Jizô and Kappa!

One of my favourite things to do in Tokyo on my days off is hop on a train, get off somewhere that looks interesting and spend hours getting lost down little streets and in parks.  I did this in Nakano a few weeks ago and ended up in a graveyard where I saw some very cool statues in the blistering sun.  After some research I found out these statues represent Jizô the gaurdian of  souls in hell and protector of children, expectant mothers, firemen and travelers.  Since I fall into that category I quite like this.  Jizô is apparently the most popular god and a friend to all.  They are often seen on the sides of roads in clusters where tragedies take place.  Apparently, red is the colour for expelling demons and illness!  Pretty nifty statues I thought.

Also, this just needs a mention!  I read about this when I was researching Jizô.  This a mythical Japanese creature.  This is Kappa:

Innocent eh? Well no….  They like to play pranks on people, like looking under women’s skirts, fart loudly, steal cucumbers (kappamaki – cucumber filled sushi!), dragging horses into rivers and even raping people.  They apparently inhabit rivers and ponds in Japan.  Small children are one of his favourite meals although they do eat adults too.  Some towns still have signs up warning children to keep away from nearby rivers and ponds and some parents write the names of their children onto cucumbers and toss them into nearby rivers/ponds to warn off the creepy amphibian monster.  They get their power from a depression on the tops of their heads that must always hold water.   A way to trick this creature is to bow to it, the kappa will bow back emptying the water from his head and it loses it’s powers and dies.  Might sound silly but the alternative is getting your liver ripped out through your anus!  You choose.

~ by redegg on June 14, 2009.