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Water Spirits in Japanese Folklore

It should come as no surprise that an island nation such as Japan would have a rich, flowing river of legendary tales and folklore that have streamed through the centuries of its history. Pooling into a literal ocean of infamously devilish and archetypically aquanine characters and beings, the nation's mythological memory has shaped Japan's culture, art and religion. Here are five of the most well-known Japanese water spirits. Kappa Infamous denizens of Japan's waterways, the ubiquitous kappa are reptilian humanoids famous for the small dent or plate on their heads filled with water. Overblown with a haughty sense of pride, kappa suffer from a terrible desire to be respected as proper deities; a respectful bow earns one in return, while refilling their spilled water plate grants lifelong friendship. Kappa are also keen on sumo challenges, and their above-human strength makes them formidable opponents. Offering cucumbers—a kappa's favorite food—can earn irrigation support for farmers and their fields. But beneath their fierce pride lurks a deliberate maker of trouble, expelling gas through their three openings and acting as peeping toms are popular taunts, but kappa, in bursts of anger and disgust, will often kill horses, cows and humans. Funayurei Disillusioned with their lot, funayurei boat spirits are ghost crews of sailors who've perished at sea. Spending their ocean afterlife searching for comrades to join their dispirited world, these phantasmic apparitions eerily emerge from the ocean depths during moonlit or foggy nights. They are often dressed in white funerary robes. Chilling the hearts of all onboard, stopping a funayurei attack isn't easy. These ethereal specters will demand empty buckets to sink the boat with water. However, you can stop them if you offer a bucket full of holes. Brave crews can also sail directly into the funayurei to dispel their power. Throwing provisions overboard lures them away, thanks to their gluttonous greed. Many sailors will toss an onigiri or two overboard, just to be sure… Suijin Usually sculptured from stone or metal as a fierce dragon overlooking a Shinto shrine's temizuya ablution basin, suijin water deities are the patron guardians of farmers and fishermen. People have found suijin all over the country, and worship them at shrines labelled as suitengu. Farmers regularly seek their support for irrigation and rainfall. Fishermen pray for successful catches and accident-free sea voyages. Requests and gratitude for clean drinking water and easy childbirth are also prevalent. Stone votive markers identify common suijin domains like mountain springs, dikes, wells and rice fields. A particularly famous suijin is the ever-popular water goddess, Benzaiten. This is the only female deity amongst the boat-riding Shichifukujin seven lucky deities pantheon. Her power through water eventually extended to the arts, or activities that 'flow like water.' Umibozu Despite its massive size, the mysteriousness of the umibozu may well be this marine spirit's greatest strength. Completely unknown except for their devastating effects, these jet-black 'ocean monks' are only ever seen from the shoulders up—their huge pale eyes give a chilling effect with a mayhem that is truly monstrous. Associated with storms and tsunamis, umibozu usually make their malignant marks late at night, erupting from the deep without warning. For reasons known only to them, umibozu are driven to smash ships to smithereens in a single blow or sink them with barrels of water. The only known escape is to offer an encroaching umibozu a barrel without a bottom. This is in the hopes that its momentary confusion allows the ship to sneak away. Mizuchi Powerful water world guardians, mizuchi are believed to have been born in the mists of Japan's primordial mythology. Mentioned in the country's ancient chronicles, the Nihon Shoki and the Man'yoshu collection of poems, these water dragons require proper appeasement to ensure a balanced nature as well as to ward off their terrible powers of destruction. Believed to represent the challenging relationship between people and the outer natural world, a mizuchi's awesome influence is often confronted and overcome by a hero. In one fourth-century tale, a man named Agatamori defeated a venom-spitting mizuchi that inhabited a river in the ancient Kibi province, in what is now Okayama prefecture. More recently, the most recognised mizuchi-based character may well be that of Haku in the award-winning Ghibli anime film, Spirited Away.