The Kappa - A Dangerous Fellow

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4 years ago (Last updated: 3 years ago)

A kappa (河童- river child) is a Japanese folkloristic being mainly inhabiting rivers and ponds. It goes under many different names: kawatarō, kawako, suiko, etc. and is an amphibious or reptilian yōkai, a sort of demon.

(Above: Kappa, by Hokusai)

The kappa is green and human-like, of a child's size, with slimy or scaly skin, webbed thumbless hands and feet and a turtle-like shell. A peculiarity is a depression in its skull, sara, that retains water. This water is the source of the kappa's power, if it is spilled out or dried up while the kappa is on land, it is weakened and might even die. It is also said that a kappa has three anuses, so it can pass away three times as much gas as a human.

(Below, two pages from a book by Juntaku, Illustrated Guide to 12 Types of Kappa, Suiko juni-hin no zu [水虎十二品之図]. Mid 18th century.)

An even more peculiar detail is that they are known to attack humans in water and remove an organ, shirikodama, from the anus. This organ is shaped like a ball and contains the soul.

(Above: Defence against Kappa [by farting]. Woodblock print by Yoshitoshi from 1881.)

The kappa is mischievous and dangerous. They are sometimes blamed for drownings, and are said to take humans to drink their blood, eat their liver or take their shirikodama. They are also known for kidnapping and raping human women.

(Below: Kappa. From Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (The Illustrated Night Parade of a Hundred Demons) by Toriyama Sekien.)

For some reason their favourite food is cucumber and there are festivals with offerings of cucumber to mollify the kappa so the family is not harmed in the water. There are also shrines dedicated to kappa worship; kappa are considered water deities.

(Below: Utagawa Kunisada: The fisherman Urashima Taro looking down at a kappa, from between 1843 and 1846.)

So what would you do if you meet a kappa?

According to the expertise, the best is to try to make it spill out the water from its sara. One way to do that is to be very polite and make a deep bow. The kappa, polite to a fault, would also bow, and the water is spilled. And if you fill its sara again, the kappa will serve you for ever.

Another way is to draw off one of the kappa's arms. Then it would do you any favour to get it back.

Then, if you feel up to it, you can always challenge a kappa to sumo wrestling and try to make it spill the water from its sara during the match. As it loves sumo wrestling, the challenge might as well come from the kappa. Don't feel too sure to win tough, a kappa is small but very strong!

(Woodblock print by Yoshitosi. Sumo wrestling kappa. From the series One Hundred Ghost Stories from Japan and China, 1865.)

There are later depictions of kappa in a more modern style by for instance Hasegawa Konobu and Nagai Iku, but for copyright reasons I cannot display their works here.

(The lead image is a detail from Kappa, a print from 1843 by Issunshi Hanasato.)

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Comments

really it was interesting story and well written article thanks man

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4 years ago

You're welcome.

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4 years ago

三お尻の穴がある!だれはおならフェチあれば カッパをズットズット好きだ

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4 years ago

コメント無し

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4 years ago

Oh,that was very fun and interesting article.First I heard about Kappa in one of my favourite cartoon "SHINCHAN" after I was seeing in this post.Thanks man for posting nice article

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4 years ago

You're welcome, and if you like this sort of things, keep your eyes open, I will write about other fellows from Japanese folklore in the near future.

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4 years ago

Yes man waiting for yours posts

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4 years ago

Interesting story. There is something similar among the Slavic peoples. It is called Topielec, Vodník or Utopiec.

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4 years ago

There are similar creatures in many cultures: Shui Gui [水鬼] a Chinese water gost, the Neck (Näcken) in Sweden and Norway, Vodyanoy in Russia, and, as you say, Vodnik, and I am sure there are more, which I don't know about. I had not heard about Pinarágó before.

All are not the same, but they have much in common.

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4 years ago

In hungarian, its called Pinarágó (cunt chewer). It drags down girls into the lake, and chews their pussy.

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4 years ago

Thats one freaky little critter. Amazing how many river creatures and posters there are in cultures.

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4 years ago

nice article and have know more about kappa it was interest and fun article

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4 years ago

Thank you.

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4 years ago

Defence against Kappa [by farting].  笑笑笑

Some of them got civilized and started a massive sushi chain. 🤷‍♂️

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4 years ago

This is very interesting. A lot happens in water bodies, is only the explorers that can tell what they see on regular basis. "To conquer the Kappa if accidentally met is by wisdom as described, not by power".

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4 years ago

Isn't it often so in folk tales that wisdom and wit wins over raw physical strength?

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4 years ago

Yeah! It takes wisdom to win, not stature or strength. May God always give us the wisdom to conquer.

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4 years ago