A is a

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

(god or spirit) in

Japanese folklore Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, Tradition, customs, and material culture. In Japanese, the term is used to describe folklore. The Folklor ...

said to inhabit a person or their house, bringing poverty and misery. References to binbōgami appear in classic Japanese tales, essays, and

rakugo is a form of Japanese verbal comedy, traditionally performed in '' yose'' theatres. (Bibliographyvolume 38(1)article
T ...

performances.

Description

A binbōgami typically appears as a skinny, dirty old man with a pale complexion, often carrying a paper fan (''shibu-uchiwa'') and wearing a sad expression. Regardless of appearance, they are said to be fond of lazy people. When inhabiting a house, they reportedly prefer to live in closets. According to the poet Nakamura Kōgyō, binbōgami have a fondness for

miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and kōji (the fungus ''Aspergillus oryzae''), and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and spreads; p ...

, and use their fans to waft and enjoy its aroma. Some descriptions add details like wielding a kendama and wearing only one broken

geta Geta may refer to: Places *Geta (woreda), a woreda in Ethiopia's Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region *Geta, Åland, a municipality in Finland *Geta, Nepal, a town in Attariya Municipality, Kailali District, Seti Zone, Nepal *Get� ...

. Being a kami, a binbōgami cannot be killed, but methods to drive one away exist.

Folklore and Literature

Historical References

* The personification of poverty appears as early as the 13th-century collection '' Shasekishū'' (Collection of Sand and Pebbles), Vol. 8, Tale 14 ("Driving Out Poverty"). Here, the entity is called "Hinkyū-den" (, Lord Poverty). The story describes a 50-year-old monk named Enjōbō from

Owari Province was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces w ...

who, along with his disciples on the last day of the month, chased Hinkyū-den out of his residence by striking with peach branches while chanting incantations, finally shutting the gate behind it. * The term "binbōgami" itself dates back at least to the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

. Records from Kyoto, devastated by the

Ōnin War The , also known as the Upheaval of Ōnin and Ōnin-Bunmei war, was a civil war that lasted from 1467 to 1477, during the Muromachi period in Japan. ''Ōnin'' refers to the Japanese era name, Japanese era during which the war started; the war ende ...

, mention a rumor from June 1481 (Bunmei 13): "The wives of the Fukugami (Gods of Fortune) from

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its '' kofun'', keyhole-shaped burial mounds dating from the fifth century. The ''kofun ...

have entered the capital (Kyoto), and the husbands, the Binbōgami of Kyoto, have gone down to Sakai." This reflects the townspeople's desperate hope for Kyoto's recovery. This account also portrays binbōgami as male deities. * The term appears in

renga ''Renga'' (, ''linked poem'') is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry in which alternating stanzas, or ''ku (''句), of 5-7-5 and 7-7 morae (sound units, not to be confused with syllables) per line are linked in succession by multiple poets ...

(linked verse) in ''Moretake Senku'' by Arakida Moritake, composed around 1540 (Tenbun 9).''Seisenban Nihon Kokugo Daijiten'' (Carefully Selected Japanese Dictionary), entry for 「貧乏神」.

Edo Period Tales

* (Toen Shōsetsu, ''Tales from the Rabbit Garden'', 1825) by

Kyokutei Bakin , born , was a Japanese novelist of the Edo period, who wrote under the pen name . Later in life he took the pen name . Modern scholarship generally refers to him as , or just as n. He is regarded as one of, if not the, leading author of early ...

and others, features a "Kyūki" (, Poverty Demon): * Tsumura Soan's essay collection ''Tankai'' (譚海, ''Sea of Tales'', c. 1795): *

Ihara Saikaku was a Japanese poet and creator of the " floating world" genre of Japanese prose (''ukiyo-zōshi''). His born name may have been Hirayama Tōgo (平山藤五), the son of a wealthy merchant in Osaka, and he first studied haikai poetry under a ...

's '' Nippon Eidaigura'' (日本永代蔵, ''The Eternal Storehouse of Japan'', 1688), includes the story "Inoru shirushi no kami no oshiki" (, The Oshiki Tray as a Sign of Prayer):

Beliefs and Practices

* Driving Away: * In

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

, lighting a fire in the irori (sunken hearth) on

Ōmisoka or is a Japanese traditional celebration on the last day of the year. Traditionally, it was held on the final day of the 12th lunar month. With Japan's switch to using the Gregorian calendar at the beginning of the Meiji era, it is now used on ...

(New Year's Eve) is said to drive away the binbōgami due to the heat. Conversely, the warmth is said to attract the Fukugami (gods of good fortune). * Several superstitions connect binbōgami to the irori. In Tsushima, Ehime (now part of Uwajima), excessively poking the irori fire is said to summon a binbōgami. * The Senba ritual in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

involved using the smell of baked miso to lure binbōgami out of houses and into a folded miso plate, which was then discarded in a river. Those performing the ritual washed thoroughly afterward to avoid bringing the god back. * Transformation: Hospitality towards a binbōgami might transform it into a fukugami, as suggested in ''Nippon Eidaigura''. * Proverb: The saying "" (''Kaki uchiwa wa binbōgami ga tsuku'' - "A persimmon-wood fan attracts the binbōgami") derives from the belief that binbōgami are attached to these types of fans.

Modern Shrines and Representations

* The binbōgami from ''Nippon Eidaigura'', capable of turning poverty into fortune, is enshrined at the Ōta Shrine, located within the grounds of the Ushi-Tenjin Kitano Shrine in Kasuga,

Bunkyō is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. Situated in the middle of the ward area, Bunkyō is a residential and educational center. Beginning in the Meiji period, literati like Natsume Sōseki, as well as ...

, Tokyo. It is believed that by praying at the shrine, temporarily welcoming the binbōgami into one's home, and then respectfully sending it off after 21 days of veneration, one can sever ties with poverty. * Myōsen-ji Temple in

Taitō is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. In English, it is known as Taitō City. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 186,276, and a population density of 18,420 persons per km2. The total area is . This ...

, Tokyo, enshrines a stone statue of a binbōgami.Image links: * * This statue is specifically modeled after the popular Binbōgami (King Bomby) character designed by Takayuki Doi for the

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company known for releasing numerous titles across video game consoles, home computers, and mobile phones. Headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo, it also maintained an office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. F ...

game series '' Momotaro''. The statue is named "" (''Binbō ga Saru Zō''), a pun meaning "Statue of Poverty Leaving," as ''saru'' means both "to leave" and "

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

". Consequently, the statue features a monkey riding on the binbōgami's head. * Similar "Binbō ga Saru Zō" statues based on the same game character have also been installed at

Kino Station is a train station located in Sakyō-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of ...

in Kagawa, Sasebo Station in

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

, and Nakanomachi Station on the Choshi Electric Railway. The Choshi Electric Railway also features related statues: one at Kasagami-Kurohae Station with a

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...

(''kiji'') on its head, punning on "" (''binbō o tori'', Poverty Taking/Bird), and another at Inuboh Station with a

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

(''inu'') on its head, punning on "" (''binbō ga inu'', Poverty Leaving/Dog).

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Binbogami Japanese gods Japanese legendary creatures