nihon San Dai Aku Yokai—the Three Terrible Yokai of Japan.

She  is mentioned in various old texts and has been a popular subject throughout Japanese history. Her story is portrayed in literature, 

Noh, Kabuki, bunraku, and other forms of art including modern mang, anime and evenK Dramas. 

There have been  several variations on her story throughout history.

According to Legends: Tamamo no Mae was born around 3,500 years ago in what is now China. Her early life is a mystery, but she eventually became a powerful sorceress.

 

A few hundred years later she became a white faced, golden furred kyubi no kitsune—a nine-tailed fox with the highest level of  magic powers.

She was also a very skilled liar and master  manipulator. She used her charms and intelligence to advance her standing and influence politics of the time .

During the Shang Dynasty she was known as Daji. She disguised herself as a beautiful woman and became the favorite concubine of King Zhou of Shang.

 

 
Daji was a model of human depravity. She held orgies in the palace gardens. Her fondness for watching and inventing new forms of torture are legendary.

Daji eventually brought about the fall of the entire Shang Dynasty. She managed to escape execution, and fled to the Magadha kingdom in India in 1046 BCE.

In Magadha, she was known as Lady Kayo, and became a consort of King Kalmashapada, known in Japan as Hanzoku.

She used her beauty and charms to dominate the king, she devoured children, murder priests, and commit other unspeakable horrors.

Eventually—whether because she ran out of  children to eat or because Kalmashapada began to turn away from her and towards Buddhism—she fled back to China.
...

During the Zhou Dynasty she called herself Bao Si, and was known as one of the most desirable women in all of China.

In 779 BCE she became a concubine of King You. Not satisfied as just a mistress, she manipulated the king into deposing his wife Queen Shen and making Bao Si his new queen. 

Though she was beautiful, Bao Si rarely ever smiled. In order to please his beautiful new wife, King You committed acts of such
evil and atrocity that eventually all of his nobles abandoned and betrayed him. Eventually, King You was killed and Bao Si captured and the Western Zhou Dynasty was brought to an end in 771 BCE. Somehow Bao Si managed to escape again, she went into hiding for many years.

Little is known of her activities until the 700s, when she resurfaced disguised as a 16-year old girl named Wakamo. She tricked the leaders of the 10th Japanese envoy to the Tang Dynasty—Kibi no Makibi, Abe no Nakamaro, and Ganjin—as they were preparing to return home to Japan.

Wakamo joined their crew and took the ship to Japan, where she hid herself away for over 300 years.

In the 1090s, she resurfaced once again. This time she transformed herself into a human baby and hid by the side of the road.

A married couple found the baby and rescued it, taking her in as their daughter and naming her Mikuzume.

She proved to be an exceedingly intelligent and talented young girl, and was so beautiful that she attracted to attention of everyone around her.

When she was 7 years old, Mikuzume recited poetry before the emperor. His imperial majesty immediately took a liking to her and employed her as a servant
in his court.

Mikuzume excelled at court, absorbing knowledge like a sponge. There was no question she could not answer, whether it was about music, history, astronomy,
religion, or Chinese classics. Her clothes were always clean and unwrinkled. She always smelled pleasant. Mikuzume had the most beautiful face in all of Japan, and everyone who saw her loved her.

During the summer of her 18th year, a poetry and instrument recital was held in Mikuzume’s honor. During the recital, an unexpected storm fell upon the palace. 

All of the candles in the recital room were snuffed, leaving the participants in the dark. Suddenly, a bright light emanated from Mikuzume’s body, illuminating the room.

 Everybody at court was so impressed by her genius and declared that she must have had an exceedingly good and holy previous life. 

She was given the name Tamamo no Mae. Emperor Toba, already exceedingly fond of her, made her his consort.

Almost immediately after she became the emperor’s consort, the emperor fell deathly ill. None of the court physicians could determine the cause, and so the onmyoji (Exorcist) Abe no Yasunari was called in. ( Not be confused with Abe no Yasuna, who is the father of the famous onmyōji Abe no Seimei , Similar title, Different people.)

Abe no Yasunari read the emperor’s fortune and divined that he was marked by a bad omen. After that, the highest priests and monks were summoned to the palace to pray for the emperor’s health.

The best prayers of the highest priests had no effect, however. The emperor continued to grow worse. Abe no Yasunari was summoned again to read the emperor’s fortune. 

This time, to his horror the onmyoji discovered that the emperor’s beloved Tamamo no Mae was the cause of his illness. She was a
kitsune in disguise, and was shortening the emperor’s life span in order to take over as ruler of Japan. Emperor Toba was reluctant to believe the diviner’s words, but agreed to test Tamamo no Mae just to be sure.

To save the emperor’s life, Abe no Yasunari prepared the Taizan Fukun no Sai, the most secret and most powerful spell known to onmyodo.

Tamamo  was ordered to perform part of the ritual. They reasoned that an evil spirit would not be able to participate in such a holy ritual.

Though she was reluctant to participate, the emperor’s ministers persuaded her. They told her that it would increase her standing an admiration among the court. She had little choice but to accept.

When the ritual was performed, Tamamo was dressed even more beautifully than normal. She recited the holy worlds as expected and played her part extremely well. But just as she prepared to wave the ceremonial staff, she vanished. Abe no Yasunari’s divination was confirmed. The court flew into an uproar.

Soon after, word arrived that women and children were disappearing near Nasuno in Shimotsuke Province.

The court sorcerers determined that Tamamo  was the cause, and it was decided that she must be destroyed once and for all.

The emperor summoned the best warriors in all of the land and then charged the most superb of them, Kazusanosuke and Miuranosuke, to find Tamamo no Mae.

The warriors gladly accepted the honor. They purified themselves and set out with an army of 80,000 men to slay the nine-tailed kitsune.

Upon reaching Nasuno the army quickly found the kitsune. 

The warriors chased her for days and days, but the fox used her magical powers and outsmarted them time and time again, easily escaping. The army grew weary, and frustration set in. It seemed that nothing they did was working. However, Kazusanosuke and Miuranosuke would not accept the shame of defeat and vowed to press on. They practiced harder, honing their tactics, and eventually picked up the kitsune’s trail.

One night, Miuranosuke had a prophetic dream. A beautiful young girl appeared before him, crying. She begged: “Tomorrow I will lose my life to you. Please save me.” Miuranosuke adamantly refused, and upon waking the warriors set out again to find Tamamo no Mae. 

Sure enough, the next day they caught
her. Miuranosuke fired two arrows, one through the fox’s flank and one through its neck. Kazusanosuke swung his blade. It was over, just as the dream had said.

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However, her evil did not end with her death. One year after she died, Emperor Konoe died, heirless. The following year, her lover
and former Emperor Toba died as well. A succession crisis ignited between forces loyal to Emperor Go-Shirakawa and forces loyal to former Emperor Sutoku.

 This crisis started the Fujiwara-Minamoto rivalry that led to the Genpei War, the end of the Heian period, and the rise of the first shoguns.

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As if that were not enough, Tamamo’s spirit haunted a massive boulder which killed every living thing that touched it.

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This boulder is know as the killing stone or  Sessho-seki.

 On march 5 2022, the boulder split in half. Presumably freeing the evil fox once more.

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Also, Happy Valentines Day.

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Yokai, The Hibagon .. Bigfoot of Japan.

 

Japanese Bigfoot,The Hibagon 👣🇯🇵

It seems that every country or at least most have a version of a hairy manlike cryptid that roams the forests or mountains ..

North America's Bigfoot/Sasquatch the Rock Apes of Vietnam, the Yeti of the Himalayas and so on..

Well Japan is no exception, the Japanese version is called the Hibagon..

The first reported sighting was in Hiroshima Prefecture in what is now Shobara City during July of 1970.

FIRST SIGHTING...

July 20, 1970, that a man in his 30s said he saw from his car an unusual two-legged creature walking down a mountain road in the Yuki district in the former town of Saijo, now incorporated into the city of Shobara, before it slowly retreated back up the trail after noticing it was being watched.

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Second and third Sighting..

A man who was cutting grass near his home early in the morning of July 23, three days after the first sighting, claimed to have seen a creature in a grassy area with a "human face." 

Another man on July 30 called out to a person whom he believed was a relative walking along a footpath to a rice field, but it turned out to be a "gorilla-type monster.

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In 1971 the government special office to take reported sightings this continued until about 1975 when the sightings started to drop eventually leading to the office being shutdown there were a total of 29 local sightings from 1970-75.

Later sightings of a similar creature took place  in the neighboring city of Yamano, it was called the yabagon it was sighted infrequently for a few years leading people the believe the Hibagon had simply moved to a new location however the yabagon seemed to have disappeared too as it has not been spotted since 1980.

It's believed to live near Mount Hiba in the Chūgoku Mountains. 

Like Bigfoot/Sasquatch the Hibagon walks upright on two legs, standing about 5 -6 feet or up to 1.5 meters tall and very muscular build for it's size.

Eyewitnesses have described the unidentified figure as resembling a gorilla covered in dark brown bristles

 Their bodies are completely covered in black, gray, or dark brown hair.

 Their faces resemble an inverted triangle, and they have bulging eyes that slant upwards. Their voices resemble a dolphin’s call.

There are many theories on what the hibagon actually was.

Some suggest it was a  large Japanese macaques, black bears, a humans in a suit or possibly an  alien being but no one is entirely sure...

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The sightings eventually got the attention of the local authority's and media. Leading to a newspaper article..

A former reporter, then Shobara bureau chief of the Chugoku Shimbun, who wrote the article, was quoted in the Hiroshima-based daily as saying, "I didn't take the first call seriously because I thought it was just a hoax, but then I got another call from someone else who gave an eyewitness account."

After meeting separately with the three eyewitnesses to hear and compare their stories, the reporter said all appeared shaken up, with one saying, "I can't live here anymore." Another complained of people accusing him of "faking" the story and not believing him.

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A footprint that was cast in 1970

A plaster cast of "footprint" believed to belong to the Hibagon was cast on December 16, 1970 and was kept in the chief's office of the Shobara Police Station, which is part of the Hiroshima Prefectural Police.

the Shobara Police Department has donated the footprint to the tourism association, which moved it to JR Bingo-Saijo Station.

 The tourist association used the donation as an opportunity to start recruitment for a "Hibagon Explorers" fan club that has seen about 40 people from around Japan join.

A tour of the mountain road where the first sightings took place was planned for may 2024.

Today the Hibagon has become a symbol of the town, and signs with its  likeness can be seen everywhere.

Yokai,The Ippondatara

 

The Ippondatara is a famous one legged Yokai that haunts the mountains of Japan.

In some villages, its  considered to be a cousin  to the kappa called gōrai who leave their river homes in in winter then transform from river yokai into mountain spirits called kashambo until they return to the rivers in spring. 

This one legged Yokai tends to keep to itself and is relatively harmless with the exception of December 20th, once per year on this day it turns very violent and will kill any human it encounters. 

. Those entering the mountains on December 20th and are unlucky enough to run into the ippondatara are immediately attacked and squashed squashed by  its powerful foot. Because of this, December 20th is considered an unlucky day in the areas where this yōkai lives and people (at least the  ones) stay out of the mountains on that day.

It's name comes from the man powered bellows that a blacksmith would use before the industrialization of the smithies shops  because this yōkai resembles a master blacksmith who lost the use of one eye from years of starting at the bright flames, and has one large leg from years of heavy work pumping the bellows.

It seems to prefer the mountains near Wakayama and Nara Prefectures (old Kii and Yamato Provinces), though it has also been sighted have other neighboring prefectures .

 Some believe it's possibly the ghost of a famous one-legged, one-eyed robber named Hitotsudatara who lived in the mountains of Wakayama and had supernatural strength.

Others think it may be a former mountain kami (God/powerful nature Spirit) that became  corrupted over time and transformed into a yōkai. The  one eyed appearance is a well known feature on  mountain spirits, and other one-eyed yōkai like the hitotsume kozō that was originally a mountain kami.

Winter Yokai : Yukinba

 

Yukinba - 雪婆 - Snow hag.

Her story is pretty similar to other winter Yokai  stories, except for the fact that some Yokai like the Yuki Onna can show some degree of kindness. The yukinab has no such warmth, she is just bad, she is constantly on the hunt for kids who she then kidnaps and eats.

 

Her name combines the kanji雪 (yuki; snow) + 婆 (ba; hag). Though it's slightly different depending on the region. In Yamagata prefecture she's called the Yukinbanba (雪ばんば) with “banba” being a regional dialect for “hag.”

The similar child eating yokai, the Yukifuriba, has a nicer name but is equally as horrible . 雪降り(yukifuri; falling snow) + 婆 (ba; hag, old woman) or The Old Woman of the Falling Snow.

The Yukinba looks like an actual monster she is just a  giant head hopping on one leg, with a lot sharp,  teeth and grasping clawed hands. 

The Yukifuriba just looks like a normal old woman with pale, white skin and dressed in a thin, white kimono who always carries a red rope. She may possibly even be an elderly version of the  Yuki Onna. 

Tthe Yukinba Origins..

"Once in the dead of winter, a man was walking through a snowy wheat field when he heard a woman's voice calling out to him. As he looked, a one-legged crone with wild hair appeared and tried to attack him. He fled desperately, when the snow cleared, Yukiba disappeared..."

Both the Yukinba and the Yukifuriba are well known child eaters. They hide out in the mountains and call out to children in an old woman’s voice, preying on the trusting nature of the young. They lure the children in , capture and eat them. 

Parents in the colder region like Niigata prefecture  warn their children not to play at nights when the Yukinba and Yukifuriba are hunting.

Yokai in the mountains and winter seem to have a preference for eating kids, the Yamauba mountain witch in another one to be wearying off.  In many areas, the Yukifuriba is considered to be a “snow version” of the Yamauba in the same way that the yeti is basically  a snow version of bigfoot.

There are many winter yokai described as having only  one foot.

Similar to the  Ippon Datra another Yokai that is mostly peaceful except for December 20th of each year, on that day it will kill any human it comes across.

Most of these are snow monsters, like the Yuki Nyudo and the Yukibo. The legend comes from an uneven patter of snow melting. When snow melts in pockets, it looks like something with a single, large leg has been hopping around the forest. In the case of the Yukibo, this happens in tree wells.  people saw these track like marks and imagined a one-legged snow monster roaming the mountains.

 the Yukiba was also affiliated with "small fuzzy winged insects" called "yuki-mushi" or "snowbugs" - its been believed that if they appear during the autumn, a yukinba  attack occur soon.

Japanese Yokai: Gashadokuro 💀

 

💀Gashadokuro💀

This Yokai is the physical manifestation of human regret, hunger and death.

The Gashadokuro is a towering monstrous skeleton formed from the grudge and regret of those that have died on the battle field or from starvation. It's body is made from the Bones of countless dead  individuals.

The earliest record of a gashadokuro goes back over 1000 years to a bloody rebellion against the central government by a samurai named Taira no Masakado. 

His daughter Takiyasha hime was a famous sorceress. When Masako was eventually killed for his revolt, his daughter continued his cause. Using her dark magic, she summoned a massive skeleton from the bodies of dead soldiers to attack the city of Kyōto. Her monster is depicted in a famous print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.

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In another vision of the story the Gashadokuro is formed from soldiers whose bodies are left to rot in the fields and victims of famine who die unknown in the villages or off in the wilderness and don't receive a proper funeral, unable to pass on, their souls linger as vengeful spirits these people die with anger and pain in their hearts. 

That energy remains long after their flesh has rotted away, As their bodies decay, their anger ferments into a grudge against the living, which twists them into a supernatural force. When the bones of hundreds or thousands of victims gather together into one mass, they form the giant, skeletal monster. This Yokai existence will last for however the rage and regret in the bone s it's made of still lingers. They are most often found around graveyards mass Graves or battlefields where there are a large mass of dead bodies or death.

This Yokai wanders around the countryside in the late hours of the night. Their teeth chatter and bones rattle with the “gachi gachi” sound. 

However they aren't always noisy. If they spot a human out late on the roads, the gashadokuro will silently sneak up and catch their victims, crushing them in their hands or biting off their head.

Be careful of you're next night walk you definitely don't want to run into one of these guy's... 💀👻

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Gashadokuro in anime.

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💀🎃👻