tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8903836431528017500.post8249039190534523673..comments2024-01-15T02:31:32.733-08:00Comments on The Daily Bestiary: KappaPatchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14551888121167330346noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8903836431528017500.post-7445613210088230312016-07-29T03:23:00.988-07:002016-07-29T03:23:00.988-07:00A few other things I have read/seen:
1) Kappa hav...A few other things I have read/seen:<br /><br />1) Kappa have more variant names than any other yokai in Japan. Kataro, Gataro, Gakko, Gattai, Gattaraboshi, Gattaru, Kawataro, Kawako, Ingaraboshi, Kaakanba (bi, bu, be, or bo), Kaakozou, Kaasu (coincidentally also how one writes "curse" phonetically in Japanese), Kaasuppa, Komahiki, Gorambo, Zarappa, Sanbon, Sujinko, Sujindon... y'know, I've only made it through the first three sections of my big yokai book (out of ten), and I'm all tuckered out. Moving on...<br /><br />2) They get all sorts of stuff attributed to them. In one common story, a kappa teaches the man who saved its life the recipe for a miraculous medicine (usually an unguent), with which the man made his fortune as a doctor. In many others, they are the personification of deadly currents and the danger of swimming alone. <br /><br />They also have magic rocks associated with them, or have mummified limbs kept in special shrines. There's a story out of Oita in Kyushu) about a kappa that liked to trick young maidens into marrying him. A bit farther north, along the NE corner of Kyushu, there's even a story about a gang of evil kappa that could fly around and drain peoples blood (possibly but not specifically via the anus). <br /><br />One of my favorites is how some kappa are the masters of such awful punnery that they can force people into a state of shock, at which time they go for the shiriko-dama (either to eat it or to control a person with it).<br /><br />Seriously, this is a very versatile creature. Have fun!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13933762182509106883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8903836431528017500.post-28031582199189489572012-09-26T17:45:35.923-07:002012-09-26T17:45:35.923-07:00Why didn't I think of that! Kappa lich = Dry B...Why didn't I think of that! Kappa lich = Dry Bones! Brilliant!<br /><br />Kappa are one of the most popular yokai, and you've absolutely hit on why: they can be comical, menacing or social depending on the story and the context. And a menacing kappa is very menacing indeed: their favorite food is the "shirikodama", a mythical ball of flesh found by sucking a human's intestines out through the anus. Fortunately, they're also quite fond of cucumber, hence the "kappa rolls" in sushi restaurants. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04304814576315598117noreply@blogger.com