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Umibōzu
Yōkai sea monster in Japanese folklore From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Umibōzu (海坊主; Japanese pronunciation: [ɯ.mʲi.boꜜː.(d)zɯ, ɯꜜ.mʲi.boː-],[1] lit. 'sea priest') is a giant, black, human-like being and is the figure of a yōkai from Japanese folklore.
Little is known of the origin of umibōzu but it is a mythical sea-spirit creature and as such has multiple sightings throughout Japan. Normally, umibōzu appears to sailors on calm seas which quickly turn tumultuous. It either breaks the ship on emergence or demands a ladle from the sailors and proceeds to drown them. The only safe way to escape an umibōzu is to give it a bottomless ladle and sail away while it is confused.
The monster is known by other near-synonymous names such Umihōshi (海法師) or Uminyūdō (海入道).
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Overview
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They are often encountered by ships at night.[2][3] A calm sea would suddenly surge and a giant black bōzu ((bald-shaven)) head surfaces, and destroy or damage ships.[2][4] They are often a few meters (yards) to a few tens of meters (yards) in length,[2][4][3] but some are about human-size.[3] It typically reveals only its upper body[5] above the waist.
The umibōzu is not always solitary, and some lore claim that swarms of them arrive on ships to do mischief, such as clinging to the hull and scull as well as put out the basket fire.[4][3] Their weakness is said to be smoke (tobacco fumes according to some[6][5]) which causes them to flee.[3]
The umibōzu is explained by some to be the ghost of the drowned,[7] a belief held locally in Chiba Prefecture as well,[8] though the lore from Chōshi, Chiba asserts that a certain priest named Shōgaku-bō (正覚坊) had drowned and became the umibōzu, according to Edo Period literature.[9] (Cf. § Sea turtle below). An English source claims the umibōzu is more generally regarded as the spirit of the drowned priest.[10][a]
The lore of the umibōzu is widespread and occurs all over Japan.[13][14] Also the story of the umibōzu (or some maritime yōkai under various names) that asks for a ladle-type utensil then tries to sink the gift-giver's ship by scooping water in it, is found all over Japan.[15]
In a commonplace story, the umibōzu asks for a ladle-type utensil from the gullible seafarer, only to have the creature fill try to fill the ship with the implement and try to sink it. In the version of Ukujima island (of the Gotō Islands, Nagasaki Prefecture), the creature is called either umibōzu or funayūrei, and demands a hishaku (wooden dipper). Since it would try to use it to pour water into the fisherman's vessel, the wise strategy to survive this is to lend a ladle with the bottom punched out.[16] This story is found all over Japan,[15][17] though the sea creature may be told under various names.[19] which is presumably a ladle or dipper also. In the version of Morozaki, Aichi , the funayūrei demands an aka-tori (「あかとりくれい」)、where aka refers to "bilge water" and tori means "taker, gatherer" for any kind of such tool.[20][b].
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Nomenclature
Other (near-synonymous) names include Umihōshi (海法師) or Uminyūdō (海入道),[3] where hōshi (法師) (literally "law-master") and nyūdō (入道) both refer to a monk or priest.
The umibōzu has a clean shaven head like a priest's,[10] as aforementioned. Some English sources also generalize the umibōzu to be the spirits of drowned priests.[10][23][24]
Sometimes the umibōzu is conflated with the funayūrei (船幽霊; lit. "ship ghost"), and it is difficult to make a stark distinction between them.[25][c] As in the aforementioned example the same yōkai may be known as either funayūrei or umibōzu (Gotō Islands).[16]
In the western seas the creature known as umibōzu is a human-headed sea turtle, corresponding to the heshang yu (or oshōuo in Japanese, meaning "monk-fish") from Chinese literature[11] (cf. § Sea turtle)
In European folklore, there is also said to be sea creatures of like meaning, namely the sea monk and sea bishop.
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Legends by area
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In the aforementioned lore around northern Gotō Archipelago, the part about the umibōzu aka funayūrei demanding the ladle is a motif that is widespread throughout Japan as aforementioned,[15] but there are more superstitions about this yōkai according to fishermen of the area, namely, that it never tries to come aboard ship from the aft (stern) of the ship because the Funaō-sama (船王様; "Lord Ship King") faces that way, and always tries to climb from the prow.[16] Also, if it clings onto the scull (oar), then one should keep pushing it until the edge of the oar digs in, and the umibōzu would start screaming "aitata (ouch ouch)" in pain..[28]
In the Tōhoku region, there is a custom of sacrificing to the deities the first fish caught when fishing, and it is said that if this is not followed, an umibōzu would appear and destroy the boat and kidnap the boat owner.[29]
The nurarihyon that appears often in Bisan Seto has a large round head and as they float toward the boat, they would then slowly sludge (nurari) away and then unexpectedly (hyon) float approaching the boat again. They would do this several times over to torment people.
Umibōzu are also said to change their appearance, and in Kesennuma Ōshima, Miyagi Prefecture, there are tales of them shapeshifting into beautiful women and engaging in swimming contests with humans. There is also a similar tale in Iwate, but there it is said that those who accept the challenge would be swallowed down instantly.[2] In Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, there are tales where they would shapeshift into a zatō (blind person) and kill human women. Also, while there are many legends of them attacking humans, in Uwajima there is the legend that those who see an umibōzu would live a long life.[25]
There are also umibōzu with strange appearances. In Wakayama Prefecture, something called the umibōzu of Kemiura would appear and disappear. In Meiji 21, or 1888, December 26, the Miyako Shinbun reported that at Mii-dera, Wakayama Prefecture, there was an umibōzu like a large monkey with a height of about 7–8 shaku (2–2.5 m; 7–8 ft) and a weight of about 60–70 kan (225–262.5 kg, 496–579 lb). It is said to have had brown hair, orange eyes, and had the mouth of a crocodile, the torso of a fish, the tail of a lobster, and the cry of a bull.[30][31]
In Nagano Prefecture, there are umibōzu who live in rivers, unusual through all provinces. According to legend, they live in rivers near Kaesa, Nakano, and had giant bodies and black heads that looked like big Buddha statues. Only their upper bodies were said to be above water.[32]
Similar creatures
The "umikozō" told about in the Kamo District, Shizuoka Prefecture is a boy covered with hair all the way to the sides of the eye, and it is said that they would approach fishing lines with a grin.[33]
In Mikonohama, Kii Province, a small animal called the "mokuri kokuri" that resembles a weasel would go to the mountains on March 3 and to the sea on May 5, and they have the shape of a human, but would expand and contract at will and disappear as soon as they appear, and extract from the butts of people who come to wheat fields at night. They have a jellyfish-like shape, and are said to come floating in swarms above the ocean. During the Mongol invasions, they were considered to be the spirits of those who died in water, and their name was ateji for Mongolian Koguryo.[33]
In the Kitauwa District, Ehime Prefecture, the sea would become white at night and a "shirami", also called "shirami yūren", would come swimming, and fishers would call these idiots. However, it is said that if they hear "idiot", they'd get angry and cling on to the scull and give a bad time.[33]
On Sado Island, the "tate-eboshi" (lit. "propped up eboshi hat") is a monster said to stand at a height of 20 m (66 ft) who would aim at ships and try to flip them over.[33]
Ship ghosts and ghost ships
In Cape Shiriya, Higashidōri, Shimokita District, Aomori Prefecture, it is said that people eaten by sharks would become mōjabune (亡者船/亡者舟; "wandering-spirit ship"). They can be repelled by melting some miso and letting it into the sea.[34]
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In classical literature
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According to the essay, the Kansō Jigo (閑窓自語) of the Kansei era, in Kaizuka, Izumi (now Kaizuka, Osaka Prefecture), an umibōzu would rise up and stay above ground for three days, and children were warned not to go out until it returned to the sea.
In the essay Usō Kanwa (雨窓閑話), in Kuwana (now Mie Prefecture), it was said that umibōzu would appear at the end of the month so it was forbidden to set sail during that time, but it is said that a sailor named Kuwanaya Tokuzō (桑名屋徳蔵) broke this ban and went out to sea whereupon an umibōzu appeared that was 1 jō (3 meters) tall with eyes like mirrors painted with red pigment. The giant asked "Am I fearsome?", to which the sailor answered, "There is nothing as fearsome as navigating through the whole world," at which the umibōzu disappeared.[35][25][4] Similarly, there is a legend about a "zatō gashira" (blind man head), a blind bōzu that appears above the sea, and it would ask people, "Am I fearsome?", and if one acts scared by saying, "I'm scared", or "Please help", it would say, "You should not be going out to sea at the end of the month", and disappear.[36]
In the Kii Zōdan Shū of the Edo Period are statements about umibōzu called "kuro nyūdō" (black priest initiates). A boat was going Ise Province (now Mie Prefecture) to Cape Irago and a boatman named Zenchi refused to have "just one woman" on,[e] so he forcefully took his wife on the boat, and it encountered a large storm. The shipowner believed that the dragon deity was angered, at least partly due to the women on board, and despite throwing into the sea things that he thought a dragon might like, the storm still did not calm, and finally, the kuro nyūdō appeared. It had a head five to six times the size of a human, glittering eyes, and a horse-like mouth that was 2 shaku (60 cm; 20 in) in length. It is said that Zenchi's wife made her resolve and tossed herself into the ocean, and the kuro nyūdō gulped down that woman, upon which the storm stopped.[37] These umibōzu are said to be fallen dragon deities who would demand sacrifice.[29]
In the Honchō Goen (本朝語園) of the Hōei era, there are writings about umibōzu called "fune nyūdō" (boat priest initiate) and they had a height of 6 to 7 shaku (182 to 212 cm; 6 to 7 ft) and had no eyes, nose, or limbs, and upon seeing one, it was considered necessary to say nothing and pretend to have seen nothing, because if one says even something such as "what was that?" it would sink the boat in an instant.[38] Also, in Yura, Awaji Island (now Sumoto), it is said that one can be spared by tossing the most precious cargo into the sea.[2][37]
Bakemono no e
In the early Edo period scroll Bakemono no e, the depiction of the umibōzu is rather unique, resembling a catfish.[39][f]
Sea turtle
Terashima Ryōan's Wakan Sansai Zue (completed 1712) has an entry for a human-faced sea-turtle, known in Chinese as the "monk-fish" (heshang yu, 和尚魚), which Ryōan claims is known as umibōzu by the Japanese who find it in the western seas.[11] (cf. fig. right, and § Chinese tradition below).
Another work entitled Butsurui shōko (pub. 1775), as well as the later, Meiji period compilation Wakun no shiori[40] adds that according to the lore of Chōshi Bay in Shimōsa Province (Chiba Prefecture), a priest named Shōgaku-bō (aforementioned) having drowned to death became the umibōzu.[9] Its appearance is close to what the Japanese call "mud turtles" (Kinosternon] spp.), but the face resembles a cat, and the fore- and hind-paws do not have well-defined toes. When fishermen capture one of these, they would customarily take pity and release it.[9]
The Wakan Sansai Zue also describes the umobōzu being released by Japanese fishermen. But encountering an umobōzu turtle was considered unlucky (不祥), i.e., an omen of a bad catch.[11][12] Therefore, when the turtle pressed its forearms together in front of its breast in a praying gesture, and shed tears to beg for its life, the fisherman made sure to warn the creature not to take vengeance (雔 あだ) on my fishing before releasing it.[11][42]
In Sanuki (Kagawa Prefecture) such creature is called a Kamenyūdō (亀入道; "turtle monk").[42]
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Chinese tradition
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As already touched upon above (in § Sea turtle) Terashima Ryōan's Wakan Sansai Zue equates the monster known in Japan as umibōzu with the Chinese heshang yu[g] (lit. "monk-fish", 和尚魚, pronounced oshō-uo in Japanese), described as a red creature with a humanlike face and softshell turtle-like body of reddish color.[45]
Sea monk
In the Haidao yizhi(,"Leisured Gazetteer of Islands"[h] pub. 1791) by Wang Dahai, under the name of "umi oshō" or "kai oshō"[46] (lit. "sea monk, sea priest", 海和尚, Chinese pronunciation: hai heshang), it was written to be a yōkai resembling a human but has a tear from mouth to ear, and would make a big laughter upon finding a human. Umi oshō are said to be feared because when they appear, a storm surge always follows.[47][48] It is also theorized that this was actually the sea turtle hyperbolically remade into a yōkai.[49] Note that heshangyu or "monk/priest-fish" of Chinese tradition (Japanese: oshōuo) which is human-headed and turtle (terrapin)-bodied, is equated with the umibōzu in the encyclopedia Wakan Sansai Zue.[11][50]
According to the Taiwan xuzhi (臺湾續志) i.e., Xuxiu Taiwan fuzhi ("Continued & Revised Gazeteer of Taiwan Prefecture", 1764), the hai heshang sea-monk "had a red color, with head and body similar to human form, with four wings/fins, and no scales[i] so it was essentially a ningyo (man-fish, meraman), and was merely a newly coined term used around the Canton area to refer to such creatures. Whereas the hai heshang described in the Zhejiang xianzhi (浙江縣志, "Zhejian county gazetteer")is an entirely different creature.[46][51]
Ghost-wailing sea
In China, there is the legend of the bald-headed sea horde called Kikokutan,[52] or Kikoku-nada[53] (鬼哭灘) ( Guiku tan in Chinese pronunciation, {{lit} "demon-crying rough sea" or "ghost-wailing sea"[j]) which Inoue Enryō equates with Japan's funayūrei.[52][k] The horde of about 100 "headless,[l] one-handed and one-legged,[m] short and bald[n] beings arrive and try to overturn the ship. They are said to dissipate once some sort of foodstuff is scattered at it.[52][54][o], published 1843, which omits mention of baldeness. This is requoted by Inoue (1896) in Yokaigaku kōgi 妖怪学講義, and subsequently Konno (1969) follows by leaving baldness unmentioned. Mizuho Sawada (1976), an authority on Chinese fabulous material however explicitly explains it to be a "..one-handed, one-footed, short bald-demon (wandering ghost without a head of hair)片手片足の短禿鬼(頭髮のない亡者)"/[55]。}}
Inoue Enryō considered this the counterpart of Japan's funayūrei,[52] while Ōta Nanpo wrote it was a type of umibōzu.[56]
The Kikoku-nada legend is also known in the Chita District, Aichi, where it has been told that if one sailed out on the lunar New Year's Eve, one was sure to encounter the eerie creature (ayakashi), but the disturbance will cease if a lot of ladles are cast into the sea.[21]
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Recent sightings
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In April 1971, the fishing vessels 28th Konpira Maru which sailed off from Miyagi Prefecture (Onagawa, Oshika District) allegedly had its tuna-fishing long line snapped off by a giant marine beast off of New Zealand, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) southeast of Cape Lyttelton, and this has been tied to the umibōzu.[57][4] The creature has also been dubbed kabagon as a sort of UMA (cryptid).[3] It had greyish wrinkled skin, with glaring eyes about 15 cm (6 in) in diameter, a flattened nose, and no mouth to be seen. Though the rest of its body was in murky waters to see clearly, there was some billowing movement under the surface suggesting a trailing tail. As they got ready to harpoon it, the monster disappeared into the sea.[58][59]
When an officer at the Yaizu, Shizuoka branch of the Far Sea Fisheries Research Laboratory heard of this account, he supposed that it was likely that the fishermen were mistaking an organism, such as a fish or whale, for a monster.[57] In another eyewitness account, the half of its body that appeared from the water surface was about 1.5 m (5 ft) in length, so by inferring that its whole body was several times that length, they said that they never heard of an organism like that.[57]
These accounts were published in Mainichi Shimbun on July 17 of the same year.[57][25]
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Rational explanations
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The umibōzu sometimes appear at seas with no abnormalities (and in this case, once the umibōzu was seen, the weather would start getting stormy), so it's pointed out that these could be things that do exist but were misinterpreted. Some examples of things that could have been misinterpreted include sea organisms, cumulonimbus clouds, big waves, and other natural phenomena.[25]
Umibōzu always appear only in the ocean, usually during peaceful waters and fair weather.[60] These fair conditions would normally put the sailors at ease as they are literally "sailing on smooth waters" but the possible presence of a malicious spirit put many sailors on edge in these times of peaceful sailing. Upon its sudden rising from the ocean, causing waves and sometimes flipping ships or breaking them[61] with its emergence, umibōzu is accompanied by the winds begin to blow and waves toss the ship about. The appearance of an umibōzu alone causes this dramatic shift in weather which puts any ship in immediate peril, not only from being capsized by the waves but also from being crushed by the yōkai. This could be a mixing of the funayūrei[22] legends which suggests these yōkai appear during storms at sea.
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See also
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