April 23rd, 2007
Photo: Leon & Mae
License: Creative Commons
This is your 16th french stereo trip for Japan ! Your destination is 佐原の大祭 “the Great Festival of Sawara”. The singularity of this festival lead to the attribution of the title of 国指定重要無形民俗文化財 “national important cultural heritage”. This podcast invites you to experience the Great Festival of Sawara.
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March 11th, 2007
Copyright Hayashima
This the third installment of the serie of articles dedicated to Japan’s UMA (Unidentified Mysterious Animal) also known as 未確認動物 “unidentified animals”. The first article was about 河童 “Kappa”, a swamp biped creature, whereas the second article was about ツチノコ “Tsuchinoko”, a creature a sort of lizard-snake. This time we will learn about a japanese cousin of Nessie : イッシー “Issie”.
Issie, the monster of the Loch Ikeda
Copyright Kickturns
The homophony between Issie and Nessie, the monster of the Loch Ness, is not fortuitous as Issie is also a lacustrian monster; 池田湖 “the lake Ikeda” in the vicinity of 指宿市 “Ibusuki town” in 鹿児島県 “the prefecture of Kagoshima”. In this particular case, many believe that the monster is a plesiosaurus that miraculously survived. However, this explanation falls short for the lake Ikeda as it was formed after a major eruption that occured only 20 thousands years ago.
Photo: Eesti
License: Creative Commons
The monster was first observed in 1961 but it is not until 1978 that the story was taken seriously. On September the 3rd of that year, the 20 attendants of 法事 “a memorial service” testified that they saw the monster. The tourism office of Ibusuki quickly put up a reward of 100000 yens for the first photography of the monster. A few months later, the reward had been attributed and the picture made the first page of the local newspapers. On January the 4th of 1991, the story of Issie got the attention of the national press as a japanese family successfully took a video of the monster.
Sounds eels
Copyright Marck Despain
From the different documents, it seems that Issie is 10 to 20 meters long and that it has a 瘤 “hump”. Contrary to Nessie, nobody saw Issie sticking his head out of the water. That’s about everything we know about Issie. Issie was only observed a few times, always at 夕暮れ “dawn” and numerous attempts at submarine photography failed miserably due to the 濁った水 “muddy water” of the lake. Add to this that the lake is famous for its 2 meters long オオウナギ “big eels” and you naturally wonder if this is not a prank like it seems to be for Nessie. Even if Issie turns out to be an eel of more than 4 meters, that would not be less extraordinary. I can already see the numerous 屋台 “stalls” selling 巨大うなぎ丼 “giants eels on rice” all around the lake during 土用 “the dog days”.
Copyrighted photos used with the permission of their authors.
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October 8th, 2006
Photo：Museum of chimera
(C) Emoto Hajime
This is the second edition of the “Imaginary creatures of Japan” serie of articles that I have launched with an article on 河童 “Kappa”. This time we will discover a very interesting creature named 槌の子 “tsuchi no ko” or バチヘビ “short tailed snake” in the Tohoku region (north-east).
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August 15th, 2006
This is the first article of a series about Japanese creatures. This article talks about 河童 “Kappa” which is probably the most popular creature in Japan.
Even if the name differs, this creature exists on the whole Japanese archipelago. Its first appearance was found in 日本書紀 “Japan - scribe”, one of the oldest japanese document written by the different secretary of the japanese emperors until 720. At this time it was named ミズチ “the spirit of the water”. However, the Kappa disappeared and it is not until 江戸時代 “the Edo era” (1603-1867) that he was spotted again. Finally, the word 河童 became part of the standard japanese language during 昭和３０年代 “the 30’s of the Shôwa era” or in other words between 1955 and 1965.
Photo: rwk
License : Creative CommonsThe Kanji used to form Kappa are 河 “river” and 童 “child”. A Kappa is therefore a “child of the river”. The comparison does not hold except for the stature which is close to a 6 years old child. Kappa is a biped animal with a greasy green skin. Some illustrations depict Kappa with scales or fur. There is also a 甲羅 “shell” on the back. Other particularities include a sharp mouth, palmated hand and feet, a bald head with a cavity at the top. This 凹み “dish” is full of water and allows the Kappa to survive when he wanders on the banks of the river.
In the old tales, Kappa is either depicted as a bloodsucker or as a vegetarian who loves cucumber ! What is the real nature of the Kappa ?
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