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Weird Snapshots, Strange Truths, Odd Realities and Wacky Info of Japan
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MORE
1
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2
Original
Belief of Japan: Shintoism
INARI
:
GODDESS
OF
RICE
Inari
shrine
Inari
statues
KITSUNE
:
JAPANESE
FOX
Kitsune
myth
TANUKI
:
JAPANESE
RACOON-
DOG
Giant
tanuki
Tanuki
family shrine
ZARU
:
APES
This
is the Fushimi Inari temple of Shinto religion in Kyoto. It is the
most important temple among many Inari temples in Japan.
There
are many folk tales or legends and myths about Inari in Japan. Inari
was the goddess of rice. 'Ine-nari' means 'ripe paddies',
hence abbreviated into 'inari'.
Because
people believed that kitsune (fox) was the messenger of the
goddess, they worshipped both Inari and kitsune, and after many ages
people had forgotten about the goddess and the word 'Inari' was taken
to be a name for kitsune. Hence Inari statues are of a fox
or kitsune.
Statue
of Inari
Statues
of Inari. At the right is photograph of inari, which is a food in
Japan, made of soybeans and then deep-fried. Besides being eaten daily,
inari is also an offering to the protecting spirits like Inari in
the statues.
Myogonji
(Myogo temple) in Aichi
prefecture is also an important temple of Inari. The others are
Kasama Inari in Ibaraki, Takekoma Inari in Miyagi, and Yutoko Inari
in Saga.
The
species of inari is close to kitsune (fox). According to
Japanese folklore, a kitsune was the messenger of Inari, the goddess
of rice. Japanese people built shrines for kitsune, because
she can turn into a woman, and married a human, which means she has
power over us.
In
one of the myths, kitsune helped her husband (who didn't
know she was an animal) and the village when Tokugawa bakufu tax-collector
came to the house. When inspecting the rice field, all the paddies
were damaged and it would not give any harvest, so the bakufu didn't
collect tax from there. But when the tax-collector was gone, suddenly
the paddies were growing perfectly, and the village had the best harvest
they ever had. So the people erected a shrine for Inari and
kitsune.
Kitsune
and tanuki (racoon-dog) are seen as tricky, and they could
be good or bad, depending on whether we appease them or not. Therefore
a Japanese saying "kitsune to tanuki o bakashi"
("a fox and a racoon-dog trick each other").
Another
important animal in Japan is tanuki. White people often translate
'tanuki' into 'badger', but it is wrong. We have other words
for 'badger': 'mujina' and 'mami'. The correct translation
of 'tanuki' is racoon-dog.
There
are also many folk tales/legends/myths about tanuki in Japan.
One of which is about the origins of Inu-yama
(Inu mountain) in Gifu prefecture, which
was house of Oda
Nobunaga in 1575.
It
is said that in year 100 there were 75 racoon dogs in Yamaguchi, and
they were very evil. They destroyed people's crops, and killed people
without any reason. An old man prayed at a temple of Buddha and he
was told that the evil racoon-dogs would be defeated by a dog from
Tsuki-dani. The old man borrowed the dog, and gave him one riceball
for every racoon-dog that he killed.
But
when 74 racoon-dogs had died, the old man himself was hungry, so he
ate the last riceball. As a result, the dog from Tsuki-dani didn't
have enough strength to fight the last racoon-dog. The dog from Tsuki-dani
was killed. The
old man was very sad and regretted his action (eating the last riceball).
He buried the dog in Yamaguchi, and at the site he built a shrine.
The place was to be known as Inu-yama, or 'Dog Mountain', from that
day.
Other
Japanese people built shrines for the last racoon-dog, and gave him
offerings, in order to appease him so that he wouldn't destroy their
crops again or kill people.
Tanuki
statue in Ibaraki is higher than 6 feet. At the right is tanuki souvenir
from the shrine of tanuki.
A private
shrine of Tanuki at home.
Tanuki
pottery
This
is photograph of the real Japanese tanuki or racoon-dog. The difference
with American racoon is Japanese racoon doesn't have tidy black 'rings'
at his tail.
A
Japanese racoon-dog weighs at maximum 5 kilograms, and his length
is 60 centimeters plus his tail 16 centimeters. He eats fruits, watermelon,
etc.
In
medieval centuries, racoon-dogs were hunted for their meat, also their
fur to make brushes, and their skin for clothes and other things.
Click
here for BIG PICTURES of tanuki & all other Shinto animal gods
This
is koshindo temple in Kyoto, full of charms dedicated to apes/monkeys.
In the city of Nara,
monkeys are gods which protect us and our homes from evil spirits
and other people's harmful intentions.
If we put the charms (migawarizaru) like in the photo above,
the monkey gods are represented, and, seeing the charms, the evil
will go away.
Do
you want to see real weird gods in Japan? Click
here for the god of abortions. Also Tosa
dogs which are native dogs of Japan, and Japanese dog-fight.
There
are also more weird shrines and animal gods. Click
here for stories and pictures of Shinto lion-dogs, turtles, phoenix,
white lion, kappa, tengu, etc., and why we worship
them.
Even
ordinary dogs and cats have their place in Japanese spirituality.
Click here.
by
Hasegawa
Pinky
Inari
(food)
Kitsune
shrines
Tanuki
shrine
The
origin
of Inuyama
Tanuki
souvenir
The
real
Japanese
tanuki
Shrine
of apes
NEXT
PAGE
GET REAL ABOUT JAPAN
Meanings
of Japanese Names, Nicknames & Titles
How the
Japanese Name Themselves
History
of Japanese Clothes
Kimono Culture
Shinto,
the Essence of Being Japan
Japanese Warrior Codes
Structure
of Japanese Feudal Society
Rulers
of Japan since 660 B.C. until today
Shoguns
for Dummies
The
Japanese Greatest Warrior Clans
Cities
of Japanese Warlords
Origins of Japanese Music, Songs, Dramas
& Dance
Weird
snapshots, strange truths, odd realities & wacky info about
Japan: Superstitions, Foxes, 'Voodoo', Shamans, Shogunal Food, etc.
Real
Samurai Legends
Bushido
Samurai
is identical with swords, right? WRONG.
Japanese
Swords, Swordsmaking & Swordsplay
What You'd
Need To Be a Warlord & How To Do War in Medieval Japan
Japanese
Architecture & Interior Designs
Japanese
Warlords' Money
Japanese
16th century Warlords
Management
of a Warlord's Household
Japanese
Samurai Wars
Origins
of Samurai Habits
Maps of
All Japanese Provinces, Warlords & Battles
Premodern
Japan: Real-Life in Emperor Meiji's World
Japanese Warrior Codes & Samurai Beliefs
Many traditions
that we assume to be Japanese are actually imported from China:
kanji, Buddhism, ikebana, bonsai, tea ceremony, and so on -- even
sushi and Shinto. No kidding.
History of Japanese Dolls & Origami
Family
Crests of Japanese Samurai Clan
All &
Everything about Oda Nobunaga
Shinsengumi, a.k.a the Wolves of Mibu,
alias the Real Last Samurai
Zen &
How It Shaped the Samurai Soul
Best
Asian Movies
Japanese
Actors
Samurai
X
History
& Galleries of Japanese Comics & Anime Movies
Christian Warlords, Samurai & Rebels
Architectural
Tour of Japan: Pictures of Japanese cities, towns, houses, castles,
streets, roads, back alleys, shops, temples, shrines, palaces, resorts,
villages, gardens, bridges, arcades, hotels, gates, malls, etc.
Japanese
'Flower Language': How To Avoid Sending the Wrong Bouquet to the
Japanese in Your Life
Weird
Pictures of Japan section
© 2004, 2005, 2006 Hasegawa 'Pinky' Tomoko
Webmasters
of this section
Arisugawa Takashi & Hasegawa Tomoko
Preface
by
Nina Wilhelmina
Captions
by
Hasegawa Tomoko, Obata Sugizo & Arisugawa Takashi
Photographs
by
Hasegawa Pinky, Obata Sugizo, Arisugawa Takashi, Fuda Ron,
Jack Bellum, Ken Masahiro, Kawaguchi Eirin, Mary B. Morton
and other friends
Personal
signs (except Nina's) by
Hasegawa Tomoko, Obata Sugizo & Arisugawa Takashi
Pinky
Sugi
Takashi
All rights reserved.
Every borrowed image at this site is put
for non-profit educational purposes only.
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Site
© 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Nina Wilhelmina
Basic
pix (signatures of the site, not the ingredients
and not including personal 'crests' of the people
who mess up with this page)
© 1996 - 2006 Nina Wilhelmina
Send
your Oda Nobunaga picture
or your comments about the Shinsengumi
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