The Dark Side of Japan: Ancient Black Magic, Folklore, Ritual

by Antony Cummings

  Shojo

  These creatures live near the coast and are monkey-like in appearance. They have red hair which can grow long on their heads and they are said to party hard on the seashore and get very drunk. (Surely one of the earliest examples of discrimination against redheads.) If you capture one you can make a great dye from its hair, so fishermen try to capture them to make a profit.

  Goryo

  Goryo, sometimes goryi-shin, are the malevolent spirits of once noble humans who died in political intrigue. They create epidemics, disasters and even wars. Their infamy and the fear they produced was so vast that even the emperor of Japan used to lead ceremonies to appease them, the first such ceremony taking place in Kyoto in 863. Later on in Japanese history, a goryo could be made from the soul of a lower-class person; they simply had to ardently will themselves to become this destructive god on their deathbed. In fact, it is thought in Japanese culture that even a lifetime of positivity can be washed away by a negative mindset in a person when they are about to die. Nembutsu, which is the recitation of the name of Buddha, is said to drive them away or to quell their power.

  A point of interest is that nembutsu ascetics would go to extreme levels to prove their willpower and devotion. It is said that they would flay the skin from their palms and the sides of their feet or hold their hands in fire, even amputating their own fingers and toes to test their willpower. However, most extreme of all was their practice of public suicide. They would announce their intention to either hang, drown or burn themselves. Crowds would then gather to watch, and reports even came of beautiful music or coloured clouds appearing as enlightened ones came to take the now dead devotee to paradise. While this may not be the best afternoon pastime, if you had a goryo devil after you then these nembutsu practitioners were the guys you needed to help you out.

  Another element of nembutsu was the nembutsu odori – the nembutsu dance. Practitioners would dance in a large circle around an altar, banging on drums and playing musical instruments, all to rid the area of goryo spirits. Interestingly, it has been theorised that the modern bon-odori dance for the dead – the now famous festival in which people dance around a village platform – is based on this ancient magical practice.

  Yuki-onna

  Yuki-onna, or ‘the lady of the snow’, is a beautiful ‘vampiric’ female who has pure white skin, raven-black hair and blood-red lips. She is thought of as a snowstorm incarnate and is noted for her evil doings, trapping travellers in the snow, blowing down doors, tricking parents to their deaths as they search for lost children and killing with her icy breath. In one tale she falls in love and marries, although with sad consequences.

  The area of Tono also has a ‘snow woman’; however, the translator, Morse, did not include the original Japanese ideograms in his work and so it is unknown if this is the same figure. Perhaps one of the saddest, if not the most fearful of the many stories of the Yuki-onna describes her holding a child in a blizzard. She asks passers-by to hug the child. If one does, the child becomes heavier and heavier and the Good Samaritan, covered by the snow, freezes to death. (See Ubume, page 39.)

  Medusa

  In Japanese folklore, it is thought that a woman’s hair can quite literally turn into snakes. There are men who see a woman’s reflection in a mirror and observe that the hair in the reflection is full of snakes. Moreover, there are tales of men who see the hair of their otherwise friendly wives and concubines turn into snakes that try to bite the lady opposite, their reflections showing their true feelings towards one another.

  Tsukumogami

  It is believed that when an object reaches 100 years old it has the ability to become animated. These animated objects are iconic in Japanese culture: kettle stands with arms and legs, teapots running around the house, and so on. The name is believed to be a play on words, as it implies and sounds like the number ninety-nine (that is, next year it will animate itself). The last word is gami, or hair, in this case grey and old. Keep an eye on those antique books on your shelves!

  Gyokushi

  This is a being that has the power to call forth the storms and the wind and rain to petrify crops and grasses and to build castles from dust.

  Kazane no Enkon

  This unfortunate woman was killed by her husband with a farming sickle and turned into a vengeful spirit. She is often portrayed with a round face and one eye closed while the other is open. The closed eye has come to represent the moon, the open eye the sun.

  Ubume

  This mysterious hag waits on the side of the road with a baby in her arms. She asks passers-by to take the baby for a moment while she attends to some need or other. The kind-hearted soul who helps her is left with the baby in arms. Little by little the baby gets heavier and heavier until the person is pulled to the floor, the duress too much; when they look to see that the infant is alright they discover it has turned into a boulder.

  Raiju

  This is said to be a small creature that falls from the sky when there is a lightning storm. It is like a cat or a monkey, and if you take the bark of a tree which it has scratched, then the bark can ease toothache.

  Kishimonji

  The mother of demons is a hag who in life continually involved herself in cannibalism, eating many children. In some versions of the story, the original Buddha gave her a pomegranate to eat as it was close to the texture of human flesh. The end of her tale differs depending on which version you read. In one form she is sent to hell to give birth to many children to replace the ones she devoured – apparently 500 children in total. The other version states that she is sent to hell to become the mother of demons, giving birth to demon after demon to repay her debt. In most stories, however, she become enlightened and joins Buddha.

  Mitsume

  This ‘beautiful’ hag is extra-special in her grotesque appearance. Seated on a chestnut horse, she has three eyes and elongated teeth that are 4 inches long. Blue in colour, she wears the flayed skin of dead men and her horse’s girdle is made of snakes. She trots along on human bones, drinking human blood from a skull.

  Mikoshi Nyudo

  If you are getting changed behind a screen, then be careful when you look upwards! The mikoshi nyudo is a creature that has a bald head and a lolling tongue. It looks over Japanese screens at people getting changed, scaring them.

  Nukekubi

  This is a creature that has the power to take off its head and have the head move around on its own, normally for evil intent.

  Rokurokubi

  Similar to the above is the rokurokubi, a creature of the same ilk that, instead of detaching its head, extends its neck great lengths.

  Ashinaga and Tenaga

  Ashinaga have long legs while tenaga have long arms. They share a connection to fishing.

  Human Heads on Mythical Creatures

  The following examples are strange incarnations of human faces and heads on mythical creatures.

  Shokuin A red dragon said to be 100 ri (almost 250 miles) long with a horned human face; its breath produces storms.

  Shinriku A tiger that has a human head. However, this human head has eight smaller human heads on its crown.

  Soriushi A snake with nine human heads.

  Sahoku no Shinjin A large dog with a human head.

  Hotai A monkey with a human head.

  Teishin A fish with a human head.

  Takujiu A creature with six horns, two on its human head and four on its back. It has a bearded face, hairy legs, an ox tail and three eyes on each flank.

  Umi bozu This is a tortoise with a human head.

  4

  SPIRITUAL DAYS IN THE JAPANESE CALENDAR

  A major part of medieval Japanese life was the yearly calendar, comprised as it was of festivals, rituals and special days. Included in these are some of the darker aspects of magical times, such as days which are connected with the afterlife or have ominous meanings. It is beneficial to understand that Japan based its calendar on a Chinese system that drew from both the solar cycle a
nd the lunar month. For ease, all dates or days are shown in lunar months as this is the best English translation; however, that being said, there was a complex system to line up both the solar and lunar calendars. Remember the first month is not January. To understand when the first month is, simply look up the date of the Chinese New Year for the year in which you read this.

  Obon: The Festival of the Dead

  This traditionally occurs on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is full, which means that the date changes each year in modern terms. (More recently, however, since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, the date has moved to the fifteenth of either July or August depending on the region of Japan.) It is believed that the dead walk among the living during this short period of time, and Japanese people celebrate with a traditional dance called bon-odori. They light the outsides of their homes and float small lanterns on rivers to help guide the dead back to the spirit realm. The term hotoke-umi is used in connection with this and means ‘tide of the returning ghosts’. If a real ship is caught in the middle of the river lanterns, then the ghosts call out for buckets from the sailors, but the sailors only give them bottomless buckets so that they cannot use them to sink the ship.

  Hearn states that one possible origin story for this dance of the dead was that when a man gained the Six Supernatural Powers of Buddhism, one of them gave him the ability to see his mother in the afterlife; seeing her hungry, he left food for her dead spirit. However, when she picked up the food it turned to hot coals and burnt her mouth and fingers. He sought advice and was told that on a specific day he should leave food for all the dead priests of all the world and not just his mother. Following the instructions, he gave food for all the dead and they ate it with glee. His mother, being so happy, ‘danced for joy’.

  The dead are sometimes said to inhabit mountain areas, and in some parts of Japan it was the custom during this festival to hike to a mountaintop and use fires to attract their attention. Once you had the attention of the dead, you would lead them down the mountainside and into your house. It has been recorded in Japanese tales that a wife may prostrate herself at the doorway to welcome the dead and ask forgiveness for the lack of bounty or the poor quality of the home, regardless of how much there actually was to eat and drink.

  When the festival is over, small lanterns bearing the family name are paraded to a nearby river and set afloat, allowing the dead to follow their family names to the afterlife with ease.

  To make a floating lamp, choose wood that floats and cut a square 10 inches by 10 inches and at the corners put four 10-inch-long stanchion-posts which are connected at the top by slats of wood. Next, drive a nail upwards from underneath so that a candle can be attached. The sides should be filled in with coloured paper, these colours representing the five elements: side 1, red; side 2, blue; side 3, yellow; side 4, the right side of the paper, black; side 4, the left side of the paper, white.

  Alternatively there are shoryobune, which are straw Chinese boats in the style of junks. These are up to 4 feet long and have the names of the dead written on white cloth sails. On the mini deck is a cup of water and incense for the dead. Banners painted with a swastika are tied to the rigging.

  Boichi is the market of the dead; this was a market set up just before obon to sell things concerning the dead and things that would be needed for the festival. This market would continue up to the dance of the dead itself.

  At obon people are not allowed to eat fish for the period of the festival. Additionally, if both of your parents are alive then the first time you can eat fish again is on the sixteenth day of the seventh lunar month; if you have lost one parent then you have to wait until the seventeenth to start eating it again.

  Hearn says that when geisha lose a ‘sister’ they set up mats and a table in a temple. With the death tablet of the girl before them, they play their instruments and perform for free.

  Setsubun: The Bean-throwing Festival

  Setsubun literally means ‘division of the seasons’, and the festival would traditionally happen as each season changed into the next. However, this festival has come to be practised once a year on the third of February. The aim is to dispel evil from your home and to invite luck into the household. It is common for a family member to dress as a demon by wearing a mask and for the rest of the family to throw roasted soya beans from inside the house to the ‘demon’ outside while chanting, ‘Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!’ (‘Demons leave – luck please enter.’)

  Tangono Seku: The Feast of the Iris

  On 5 May you should spread scented iris petals around your garden. This is done to scare away any demons or evil spirits.

  Chishigo: The Tides and Times of Death

  In ancient Japan there was a belief that you could predict when people were going to die, or at least understand the times at which people were more likely to move on to the next life. This method was constructed around the tides and the hours of the day. The Days of Death are as follows:

  On days of the lunar months which end in 1st, 2nd, 9th, 10th, 20th or 30th, people will die in the hours of the Ox, the Dragon, the Ram and the Dog.

  On days of the lunar month which end in 6th, 7th or 8th, people will die in the hours of the Tiger, the Snake, the Monkey and the Boar.

  Surprisingly, this system appears to not cover the days where the number of the day ends in 3rd, 4th or 5th, this could either mean that it was believed that no one died in this period of time or that part of this system is lost to us. If the latter is the case it would mean that people would die on days ending in 3rd, 4th or 5th in the hours of the Horse, the Hare, the Cock and the Rat.

  Unlucky Days

  In ancient times in Japan there was the concept of fujōnichi, or unlucky days; it is on these days that you should not ask others anything as it is a negative time. The days and times are as follows and are based on the lunar calendar:

  Date of the Month Duration

  1st All day

  4th At night

  8th Daytime

  18th At night

  25th Daytime

  29th At night

  The Coming-of-Age Ritual

  Coming of age, that is surviving puberty and moving to adulthood, is a ritual found in all cultures throughout history. In Japan this can be divided into two basic forms: the upper-class ritual of ui koboshi or kakan, which involves a special form of headdress; and the lower-class ritual of gen buki or eboshi iwai, which is a copied form of the former, again utilising a headdress. The subject’s name will often be changed at this point, and women may dye their teeth and have facial tattoos or tattoos on the backs of their hands (this only occurs in some places and is rare). However, what we are interested in here is the darker side, and some of these rituals included a journey to a misty mountain where the youth was led through the mists by one of the infamous Yamabushi priests to return as a part of the adult community.

  Ill-fated Years

  Some years in Japan are considered positive while some are considered negative; in fact, according to Japanese tradition your age itself can have a positive or negative connotation. One old superstition is that a woman born in the combination year of hinoe and horse – which comes around every sixty years – will have a husband that will die young. Not an attractive pointer for any would-be suitors!

  5

  BASIC JAPANESE MAGIC

  Japanese ‘magic’ is not really a single coherent art, and nor does it have identifiable boundaries. Varying across the land, it encompasses divination, exorcism, ritual magic, animal and human sacrifice, spirit worship and more.

  In Japanese magic, there are eight elements that give power to the curses and spells that are cast:

  1. Nailing or stabbing a spell into an object.

  2. Imitating the action of shooting or cutting.

  3. Burning.

  4. Binding or wrapping.

  5. Stepping on an object.

  6. Tying.

  7. Ceremoniously opening obj
ects.

  8. Using containers with no bottom, which represent the womb.

  Words of Power

  In Eastern and Japanese magic there are words of power, and each falls into one of three categories. They are used variously to provoke suffering, to provide protection and to help in difficult circumstances.

  1 Words of Power with Meaning

  The first category for words of power are those words with a meaning; that is, they are understood by the speaker. You are to use these words when you are in dire peril, for instance if you are lost at sea, in a fire or surrounded by bandits. Example words are:

  Kanzeon A deity of mercy

  Bosatsu An enlightened one

  Fumombon A scripture to the deity Kanzeon Bosatsu

  2 Words of Power without Meaning

  The second category are words of power that were once Sanskrit but that have been changed over the years and have lost their original meaning. That is, they are no longer sound like their Sanskrit ancestor. These are said to have the power to relieve suffering when spoken out loud. Some words are: