Episode 8 – Japanese Folklore (and its Creatures)

The Magic Teakettle

Drawing of a teakettle turning back into a tanuki, c. 1958.
in Peach Boy and Other Japanese Children's Favorite Stories
Nikkei National Museum Library collection

SJCTM - 8 - Japanese Folklore
Join Raymond and Alexis as they talk about their favourite Japanese folklore creatures, characters and folks including daruma, kitsune and tanuki.

KitsuneA kitsune in The bear and the fox,1927.
1997.197.2.2.2

Update (a note on the kappa):  Recently aired was a show called River Monsters, in which a biologist was looking into the legend of the kappa.  He mentioned the commonality of cases where different rare animals are glimpsed and then a legend is built up around them.  He  believed the main culprit for the legend of the kappa was the endangered giant salamander, which has sharp teeth and can get up to 6' long. You can view the epsidode: here.

Produced and Hosted by Raymond Nakamura and Alexis Jensen

Music by Aiko Saita

Sources

Wikipedia: Japanese Folklore, Daruma, Kitsune, Maneki-Neko

Other websites: Kitsune (ii), Tanuki, Kappa

.