Folk Legends of Japan (20 page)

THE BADGER THAT WAS A SHAMISEN PLAYER

As De Visser points out in his study "The Fox and the Badger in Japanese Folklore," the badger is a less complicated figure than the fox. Of the three kinds of badgers
—tanuki, mujina,
and
mami—
it is the first that figures principally in folklore and is often linked with the fox in the word
kori,
meaning "foxes and badgers." The
tanuki
is first reported in the thirteenth century as a mischievous shape-shifter. Bruno Taut writes in
Houses and People of Japan
(tr. from the German by Estille Balk: Tokyo, 1937), p. 101: "The Japanese badger, which figures largely in superstitious jokes, has been mixed up with Buddhism by the people, who like to dress him up as a Buddhist priest. They also accentuate his round belly which he has probably filled during the winter time, exaggerate the size of his testicles and put a wine-bottle on his back." Joly, p. 14, under "Badger," says: "Standing by the roadside on its hind legs it distends its belly (or rather scrotum) and striking it with its forepaws uses it as a drum... wrapped in a kimono, it begs like an itinerant monk, waylays folks at night across paddy fields, causesfishermento draw up their nets empty, and only laughs at their misfortune."

Like the fox, the badger plays several roles. He is a roguish transformer as in the present tale; he is a foolish dupe; and he is a grateful friend. The badger as rogue is indicated in Yanagita,
Mountain Village
Life,p. 427: "... in Yamagata-mura, Iwate-ken, they believe that when a badger wishes to dupe a man it puts its moustached mouth between its thighs to make them look like a woman's thighs." An evil badger disguised as a beautiful girl and as Buddha is discovered and slain, in Mitford, pp. 224-26, "The Prince and the Badger," and Hearn,
Kotto,
"Common Sense," XI, pp. 11-15, respectively. Foolish badgers appear in Yanagita-Mayer,
Japanese Folk Tales,
no. 10, p. 43, and nos. 40-42, pp. 119-26. Grateful badgers are found in Mitford, pp. 220-23, "The Badger's Money," and Suzuki, pp. 109-12, "Shirahage Daimyojin." The several types are discussed in U. A. Casal, "The Goblin Fox and Badger and Other Witch Animals of Japan,"
Folklore Studies,
XVIII (Tokyo, 1959), pp. 49-58 [section on The Badger].

Text from Satoshi Sakakigi,
Tabi to Densetsu,
II (June, 1929), "Legends of Shimabara," no. 6, pp. 16-17.

Note:
Shamisen,
a three-stringed musical instrument.

T
HIS STORY IS TOLD
at Sakashita in Kita Arima-mura. One day a man went out to do some shopping at Tanigawa, a little distance from this village. When he was about to cross the Arima River on the way, a badger appeared and began to wade the river. The man looked at him, counting the number of stepping-stones. When the badger reached the other side he looked back at the man, and then looked at the surface of the water. He picked up a log which came floating by. Then he put some weeds on the log and made it into a
shamisen.
He picked up another log and put some weeds on it again. Then it became a little girl. The man was pleased to see the badger doing such things. At last the badger put the weeds on his own head. Immediately he turned into a blind woman. After he finished disguising himself, the blind woman walked on with the
shamisen
in her arms, led by the girl. They looked like a true party of traveling
shamisen
players.

The men followed after them to see what the woman would do. She went into a temple at Tanigawa and began to play the
shamisen.
The persons in the temple entertained the party very well, and the neighboring people gathered together to listen to the
shamisen.
In the meantime the man thought how foolish the people were to be pleased, when all the time they were being fooled. He went in back of the temple and poked a hole in a paper door, through which he peeped. The listeners increased and created a great hubbub. Then someone patted the man's shoulder. '"What are you doing here?" "The badger disguised himself as a shamisen-player," he answered. "I am waiting for a good time to expose him."

But he heard a loud laugh. And he realized he was peeping into the buttocks of a horse.

DANKURO BADGER

This is a variant of the bowl-lender legend. See "The Kappa of Koda Pond," p. 61-62.

Text from
Densetsu no Echigo to Sado,
I, pp. 67-68. Collected in Tagamimura, Minamikamhara-gun, Niigata-ken.

A
LONG TIME AGO
a vassal of Abe Sadato fled to the mountain called Gomado-yama following a defeat in battle, and he built a castle there. He maintained his power for a long time, but eventually his castle was captured.

In the woods near the castle was a cave in which a badger lived. The villagers called this badger Dankuro. This badger was a queer fellow. When the castle fell, he stole into the castle and secured valuable utensils and treasures, carrying them to his cave. So he became the owner of abundant treasures beyond compare with any in the neighborhood. When the people of the neighboring villages were in need of utensils and the like on the occasion of weddings, funerals, or memorial services, they went to Dankuro Badger to borrow such things. And the badger was ready to lend them. But it was said that if they did not return what they had borrowed, he would refuse to lend any more.

Once a mischievous villager borrowed some things and did not return them all. The badger was offended. Not only did he stop lending; he also did much damage to the fields of the villagers. He piled up firewood in his cave and, setting it alight, vanished from view.

But one can still see the cave in which Dankuro Badger lived.

SEVENTY-FIVE BADGERS

In this legend the badger is a fearsome creature. As happens here, a strong dog is often used to destroy such evil beasts, for instance Hayataro in "A Heroic Dog of the Ko-zenji Temple," Murai, pp. 88-93, who killed and was killed by three huge monkeys.

Text from Kamekichi Nagata,
Impaku Mintan,
1 (January, 1936), pp. 69-70. Collected in Yashiro-mura, Yazu-gun, Tottori-ken.

A
BOUT 1,500 YEARS AGO
an old man and woman lived in Shimo Yama guchi. One day the old man went to the mountains to cut trees, and the old woman stayed at home pounding soy-bean paste. In the afternoon their red cow suddenly shied at something and, breaking down the door, rushed out of the stable. The old woman ran after the cow trying to catch it, but when she was about to overtake the beast, it sped away and when it had traversed some distance it stopped a while. In such a manner the old woman was led to Otaki-ga-naru in Miyahara, and there was killed by a badger. In those days seventy-five badgers lived at Otaki-ga-naru and they troubled the villagers sorely.

When the old man came home in the evening he learned what had happened to the old woman. Determined to get revenge on the badgers, he made a petition to the god of Ashio Shrine. Every day for twenty-one days he visited the shrine. On the last day the god appeared in his dream and said:

"Todarabo Dog of Tsukidani is the only creature that can destroy the badgers of Otaki-ga-naru. Go to the village of Saji tomorrow to borrow the dog, bring him back with you, and make him fight against the badgers."

The old man was glad to hear this. Early the next morning he went to Tsukidani and borrowed the dog. On the way back when they entered Enami Pass, the big dog found it difficult to pass through the rocks. Therefore the rock at that place was called Inubasami [Catching the Dog].

The next morning the old man rose very early and made seventy-five rice balls and went out to Otaki-ga-naru with the dog. There he let Todarabo enter the badger's den. Soon the dog came out with a badger in his mouth. The old man gave him one rice ball. They repeated the same action seventy-four times. At last when there was only one badger left, the old man became so hungry that he ate the rice ball himself instead of giving it to the dog. The tired dog was at last defeated by the last badger. The old man felt sorry for the dog and enshrined him at Shimo Yamaguchi. This is the origin of the present Inu-yama [Dog-mountain] Shrine.

Because this seventy-fifth badger was not killed, there are badgers nowadays.

KOIKE'S BABA

This tale is found in northern Europe and has been assigned Type 121, "Wolves Climb on Top of One Another to Tree" (Motif f 2133.6). Ikeda comments, p. 48: "In the European tales it is a woman who turns into a cat, but in Japan it is a cat that eats an old woman, usually the mother of a village blacksmith, and assumes her shape. At night she sneaks out from the house to harm travelers. In this story she usually appears in the capacity of an adviser to a group of wolves.
.
.
.
It is told widely in Japan as an actual happening in various localities."

Text from
Shimane-ken Kohi Densetsu Shu,
pp. 41-42.

Note:
Baba,
an old woman.

A
MONG THE VASSALS
of the Lord of Matsue there was a man named Koike. One of his servants named Tobizo went on an errand to a distant village and it became dark on his way back. As he was walking along the path under the moonlight, some wolves came out from the thick woods and jumped at him. Tobizo could not find a way to escape, so he climbed a tree beside the path. He guarded himself with a sword. The wolves were howling around the tree. After a while one of the wolves stood firmly at the foot of the tree, and another one jumped on its back, and another on the second one's back, and thus they reached to a height of four or five feet. Then one of the wolves said: "Bring Koike's
baba
immediately." Then another wolf ran away as fast as lightning. Soon it came back with a big cat, as big as a dog. The cat jumped up on top of the wolves and was about to bite at Tobizo. In desperation he threw the sword at the cat. The sword hit the cat's forehead, and it fell to the ground; the wolves also all fell down. In the meantime the day dawned and Tobizo went home, having barely escaped with his life.

When he arrived at his home he was told that the night before, while in the toilet, Koike's mother had been injured on her forehead. Tobizo had a suspicion when he heard this, so he told his master all that had happened the night before. Koike himself had been suspecting his mother, for she always took her food alone; she never ate with other people. As he wanted to find out the truth, he secretly peeped into the mother's room that evening. The mother was sitting down upon her heels and eating the food by lowering her mouth to the dish. After a while she lifted up her face and looked around. Her face was just like a cat's face. Koike pushed down the door and jumped into the room. He killed the creature with one cut of the sword. When he examined the mother's bed, he found the bones and flesh of his real mother under the bed.

THE GOD AKIBA REVEALED AS A BEGGAR

Motif K1811.1, "Gods (spirits) disguised as beggars. Test hospitality" enters here. Anesaki, pp. 250-31, tells of the god Susa-no-wo traveling as a beggar and rewarding a hospitable home with a charm against evil spirits. Akiba is a Shinto god of fire prevention, and Akiba shrines issued charms against fire. Curiously, a Southern-born Negro told me of angels disguised as beggars who ascended to Heaven in a puff of smoke (R.M. Dorson,
Negro Folktales in Michigan,
Cambridge, 1956, pp. 156-57, "Mangelizing").