yamawaro

is a (spirit) said to appear in mountains in Western Japan, starting in the Kyushu region. According to mythology, it is sometimes said that they are that have come to dwell in the mountains.

are known by a number of different, similar terms; in Ashikita District, Kumamoto Prefecture, they are also known as , and . In Kuma District in the same prefecture, they are also known as or .

The kanji for can also be written as (). The is the name of the Chinese that this comes from.

Description

According to the Edo-period , lives in the depths of the mountains in Kyushu. It appears as a child about 10 years in age, has long perssimon and navy colored hair on its head, and has intricate fur all over its body. The states that has a short torso, walks upright on two long legs, and speaks in human language. The same book (the version published by Kyōrindō) states that there are in the Chikuzen Province (now Fukuoka Prefecture) and on the Gotō Islands, and they have a human-like appearance with a round head, long red hair that reaches their eyes, pointy ears like that of a dog, one eye above their nose, and they eat crabs, (some types of dioscorea), and (a hybrid of two broussonetia species) roots.寺島良安 『 和漢三才図会』6、島田勇雄・竹島純夫・樋口元巳訳注、 平凡社〈 東洋文庫 466〉、1986年、pp. 152–153. 。

In the Kumamoto Prefecture, hate ink lines, which are used for carpentry, so it is thought that in places where carpentry work is done in the mountains, if one uses an ink line to make lines of ink, would not come close.

It is said that sometimes they help out with lumberjack work in the mountains and that they would help out again by giving them alcohol and as thanks. The goods given to a as thanks must be the same as the ones promised at first, and if something different is given instead, they get unfeelingly angry. It is also said that if they are given their thank-you presents before the work is done, they sometimes run away with it. In the Ashikita District, Kumamoto, it is said that when there is a lot of work in the mountains, they say "let's ask for some help from some " and ask for help.

Like the , they also perform sumo and like to play pranks on cattle and horses. They are also said to enter people's homes without permission and enter into their baths, and it is said that the baths that a enters in would get dirty with grease floating in them as well as a very foul odor.

and other strange events in the mountains are often considered to be the deeds of mountain gods or in the Eastern half of Japan, but in the Western half they are considered to be the deeds of . Phenomena such as the (sounds such as that of a large tree falling) are considered to be done by the themselves, and in the Kumamoto Prefecture, other than stories where they would make falling tree or falling rock noises, there are also stories where they would imitate human songs and where they make sounds imitating (a tool made of bamboo or woven grass for carrying heavy loads) dropping dirt or even the explosion sounds of dynamite. However, the does not play no role at all in those regions, because in some parts, such as the Oguni in Kuamoto Prefecture, there are no legends and they are instead considered to be the deeds of .丸山学「山童」 谷川健一編 『日本民俗文化資料集成 妖怪』 三一書房 1988年、17 - 39頁。。

and migration

In various places in the Western half of Japan, there have been confirmed to be legends where are that have moved into mountains. In many of them, would move into the mountains during the autumn Higan to become , and during the spring Higan they would move back to the rivers to become .
*Kumamoto Prefecture: would move to the mountains during the autumn Higan to become and would return to the rivers during the spring Higan to become .
* Kuma District, Kumamoto Prefecture: and would switch with each other every February 1 (called the )
*Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture: On , would go from the mountains into the rivers.
*Wakayama Prefecture: would go into the mountains to become in the autumn and would return to the rivers to become in the springtime. 柳田國男『妖怪談義』講談社〈 講談社学術文庫〉、1977年、74頁。。
* Yoshino Region, Nara Prefecture: would go into the mountains to become during autumn Higan and return to the rivers to become during spring.

The folkloricist Kunio Yanagita theorizes with words such as "river-child migration" that these seasonal changes between and comes from the seasonal changes between faith and the field gods ( Ta-no-Kami) and the mountain gods (Yama-no-Kami) and that since birds could often be heard in many places during those times, it may be related to the bird migrations that happen with Japan's seasonal changes.

It is said that when and go to and from mountains, they would move in a group through an . It is said that if a human ever built a house in this passageway, the and would get angry and open a hole in the walls. Is also said that if one ever tried to catch sight of the returning to the mountains, one would fall into an illness. 多田克己 『幻想世界の住人たち IV 日本編』 新紀元社〈Truth in Fantasy 9〉、1990年、119頁。。 refers to the landscape and places that go down from a mountain and are considered to be lands that are not suited towards building houses. In the town of Omine, Aso District, Kumamoto Prefecture, the pathway that yamawaro use to move are called .

Similar concepts

In the Hida Region (Gifu Prefecture), they are also called and they are said to play pranks such as stealing bentō from woodcutters.谷川健一監修 『別冊太陽 日本の妖怪』平凡社、1987年、135頁。。

Similar to include the , the , and the . The told about in Nishimera, Miyazaki Prefecture are said to go into mountains during the evening and return to the rivers during morning. 村上健司編著 『妖怪事典』 毎日新聞社、2000年、353-354頁。。 Also, in legends in Omine, Aso District, Kumamoto Prefecture, calling them is thought to anger them so would be used instead as a more polite alternative.

Paintings

In the of the Edo period (such as the ) and the among others, are written about under the name of and they are often depicted with tree branch arms and one eye. According to the Edo-period , it can be seen that one of the that it notes is depicted in the drawn by Kōhōgen Motonobu is one by the name of . 京極夏彦・ 多田克己編著 『妖怪図巻』 国書刊行会、2000年、132-135頁、162-163頁。。

See also

* List of Japanese legendary creatures

References

{{Japanese folklore long

Japanese mythology
Yōkai
Kappa (folklore)
Japanese words and phrases