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Yamajijii

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"Yamachichi" from the "Ehon Atsumegusa"
"Yamachichi" from the Tosa Obake Zōshi

Yamajijii (山やま爺じい) or Yamachichi (山やま父ちち)[1] (or, depending on the area, "yamanjii"[2]) is a type of yōkai.

Summary[edit]

It is said to be a yōkai that takes on the appearance of an old man with one eye and one leg.[1] According to the Early Modern Tosa Yōkai Documentation (近世きんせい土佐とさ妖怪ようかい資料しりょう, Kinsei Tosa Yōkai Shiryou) published by the Tosa Folkloristics Department, with the Kōchi Prefecture being the first, it was passed down in Shikoku. It has a height of about three to four shaku (about 90–120 centimeters) with gray hair growing all over its body and, although it has two eyes, since one of them is large and the other is unusually small, it is seen as having just one eye. It is said that the legend where it has one eye is a misunderstanding of these two eyes that were seen as one eye and then passed down. Since it has teeth that could easily crush the bones of wild boar or a monkey, etc., hunters would tame this yamajijii with bait and use it to drive away wolves.[3]

It would appear on roads where humans come and go, but they don't appear before people but rather leave round footprints about six or seven shaku apart that are about four shaku wide that are as if a mallet was pressed into it.[4]

Worthy of special mention is its extravagantly large voice; should its voice echo around the mountains, it would shake the sky and earth, make leaves fall, and make the nearby trees and rocks move.[5] It is said that there are some who have had their eardrums torn by this great voice and died.[6] The yamajijii would sometimes engage in contests of seeing who has the larger voice and there's a folktale where a hunter attempted to show his voice by making a gunshot to defeat yamajijii in this contest.[7] However, yamajijii, who noticed that he was deceived through a gunshot, shapeshifted into a spider and sneaked into the opponent's home and attacked his sleep in order to clear his resentment.[5] Also, when the hunter prepared for the contest of comparing the loudness of voices, on the evening of New Year's Eve while praying at the Ise Hachiman Daibosatsu, he etched in the name "Ise Hachiman Daibosatsu" on a bullet that he made, which he carried around with him regularly. It is said that this bullet was something that a hunter in the past always carried with him and always hit even without aiming, but by carrying it around one would certainly encounter something strange like a yōkai and against a yamajijii, by making a threat by saying that one would fire this bullet, the yamajijii would shudder in fear and run away.[1][5]

There is also a story where it reads people's minds. In the old book Ashū Kiji Zatsuwa from Tokushima, a yamachichi would appear where there are woodcutters in mountain houses. The woodcutter would get scared and wonder if he should kill it soon; the yamachichi would correctly read that thought one after another. But when an open fire flew off at the yamachichi, it was surprised that something happened that it was not able to read and ran away.[8]

In personality, compared to the yamauba which is also a yōkai of the mountain that attacks humans, they are relatively quieter and they are sometimes deceived by humans,[6] but there are also legends where they kidnap children or domestic animals.[9] Also, like the yamauba, there are also theories that they bring fortune to people. In what was formerly Monobe, Kōchi Prefecture (now Kami), someone named Nakao received a takakibi (morokoshi) seed from a yamauba and by sowing it, a great harvest resulted. At the end of the year, a yamajijii appeared wanting mochi, so it was given a lot of it. The next year also had a great harvest and even more mochi was given to the yamajijii. In the end, as a result of this repeating many times, the yamajijii became able to eat three to (about 54.5 liters) of mochi and Nakao, who feared for his family finances, gave him burned stones which he presented as mochi and yamajijii, who was feeling hot, was given hot oil which was presented as tea. The yamajijii was surprised and fled, dying on the way. After that, the Nakao family, who once had abundant crops, declined at once.[10]

In the yōkai tale Tosa Obake Zōshi written in Tosa Province (author unknown), there was a story where a man who carried a load with a horse fed the load to a yamachichi (yamajijii) and even fed the horse to it. The yamachichi in this book illustration was different from the legends; it was depicted with two legs (refer to image),[11] but according to this the one in the legend was a yōkai with one eye and one leg and the one in folktales was a giant that had the same appearance as a human.[12]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c 市原いちはら1977年ねん、45-49頁ぺーじ。
  2. ^ 松谷まつやみよ子こ (2011). "松谷まつやみよ子この妖怪ようかい民話みんわ". In 郡司ぐんじ聡さとし他た編へん (ed.). 怪かい. カドカワムック. Vol. 0032. 角川書店かどかわしょてん. p. 150. ISBN 978-4-04-885094-0.
  3. ^ 広江ひろえ清きよし編へん (1988). "近世きんせい土佐とさ妖怪ようかい資料しりょう". In 谷川たにがわ健けん一いち編へん (ed.). 日本にっぽん民俗みんぞく文化ぶんか資料しりょう集成しゅうせい. Vol. 第だい8巻かん. 三さん一いち書房しょぼう. pp. 313頁ぺーじ. ISBN 978-4-380-88527-3.
  4. ^ 今野こんの円えん輔 (2004). 日本にっぽん怪談かいだん集しゅう 妖怪ようかい篇へん. 中公ちゅうこう文庫ぶんこ. Vol. 上うえ. 中央公論ちゅうおうこうろん新しん社しゃ. pp. 103頁ぺーじ. ISBN 978-4-12-204385-5.
  5. ^ a b c 桂井かつらい1942年ねん、20-21頁ぺーじ。
  6. ^ a b 多田ただ1990年ねん、42-42頁ぺーじ。
  7. ^ 村上むらかみ健司けんじ編著へんちょ (2000). 妖怪ようかい事典じてん. 毎日新聞社まいにちしんぶんしゃ. pp. 77–78頁ぺーじ. ISBN 978-4-620-31428-0.
  8. ^ 多田ただ克己かつみ編へん (1997). 竹原たけはら春はる泉いずみ 絵本えほん百ひゃく物語ものがたり 桃山ももやま人じん夜話やわ. 国書刊行会こくしょかんこうかい. pp. 133頁ぺーじ. ISBN 978-4-336-03948-4.
  9. ^ 常光じょうこう徹てっ. "昔話むかしばなし伝説でんせつ研究けんきゅう 18号ごう 土佐とさ・四万十川しまんとがわ流域りゅういきの伝説でんせつ (2)". 怪異かいい・妖怪ようかい伝承でんしょうデータベース. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  10. ^ 多田ただ克己かつみ (1999). "物部もののべ村むらの霊れいの世界せかい". In 郡司ぐんじ聡さとし他た編へん (ed.). 季刊きかん 怪かい. カドカワムック. Vol. 第だい6号ごう. 角川書店かどかわしょてん. pp. 66–67頁ぺーじ. ISBN 978-4-04-883591-6.
  11. ^ 湯本ゆもと豪つよし一いち編著へんちょ (2003). 妖怪ようかい百ひゃく物語ものがたり絵巻えまき. 国書刊行会こくしょかんこうかい. pp. 58頁ぺーじ. ISBN 978-4-336-04547-8.
  12. ^ 常光じょうこう徹てっ (2002). "異こと界かい万華鏡まんげきょう". In 国立こくりつ歴史れきし民俗みんぞく博物館はくぶつかん編へん (ed.). 異こと界かい談義だんぎ. 角川書店かどかわしょてん. pp. 21頁ぺーじ. ISBN 978-4-04-883757-6.

References[edit]

  • 市原いちはら麟一郎ろう (1977). 土佐とさの妖怪ようかい. 一声いっせい社しゃ.
  • 桂井かつらい和雄かずお (June 1942). "土佐とさの山村さんそんの「妖物と怪異かいい」". 旅たびと伝説でんせつ. 15巻かん (6号ごう（通巻つうかん174号ごう）).
  • 多田ただ克己かつみ (1990). 幻想げんそう世界せかいの住人じゅうにんたち. Truth in fantasy. Vol. IV. 新しん紀元きげん社しゃ. ISBN 978-4-915146-44-2.
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