Hello One and All!
Another new year rolls around and it's time for more folklore once again. Today it's the namahage that will be discussed and the role they play in the New Year's festivities of the Oga Peninsula of Japan.
New Year's Namahage
It is said that 2000 years ago the Han emperor of China brought demon-like supernatural creatures to Japan. These were the namahage, and they would terrorize the villages of Oga peninsula; going on to kidnap women from their houses and steal crops from farmers. The people of the area started to despair, but just as they wanted to lose all hope, a group concocted a plan.
The villagers promised to give all of the women in the settlement to the supernatural creatures but only if they were able to build a stone staircase with 1000 steps overnight. If the namahage failed then they would have to leave Oga. Of course the namahage, enticed by the offer, agreed to the conditions.
As night fell the ogre-like monsters set to work on their stone staircase, and the villagers noticed it started to take shape a bit too quickly - someone had to intervene soon or the monsters would win. One canny farmer climbed atop the roof of one of the houses and gave a mighty crow. The namahage dropped all of their stones, just as they were busy with the 999th step and, believing that morning had already broken, left the Oga Peninsula. They were never seen again.
The Namahage Rituals
Even though the namahage had been driven out, the men of the village continued to disguise themselves as the fearsome creatures and to scare any troublesome children. This ritual still takes place in Oga every New Year's Eve; men with masks, straw clothing and knives can be seen visiting each house and demanding to see the naughty children. They carry a book, in which information about the inhabitants had been recorded beforehand, and scold those that need to behave better. The only way to be rid of these new namahage is to offer them rice cakes and sake.
Thank you for reading!
Another new year rolls around and it's time for more folklore once again. Today it's the namahage that will be discussed and the role they play in the New Year's festivities of the Oga Peninsula of Japan.
New Year's Namahage
It is said that 2000 years ago the Han emperor of China brought demon-like supernatural creatures to Japan. These were the namahage, and they would terrorize the villages of Oga peninsula; going on to kidnap women from their houses and steal crops from farmers. The people of the area started to despair, but just as they wanted to lose all hope, a group concocted a plan.
The villagers promised to give all of the women in the settlement to the supernatural creatures but only if they were able to build a stone staircase with 1000 steps overnight. If the namahage failed then they would have to leave Oga. Of course the namahage, enticed by the offer, agreed to the conditions.
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| The namahage, as they are depicted in Nurarihyon no Mago. |
As night fell the ogre-like monsters set to work on their stone staircase, and the villagers noticed it started to take shape a bit too quickly - someone had to intervene soon or the monsters would win. One canny farmer climbed atop the roof of one of the houses and gave a mighty crow. The namahage dropped all of their stones, just as they were busy with the 999th step and, believing that morning had already broken, left the Oga Peninsula. They were never seen again.
The Namahage Rituals
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| Source: Evan Blaser (Flickr) |
Even though the namahage had been driven out, the men of the village continued to disguise themselves as the fearsome creatures and to scare any troublesome children. This ritual still takes place in Oga every New Year's Eve; men with masks, straw clothing and knives can be seen visiting each house and demanding to see the naughty children. They carry a book, in which information about the inhabitants had been recorded beforehand, and scold those that need to behave better. The only way to be rid of these new namahage is to offer them rice cakes and sake.
Thank you for reading!
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