The "ayakashi", from the Konjaku Hyakki Shūi by Toriyama Sekien. The description closely resembles that of the ikuchi.

Ikuchi is a yōkai of the sea serpent type in Japanese legend.

It has been described in two anecdote collections during the Edo period, namely Tankai (譚海) (1795) by Tsumura Sōan [ja] and Mimibukuro (耳嚢) (completed 1814) by Negishi Yasumori [ja] .

Tankai

According to Tankai ("Sea of Stories", 1795) by Tsumura Sōan [ja], the ikuchi (ゐくち) is an extremely long fish dwelling in the deep waters off Hitachi Province (now Ibaraki Prefecture). It has only been spotted at night, sometimes rearing out of water and slinking over a ship, taking a long time to complete its passage, and leaving a residue of viscous oil. The sheer amount of oil needs to be dumped overboard lest the ship may sink.[1][2]

It does not have much thickness supposedly, but spans a total length of several hundred jō（several thousand feet)[a], requiring 1 or 2 koku [ja] (1+ or 2+ hours, perhaps little less than 3 hours[2]) to finish hauling its whole length across the ship.[b] Its body oil is said to have the consistency of funori (gummy substance derived from Gloiopeltis seaweed) and slickens the ship's deck so walking back and forth becomes impossible. Thus the ship needs be scrubbed and cleansed thoroughly after a visit by the ikuchi.[1]

Mimibukuro

In "Mimibukuro" ("Ear bag", 1782–1814) by Negishi Yasumori [ja], there occurs a description of a similarly named creature called ikuji".[4][5]

This ikuji was said to appear in the western and southern seas of Japan, and it would get snagged on the bow of the ship. It had the colors similar to an eel, and was immeasurably long, perhaps several jō in length, and it would keep squirming on the bow for the length of 2, 3 days.

The phrase "ikuji naki" ("lacking courage") purportedly derives from this creature's name.

The author, Negishi, states that he heard from a certain informant that in the island of Hachijō-jima in Izu Province[c] (the island is now incorporated into Tokyo Prefecture), there can be found small-sized ikuji which look like eels but have no eyes or mouth and form circular loops. Negishi thus conjectures that the (full grown) ikuji reported to dangle itself from the ship's bow, must actually be hanging like a ring on the bow and revolving around.[4][5]

Sekien's ayakashi

The drawing of "ayakashi" in Toriyama Sekien's Konjaku Hyakki Shūi depicts an enormously long sea creature, said to appear in the seas of Western Japan, "slithering" over a ship for two or three days,[d] depositing loads of oil, forcing the crew to "furiously bail" it out, for fear it would cause their ship to sink.[7][6]

The description of Sekien's ayakashi is closely similar to the ikuchi,[6] and Japanese commentators have equate them, noting that ayakashi is merely a generic term for all sorts of strange phenomena (and monsters) of the sea.[8][9]

Analyses

The ikuchi has depicted by Sekien's like a sea serpent and some sources categorize ikuchi as belonging to a class of sea serpents, or creature of uncertain identity, i.e., cryptids.[8][10] It has been conjectured it might be unknown giant species of sea snakes.[11]

English translators of Sekien regard the "long thing" appearing out of the sea, not as the entire body of the sea-serpent like creature, but as a single strand of long "tendril" (tentacle) of the monster, suggesting this may be an imported lore of the kraken, a legendary giant cephalopod creature.[6]

Am additional piece of lore associated with the ayakashi is that they are formed by the souls or ghosts of humans who have drowned and want others to join them.[12][e]

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ One jō is equivalent to 10 shaku and each shaku is close to and English foot in length.
  2. ^ The original text gives "一二刻"、which should be parsed as "1 or 2 koku" It is said to have been spotted "Always in the shade of night 常に夜陰の事にて", so the nighttime 1 koku is applicable, and this is continually variable since it is defined as 1/12 th of however long the night is, whatever season it may be. At summer solstice, the nighttime koku lasts only 1 hour 20 minutes,[3] at which point 2 koku is 2 hours 40 minutes, short of 3 hours.
  3. ^ Original text reads Hachijō in Zushū province, but giving the Japanese shorthand abbreviations for names of former provinces is of no particular significance.
  4. ^ The original text merely reads "nagaki mono (長きもの, lit. the 'long thing')" does this slithering, whereas the Yoda & Alt translation interprets it as "a tendril long enough", and notes the connection to the Western lore of the Kraken, a giant cephalopod.[6]
  5. ^ Such a characterization applies to the ayakashi depicted in the manga Ushio & Tora, Vol. 5, Ch. 20–25.

References

  1. ^ a b In, Masayoshi 員正恭 (aka Tsumura, Sōan ) [in Japanese] (1917) [1795], Tankai 譚海 (in Japanese), vol. 9, Kokusho kankōkai, p. 285, doi:10.11501/945833
  2. ^ a b Tsumura, Sōan [in Japanese] (2008). "Tankai" 譚海. In Shibata, Shōkyoku [in Japanese] (ed.). Kidan ibun jiten 奇談異聞辞典 (in Japanese). Chikuma shobo. p. 32. ISBN 978-4-480-09162-8.
  3. ^ Asahi Shinbunsha, ed. (1986). Rakugo bunkashi: warai no sekai ni asobu 落語文化史: 笑いの世界に遊ぶ (in Japanese). Asahi Shinbunsha. p. 63. ISBN 9784022583697.
  4. ^ a b Negishi, Yasumori [in Japanese] (1991). "Kan no 3. Kaijō ni ikuji to yū mono" 巻之三 海上にいくじといふものゝ事. In [[:ja:長谷川強|Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi ed/annot.]] [in Japanese] (ed.). Mimibukuro 耳嚢 (in Japanese). Vol. 1. Iwanami. pp. 357–358. ISBN 978-4-00-302611-3.
  5. ^ a b Yabuno, Tadashi (2010-09-20). "Mimibukoro kan-no-san Kaijō ni ikuji to yū mono no koto" 耳嚢 巻之三 海上にいくじといふものゝ事. 鬼火 Le feu follet. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  6. ^ a b c d Toriyama, Sekien (2017), "Ayakashi", Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien, translated by Hiroko Yoda; Matt Alt, Courier Dover Publications, p. 194, ISBN 9780486818757
  7. ^ Toriyama, Sekien (1805). "Ayakashi" あやかし. Konjaku hyakki shūi 百鬼夜行拾遺（今昔百鬼拾遺） 3巻. Vol. 2. Naganoya Kankichi. あやかし 西国の海上に船のかゝり居（お）る時、ながきもの船こえて二三日もやまざる事あり。 油の出る事おびたゞし. 船人力をきはめて此油をくみほせば害なし。しかざれば船沈む。是あやかしのつきたる也。
  8. ^ a b Miyamoto, Yukie (2013). "Chapter 4. Sora to umi no Yōkai. §Ikuchi" 第四章 空と海の妖怪 §イクチ. Nihon no yōkai FILE 日本の妖怪FILE (in Japanese). Gakken Publishing. p. 132. ISBN 978-4-054056-63-3.
  9. ^ Murakami, Kenji [in Japanese] (2005). Nihon yōkai daijiten 日本妖怪大事典. Kwai books (in Japanese). Kadokawa. p. 25. ISBN 978-4-04-883926-6.
  10. ^ Yamaguchi, Bintaro [in Japanese] (2007). Hontō ni iru Nihon no gendai yōkai zukan 本当にいる日本の現代妖怪図鑑 (in Japanese). Kasakura. p. 134. ISBN 978-4-7730-0365-9.
  11. ^ Jinbunsha, ed. (2006). Nihon no nazo to fushigi taizen: Higashi Nihon hen 日本の謎と不思議大全 東日本編 (in Japanese). Jinbunsha. p. 55. ISBN 978-4-7959-1986-0.
  12. ^ Jinbunsha, ed. (2006). Shokoku kaidan kidan shūsei: Edo shokoku hyakumonogatari: Higashi Nihon hen 諸国怪談奇談集成 江戸諸国百物語 東日本編 (in Japanese). Jinbunsha. p. 45. ISBN 978-4-7959-1955-6.
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