Sometimes good, sometimes bad, the kappa is a rather peculiar imp found in #japanesefolklore who love cucumbers and sumo wrestling, hate farting and know a lot bone setting.... find out more in Creature of the Week!
This week in #CreatureoftheWeek we are looking at the #kappa (河童, river-child), who is also known as kawatarō, suiko or about 80 other names. A kappa is an amphibious #yokai demon found in Japanese folklore. They are usually green, human-like creatures with webbed feet and hands, child-sized with a turtle-like carapace on their backs. There is a depression on its head, called its "dish" (sara), which retains water, if it is damaged or its liquid is lost (if it dries up or spills), the kappa will be severely weakened.
The kappa are particularly keen on eating cucumbers and love to engage in a bit of sumo wrestling. As a #watermonster, they also love to drown people, and it is said they try to lure people into water and then pull them in with their great wrestling skills. Occasionally they have been known to take victims with the purpose of drinking their blood, eating their livers, and/or gaining power by taking their #shirikodama (尻子玉). Shirikodama is a mythical ball, located inside the anus, that is said to contain the soul.
It is difficult to escape if you are confronted with a kappa. Kappa are obsessed with politeness, so a good thing to do is to take a deep bow as it will return the gesture. This will result in the kappa spilling the water that it holds in the dish on its head and it will make it unable to leave the bowing position until the plate is refilled with water from the river where it lives.
If you are after a trusty sidekick, try to find a kappa with an empty dish and refill it, then the kappa will serve you for all eternity.
Kappa's arms are also very weak and can easily be pulled from its body. If you get hold of one of both of it's arms, they will perform favours for you or share knowledge with you in exchange for getting their arm back.
However, my favourite way to defeat the kappa is to #fart at it. They love to fart and are always farting because of their cucumber heavy diet, but they can’t stand the noise and smell of other peoples farts!
If you want to capture a kappa, you can use your bum to lure it in. The kappa wants to get your tasty soul from up your bum hole so mooning the kappa to lure it out the water which will help if you are trying to capture one.
They aren’t always bad though. Once befriended, they can be very helpful. They have been know to help farmers irrigate their land, bring in fresh fish and save friendly humans from drowning. They are also very knowledgeable about medicine, and they actually taught the art of bone setting to human beings!
Sometimes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are actually mistaken for Kappa....
Kappa are similar to #JennyGreenteeth, #ScottishKelpies or #FinnishNakki, in the sense that they are used to scare children about the dangers of water. But they aren't just from fairy tales, they are very real! Their bones have been found numerous times and there are actually some mummified kappa remains on display in Miyakonojo, Japan from a kappa that was shot in 1818.
Luckily for those of us in the UK, there have been no sightings of the kappa in the Europe yet. Sure, we have our own cryptids to concern ourselves with, but I for one am glad I don't have to worry about a child-sized turtle creature trying to get up my bum to take my soul when I'm having a dip in the local river.
What are your thoughts on the kappa? Perhaps you have encountered one or tried to capture one? Maybe you want to tell us about a different yōkai? Please feel free to comment below!
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