In Japanese folklore, the is a familiar type of water monster, considered one of three major yà Âkai.
Kappa are said to be inhabiting the ponds and rivers of Japan. It is also known by various local names, including .
The had been dangerous mankillers that drowned people, also targeting horses and cattle to be dragged into water. Later, they came to be depicted as mischievous beings which get punished (captured, having its arm severed, etc.), and in exchange of forgiveness, gratefully performed labor, or revealed a secret medicinal recipe ().
Accounts typically depict them as green, slimy (or scaly), human-like beings with webbed hands and feet and turtle-like carapaces on their backs. A depression on the head, called a "dish" (), retains water, and if this receptacle is damaged or if its liquid is spilled or dried, a becomes severely weakened.
The favor cucumbers and love to engage in sumo-wrestling. They are often accused of assaulting humans in water and removing a mythical organ called the ( "buttocks-wee-ball") from their victim's anus.
The name kappa is a contraction of the compound from kawa "river" and "child, boy", or of , from (, "child"). Another translation of kappa is "water-sprite".
In earlier times, there was a clearer demarcation in terminology, where the creature tended to be known as kappa in the east and known rather as in the west (Kyà «shà « and Kansai region) from 18th century literature.
The kappa are also known regionally by at least eighty other names. Among older literature, the (1775) lists several local names such as in Etchà « Province (Toyama Prefecture). Ono Ranzan's Honzà Âkà Âmoku keimà  (1803) also listed about 20 local names.
Alternate names close to the standard include: or ; (Kyà «shà « , Niigata incl. Sado Island); (cf. infra.); kawatarà Â; ; (Yamanashi); (Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Kagoshima incl. Tanegashima); (Fukui, SW Hyà Âgo, Kagawa); (Shimane); ( quarters in the city of Ise, Mie); ( quarters in Suzuka, Mie); (Kyà «shà «, Kansai region, Sado Island); (Fukuoka).
The form occurs widely in the Chà «goku region and perimeter of the Seto Inland Sea (e.g., Kasaoka, Okayama), but it is often heard pronounced as . The form kawako has also been used in Izumo Province (Shimane Prefecture) and recorded by Lafcadio Hearn who was based in that area.
The form used in Fukusaki according to Kunio Yanagita's memory from his birthplace (cf. ). He also heard from an acquaintance that the local name was in Akashi not far from hometown, and spent a lifetime trying to corroborate it, but to no avail.
In Tosa Province (Kà Âchi Prefecture), it has been called gatarà Â, , or .
The alternate name is localized around Kurume, Fukuoka.
The kappa was also known by simian-sounding names such as (KÃ Âchi, Ehime, SE Yamaguchi Prefecture) or var. (Matsuyama, Ehime with either of these forms found also in (Shimane, Tottori, and W Yamaguchi), These name derive from meaning "apes and monkeys", and in the modern age where these names are current, the local lore had reported these creature to be ape-like. Ironically it is also said that the kappa and the ape-kind are mortal enemies.
Some regions employ the term with widespread examples from Tà Âhoku region to Kyà «shà «. In the local water deity worship found in Aomori Prefecture, the or "Exalted Water Tiger" is the deified form of the kappa. In the Tsugaru dialect, the pronunciation of this deity is corrupted to . During the Edo Period, it was commonplace to use suiko (literally "water tiger", a semi-aquatic mythical creature in Chinese lore) as a stilted sinitic translation for kappa (cf. below).
In Ehime Prefecture, the kappa is sometimes called (var. ), which is usually the term for 'otter'. It is also called kawauso as well as kawako in a version of the tale from Shimane Prefecture.
In some areas, the kappa is called by the same name as the soft-shell turtle (which in standard Japanese is called ), namely: (Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukuoka); (Gifu, Hokuriku region); (Okayama). Thus in these places, the terrapin-based names are a giveaway that the kappa is locally considered to be very turtle-like.
The terms , game, and (var. ) are used interchangeably in the area of Gifu, Toyama, and Ishikawa Prefectures. This dochirobe (etc.) is reputedly a red-bellied creature with lush flowing tail, but when it attains 1000 years of age transforms into a full-fledged kappa, known locally as , whose head resembles the reddish apish creature with a shà Âjà Â-like face and a saucer atop its head to hold water, but otherwise more or less human-shaped. In Gifu Prefecture, their (genuine kappa) is distinguished from the dochi which is considered an almost-kappa. Another variant name of this group is the aforementioned dochigame (Cf. also under ).
The kappa is also called , meaning "steed-puller", attested locally around the Matsumae region, from the kappas reputed practice of trying to drag horses into water.
Akin to the kappa are the local versions called the hyà Âsube in southern Kyà «shà « (and Saga Prefecture further north), as well as the of northern Tà Âhoku region. The name and variants () are grouped together as names derving from mizuchi, a mythical water-serpent or dragon. Of these, the subtype dochi (Gifu Prefecture, etc.ãÂÂ) was already discussed above.
There are also the Wakayama Prefecture version called and the Ibaraki Prefecture version .
A is the winter-time transformation of the kappa according to the folklore of Kyà «shà «, where it is said that the creatures remove themselves into the mountains during the cold climate and returning to the rivers in the spring (Cf. ). The () of the Amami Islands also exhibits this wintering behavior, and in the illustrated commentary of the creature in the , it is equated to the and ("mountain boy").
In Shimominochi District, Nagano, the local version of kappa is called or which is apparently a corruption of ("water deity").
The currently popularized image of the kappa describes it as roughly humanoid in form and about the size of a child.
They are typically greenish in color (or yellow-blue/yellow-green or even red in some locales (TÃ Âno, Iwate).
They often have a pointed or beaked mouth. They are also usually equipped with webbed hands and feet, and bears a turtle-like carapace on their back.
They have an indentation (so-called "dish" or "saucer") atop their head to retain water even when they venture on land, and when the water is full, they exhibit mighty strength (at sumo wrestling, etc.), but if the water spills, the kappa is weakened, or it may even die. From around their bald depression, strands of long hair hang down.
is one early work that refers to the strategy of upsetting the water in the dish in order to weaken the kappa to facilitate its capture.
Kappa are said to be slick or slimy, (though possibly scaly) and smell gamy or fishy.
Their gaminess is referred to in (pub. 1709), which states that "the gaminess saturates the nose, and trying to stab it with a wakizashi fails to hit, and since the body is covered in slime, it is difficult to capture". But even though sword cuts fail to deliver wounds to it, a sharpened hemp-shaft will penetrate it, according to the dictionary (1778âÂÂ1887).
According to some accounts, a kappa's arms are connected to each other through the torso and can slide from one side to the other. That is to say, if one tugs on one arm, the other arm begins to shrink, and even come loose and fall straight out.
It has been conjectured that this is an introduced piece of lore taken from fabulous Chinese descriptions concerning the gibbon.
As aforementioned, the ape-like form has survived in folklore into the modern age in the Chà «goku and Shikoku regions where the enkà  nickname has remained current. The enkà Â-type kappa is based on ape, but endowed with river-dwelling characteristics; this relationship is somewhat analogous to the Kyà «shà « region lore of the mountain spirit (yamawaro) becoming the river-dwelling kappa, called either or depending on zone (as discussed further under ).
Kappa are regarded as dwelling in some body of water, a river, pond, swamp, pool, sometimes even salt water.
Though sometimes menacing, they may also behave amicably towards humans. Their actions range from comparatively minor misdemeanors, such as looking up women's kimono if they venture too near to water, to outright malevolence, such as drowning people and animals, kidnapping children, raping women and at times eating human flesh.
As for the menacing part, kappa have been go-to monster to be blamed for any drownings, and were often said to try to lure people into water and pull them in with their great skill at wrestling. They are sometimes said to take their victims for the purpose of drinking their blood, eating their livers, or gaining power by taking their , a mythical ball said to contain the soul, which is located inside the anus. Kappa have been used to warn children of the dangers lurking in rivers and lakes.
The more sinister view of them tended to be found in older literature, e.g. Kaibara Ekken (1709), since gradually over the Edo Period, a more comical image of the kappa had developed. According to these older writings, humans who survived the kappa could still sustain some sort of a mental aftereffect like stupor or insanity.
Much of the known modern folklore concerning the kappa involves them bungling in their mischief and being punished, e.g., attempting a or stroking the backside of someone in the toilet, and getting its hand chopped off, or being captured. In return for forgiveness, they typically disclosed the recipe to the , or make apologetic vows of good behavior, submit a letter of apology (written oath), bring gifts of fish, or help out with work in the fields (), etc. (See further under below).
Although the cliché is for the kappa to beg the return of its lost hand, there are "specimens" everywhere in Japan purporting to be the mummified hands of the kappa, including those said to have been cut off by someone long ago (cf. ).
Once befriended, kappa may perform any number of tasks for human beings.
Typically the kappa has its arm sliced off (by a samurai, etc.) and delivers up a wonder medicine to treat sword injuries. It may be some other treatment, e.g. for (debility, etc. after stroke) (Ina, Nagano), or for (baby colic).
Tales about obtaining secret medicine from the kappa is ubiquitous throughout Japan.
There are old families purporting to have the secret medicine or its recipe learned from a kappa by an ancestor throughout the country, e.g., the family of town, Anan, Tokushima. Or tell of bone-setting techniques, or other treatment methods learned from the kappa.
An old example is found in 's , which relates that in Sayà  District in western Harima Province, the kappa, here called a , fails his attempt at horse-pulling, receives a sword-cut losing his right arm from a samurai (wrong arm shown severed in illustration, cf. fig. right), begs forgiveness, promises to cease with his misdeeds, and relinquishes the secret craft of the special bone-setting medicine, in ordered to have its severed arm restored.
Other regional examples are found from or .
A captured kappa barters his release by offering a solemn pledge to never cause harm again (to the livestock, etc.), in folk legends all over Japan. Typically the creature will submit a letter or writ of apology (a or written oath) and a number of such alleged documents as relics are preserved by old families and temples throughout Japan.
The kappa may also ensure water safety, i.e., protection from drownings (e.g. ) .
The grateful creature may also bring back gifts of fish, often on top of the pledge of good behavior.
offers a tale from Hakata Bay, as well as an old literary example from Hakata saiken where the kappa brings catfish. Foster gives an example from à Âita Prefecture where the kappa ceases to bring his fish gifts after the boy forgetfully leaves an iron knife around. Similarly the fish-giving stops after a fish is left on a deer antler hook (kappa also hates antlers) in the example as well as the tale attached to the in the Wakamiya Shrine of Akehama, Ehime (now part of Seiyo city).
Further examples are from . Gifu Prefecture, Hida Region.
Needless to say it is reputedly highly skilled at catching fish.
In other legends, the kappa has helped out with public works, e.g., with the swampland reclamation project around SÃ Âgen-ji temple, cf. .
There is also a tale of the ("becoming bridegroom") theme (Ikeda-Aarne-Thompson motif 312B), where a farmer offers his daughter's hand in marriage to whoever successfully irrigates his dried up fields. And the kappa also helps out with more general chores in the fields, as in the tale in .
The kappa is especially known for its love of sumo-wrestling.
One tactic for defeating the kappa at wrestling is to trick it into taking a bow, making its head dish water spill, in order to weaken it before the bout.
Another tactic told locally in certain places is that the kappa can be beat in sumo wrestling if the opponent prepares himself by eating rice offered to the Buddhist altar.
Folk beliefs claim the cucumber as their traditional favorite meal. At festivals, offerings of cucumber are frequently made to the kappa. Sometimes the kappa is said to have other favorite foods, such as eggplant, soba (buckwheat noodles), adzuki bean, or kabocha (Japanese pumpkin). Already in the Wakan sansai zue (1712) it is stated that kawatarà  "steals squashes, eggplants, and cereals from the fields", while the Honzà  kà Âmoku shakugi records its favorite foods as cucumber and (variety of persimmon).
During the observance of Obon, the ("spirit horse") and "spirit cattle" crafted from cucumbers and eggplants are placed on altars for appeasing ancestral spirits. In most places (outside of Kantà  Region) these vegetable effigies end up being sent afloat on the river or at sea. Whereas in Edo, superstitious folk used to send buy cucumbers and send them down the river in order to appease the kappa, so as to avoid drownings or water accidents. Within Tokyo, there still remained in some places the custom of writing names of family members on the cucumbers being floated to beg especially their children from getting their shirikodama extracted.
In some regions, it was customary to eat cucumbers before swimming as protection, but in others it was believed that this act would guarantee an attack.
The origin of cucumber preference according to one explanation is that the kappa is a debased form of the water god, and the first harvest of the cucumber was always considered an indispensable offering to the water god. The tradition has continued into the modern day that the first harvest must first be offered on 1 June or 15 June at the altars and coves for the kappa before humans are allowed to eat it, and some regions consider it as a gift to the Suijin water god.
The image of the kappa extracting the is a standard motif also. This shirikodama is a fictive organ, though the folklore claims that a person bereft of it becomes ( "organ-less", meaning stupefied or utterly unmotivated) and the person may even die.
It is also said the kappa eats this shirikodama, being its favorite food alongside cucumbers.
The depicts the scene of "Kawatarà  extracts the shirikodama" (Fig. right), and according to the accompanying text, the kappa drags humans into water and devour their innards, and the victims are unable to ascend to heaven, becoming wandering ghosts that cannibalize each other. It is unusual to find such explicit depiction of the extraction scene.
In Hokusai manga (Volume 12), there is an image of "The method of fishing a kappa", where a man is squatting atop something like a swing sticking out his butt to lure out the kappa which is seen emerging from water.
This superstition of a butt-ball organ may derive from the fact that drowned cadavers often have an "open anus" due to distended sphincter muscles. A similar observation has been made by Minakata Kumagusu.
One characteristic is their habit of trying to pull or drag horses and cattle into water. The tale from Nishikawatsu, () was given in an abridged version as a tale from "Kawachi" village in Izumo Province by Lafcadio Hearn (1894).
Legend or folktale exhibiting this motif is ubiquitous and found from the Tà Âhoku region (Iwashiro Province, Rikuchà « Province), Kantà  region (Hitachi Province, Musashi Province, Sagami Province), Chà «bu region (Echigo Province, Suruga Province, Mikawa Province, Kai Province, Shinano Province, Hida Province, Mino Province, Noto Provinceï¼Â, in Yamashiro Province (Kyoto), Harima Province (Hyà Âgo Prefecture), Chà «bu region (Izumo, Nagato Province), Shikoku (Awa Province, Tosa Province), Hizen Province (Saga and Nagasaki prefectures), etc.
As in the Izumo version, many versions call for the kappa to be dragged by the horse to the stable where it is most vulnerable, and it is there it is forced to submit a not to misbehave.
Already the Wakan sansai zue (1712) has recorded the folklore that the kawatarà  makes use of his stretchable arm to draw in cattle and horses, sucking all blood from the rumps.
The kappa reputedly abhors iron and deer antler. The (compiled from Edo to Meiji) writes that it hates deer antlers and cowpea (sasage). And if bladed weapons do not cut them, hemp stalks can pierce them, as aforementioned. The hemp stalk leaned against the door is effective at keeping the kappa away from visiting homes, according to the lore of .
The apes being their mortal enemies was also mentioned above.
It was believed that there were a few means of escape if one was confronted with a kappa. Kappa are obsessed with politeness, so if a person makes a deep bow, it will return the gesture. This results in the kappa spilling the water held in the "dish" (sara) on its head, rendering it unable to leave the bowing position until the plate is refilled with water from the river in which it lives. If a person refills it, the kappa will serve that person for all eternity. A similar weakness of the kappa involves its arms, which can easily be pulled from its body. If an arm is detached, the kappa will perform favors or share knowledge in exchange for its return.
Another method involves shogi or sumo wrestling: a kappa sometimes challenges a human being to wrestle or engage in other tests of skill. This tendency is easily used to encourage the kappa to spill the water from its sara. One notable example of this method is the folktale of a farmer who promises his daughter's hand in marriage to a kappa in return for the creature irrigating his land. The farmer's daughter challenges the kappa to submerge several gourds in water. When the kappa fails in its task, it retreats, saving the farmer's daughter from the marriage. Kappa have also been driven away by their aversion to iron, sesame, or ginger.
In certain parts of the Japan, the appearance of the kappa in rivers is considered seasonal, as they are partly mountain-dwelling. In late autumn or winter, they travel up the mountain and confine themselves there until later spring or early summer when they descend to the rivers. Their river-dwelling forms are referred to as or .
The name is used in the à Âita, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, and Nagasaki prefectures, and seko (var. sekoko) supposedly derives from the notion they shout out loud like , or men who make loud noises to scare the game during the hunt. In some parts of Kyà «shà « the kappa is called , and here also, the creature is said to become a yamawaro upon entering the mountain. Great hordes of these yamawaro are said to come down from the mountains, walking from rooftop to rooftop above the village homes to reach their rivers and become , according to the lore around Kumamoto Prefecture.
In Yoshino District, Nara, it is said that the enters the mountains to become . In Wakayama, they become .
The 1820 work Suiko kà Âryaku, etc., (explained further below) contain illustrated explanation of kappa broadly categorizable into two types: the types carrying a turtle-like shell which are hairless, and the furry types that are shell-less.
Kyà Âgoku and (2008), writing that a single standard image of the kappa was formative during the Edo Period, similarly divides the pictorial representations of the period into 3 categories, namely the "Ape or manlike type", "Suiko type" (scaly), "Terrapin or turtle type".
The "Ape or manlike type" had its whole body covered in dense fur, said to be ape-like or even otter-like, and included wildcat-like examples as well (). It tended to have hair in the style, i.e., long and loosely hanging around the head.
The "Terrapin or turtle type" consisted of kappa depicted with "a pointed-mouthed face, bearing a turtle-shell on its back".
The "Suiko type" was the name the two authors use to categorized the hairless but scale-covered type kappa.
The progress of how the furry type became supplanted by the smooth turtle-type shall be discussed below under , as well as the introduction of frog-like aspects stressed by scholar Ozawa Hana.
The image of the kappa before the 18th century appears to have favored the ape-type (furry, mammalian type), and non-herp types. For instance in the Kagakushà « ("Collection of Low/Mundane Studies", prefaced 1444, with later copies), it is claimed that the otter grown old becomes a (kappa), and in the Nippo Jisho (Japanese-Portuguese dictionary by the Jesuits, 1603) the entry for defines it as an ape-like creature.
The Wakan sansai zue (1712) carried a woodcut of the depicted as a furry, apelike creature (cf. fig. left). 's , the sumo-wrestling kappa appears ape-like.
In the , the kappa (here referred to as ), which had its arm sliced off, is depicted in the so-called ape type style, its entire body covered with hair (cf. fig in ). There depression and the dish-like element on its head have already appeared in the artwork by this time.
The foregoing examples were written in western regions (Nagasaki, Osaka, etc.). However, the ape (Japanese macaque) was relatively unfamiliar to the people of Edo which had few forested mountains, and the image of a more turtle-like or frog-like kappa began to be favored, starting in the mid-18th century.
An early (c. 1763) example of this (turtle or froglike) depiction illustrations depicting the kappa as described by informants. and from copies made, these were all of the hairy ape-type (as explained below).
When afterwards ed. appeared, it offered a collection of 12 kappa anecdotes, of which 6 were a rehash from the Hita Domain report, so that the 6 accompanying illustrations have been judged to be facsimile copies of the original color-painted drawings. These 6 are all kappa of the ape-type (covered with fur), with a dish on its head, somewhat like a tonsure, but with untidy strands of hair hanging loose on the side. One kappa figure is shown wearing a sumo wrestler's loincloth (mawashi). On the page opposite to it, there is a detailed drawing of a webbed foot, so that might count as technically as the 7th drawing copied. The other half of the kappa illustrated in Suiko kà Âryaku are 6 illustrations of the "softshell turtle-type".
Another turning point in pictorial representation occurred when naturalist Kurimoto Tanshà « (d. 1834) published his depictions of the kappa in his work , which showed the creature with a tapered mouth, probably based on a life drawing from a real softshell turtle. Tanshà « also authored the (date unknown, a Tenpà  13/1843 copy is extant).
The (cf. Fig. right) also contains softshell turtle-like depictions of kappa as well as some ape-types. This single-sheet work was authored by Kishà « Domain physician and naturalist and illustrated by his brother Juntaku, also a physician. Being of later vintage, there are some modifications made with additional material, but this is still considered a derivative work descended from the 12-kappa Suiko kà Âryaku family of codices.
A kappa by Katsushika Hokusai in Hokusai Manga, Volume 3 is posed in a squatting position (cf. Fig. above), depicted with a beak-like mouth and carapace, and may arguably be considered a turtle-type example. There is another depiction of kappa in Hokusai Manga, under Volume 12, which is clearly based on a soft-shell turtle.
A disciple named also drew depicting a kappa riding a giant cucumber, and it is of the tapered-mouth type. It wears a mino cape around its waist.
By the mid-19th century, frog-like features started to creep in more on the kappas image. In Utagawa Toyokuni III's , the kappa has the turtle's shell and rather turtle-like sharp claws, but has a mouth-shape and patterning rather like a frog. And in the contemporaneous series by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, , the album on features a kappa without even a turtle-shell, furthering its likeness to a frog (cf. fig. left and fig. above).
Then a more "comical and affectionate" image of the kappa was formed by ukiyo-e artists. A prime example of this was a piece by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi called (1881, cf. Fig. right), showing two kappa being farted on by a human, and one kappa turning yellow.
Later in the modern age, Nihonga artist (1868-1938) favored the kappa theme and drew many, earning him the moniker . Late in his life he published the collection Kappa hyakuzu (1938), developing a vivacious image of the kappa.
The humorous kappa given birth in the Edo Period was carried on by later generations. In the Shà Âwa era, manga artist serialized Kappa kawatarà  which ran in Shà Âgakusei Asahi magazine, 1951âÂÂ1952, and that ran in the Shà «kan Asahi weekly, 1953âÂÂ1958, through which a cute and comical image of the kappa penetrated to the masses. At the same time Usen's work is seen to have humanized the image of the kappa, as he drew them engaging in a whole array of human activities.
Thus, while the turtle-shell persists, the heavily frog-like form has established itself as the standard kappa image.
The kappa is among the best-known yà Âkai in Japan. It is known by various names according to region and local folklore.
All over Japan there remains the practice of making offerings (often cucumbers) at shrines to placate the kappa. There are places that identify and enshrine the kappa as suijin ("water deity"). In fact, the kappa may have descended from the worship of such suijin deity (as already discussed under ).
While it is by no means unusual for harvest rituals to occur in the spring and autumnal equinoxes, scholars have tied the timing to the welcoming back and ushering out of the kappa that spends half the year in the rivers but goes away into the mountains for the remainder (as already discussed under ).
The tendency to identify the kappa as the principal enshrined being at suijin festivals appears more prevalent in Western Japan, while at the of Nankoku, Kà Âchi enshrines a kappa by the name of enkà Â. In such Shintà  framework, the kappa may be considered to be an avatar ( ) of the water deity.
In Kyà «shà « there is a legend concerning , the name of a kappa boss. Kusenbà  (whose name means "Nine-thousand fellow") had 9000 underling kappa, and was based in the Kuma and Chikugo River holding dominion over all of Saikaidà  (Kyà «shà «). Legend has it that the warlord Katà  Kiyomasa angered by the Kusenbà  gang's misdeeds gathered all the apes he could from Kyà «shà « to help subdue them. Another legend has it that the gang lost the war over the Tone River against the local gang under neneko.
For the Kumamoto Prefecture lore about the kappa descending in hordes after winter cf. also above.
The decisive sea battle in the War between the Genji and Heike was the Battle of Dan-no-ura that took place in the straight between today's Yamaguchi Prefecture and Fukuoka Prefecture. There is legend in Yamaguchi about that the Heike men turned into Heike crabs while the women-folk escaped to Fukuoka. One such legendary escapee is the (the historical ).
allegedly survived and came to Chikugo Province, or so claims writings such as the and ; she is supposedly enshrined at the Amagozen-sha shrine in town in Kurume, Fukuoka, which has been argued to be the origin of the Suitengà « worship. She is also said to have become the wife of the water deity of the , while it is said that the Heike who defeated by Ogata Koreyoshi transformed into kahaku river spirits of the Kose River (accord. ), thus providing rich material for kappa studies.
is the document explaining the origins of , commonly called , explains that the ghosts of the dead and fugitives attached to the losing Heike clan turned into kappa (or kahaku), and the music was devised in order to assuage these hapless spirits.