Know your Japanese Mythological Beasts (part 1) (Higo Blog)

Know your Japanese Mythological Beasts (part 1)

Question 1

What has the head of a monkey, the body of a tanuki, the legs of a tiger, and the tail of a snake?

Hint #1: Eating it is thought to cure the hiccups (I wonder what it tastes like and how it is prepared. I imagine it would make a decent miso-based nabe...).

Hint #2: Miyamoto Musashi supposedly killed one of these with a lance.
answer

Question 2

This mythical creature is native to mountain passes in Kumamoto. What is it?

Hint #1: They have a potato-like head (or a stone one), and a straw covered body.

Hint #2: Monks who stole oil are said to have been punished by being transformed into one of these.

answer

Question 3

This monster is a humanoid with blackish-green skin, luminescent eyes, and a pointed beard. It is rarely seen by man because it lives in an underwater kingdom.

Hint #1: Combine the kanji for "shark" and "person" to make this.

answer

Question 4

What is the Japanese Will 'o the Wisp?

Hint #1: A possible explanation for these phenomena is methane gas rising from the graves of decomposing corpses.

Hint #2: Combine the kanji for "ball" and "person".

answer

Question 5

What mythological creature resembles a snake, can speak to humans (but often lies), enjoys alcoholic beverages, can leap 1 meter, and has never been captured in spite of many reported sightings?

Hint #1: It appeared in Doraemon, where it was reported to be about 60cm in length.

Hint #2: The kanji for earth and child are used to write its name.

answer

Posted by on March 30, 2006 1:01 PM | Permalink

Comments (5)

Hey Adam, I want to show you something interesting.
Google (image) "ぬえ"

Posted by: t | March 31, 2006 12:32 AM

Posted on: March 31, 2006 00:32

Architeuthis:

I thought the round balls coming from freshly buried folks was called 'tameshi' or 'tamashi' or something like that. I know about the 'yuurei' thing - but I think these tameshi were spirits of the freshly deceased. OK 'freshly' sounds produce-like. I want to say 'recently' - but its sooner than that. Hmmmm.

Posted by: Architeuthis | March 31, 2006 4:38 AM

Posted on: March 31, 2006 04:38

Anonymous:

I don't know, but that's a nice lookin kanji...鵺

Posted by: Anonymous | March 31, 2006 2:08 PM

Posted on: March 31, 2006 14:08

scuba:

I see the Pokemon reference...where's the reference to Magic the Gathering? Willow the Wisp, I believe was a wall. like 0/4 defense and only a forrest mana to cast. =

Posted by: scuba | April 6, 2006 5:10 AM

Posted on: April 6, 2006 05:10

awamori no nichiren:

Omaera bakaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

Tsuchinoko no da !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: awamori no nichiren | October 26, 2006 5:15 AM

Posted on: October 26, 2006 05:15