Sunekosuri
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The sunekosuri (meaning "rub against lower legs") is a Japanese yōkai. It is told about in the Okayama Prefecture, and is said to get in the way of people's paths as they walk.
The natural historian, according to the book "Current Dictionary of Yōkai Nationwide" (現行全国妖怪辞典) by Satou Seimei published in 1935, it is told in Oda District, Okayama Prefecture, and they take on the appearance of a dog, appear on nights when rain falls, and rub against the crotches (space between the legs) of people who walk on roads at night.[1] The people who are rubbed against have a little difficulty walking, but don't receive any harm other than that.[2] According to the yōkai researcher Rin Adashino, this ""Current Dictionary of Yōkai Nationwide" " is the oldest record of the sunekosuri where it first appeared.[3]
Also, according to a folklore from Ibara, of the same prefecture, in Nankaichi town within this city, it would appear beside a wayward shrine called Iryō-dō, and it would go through the space between the legs of pedestrians, and would of course take o the shape of a dog.[3]
In Yoshii, Shitsuki District, Okayama Prefecture, there is a similar thing called sunekkorogashi (meaning "make lower legs fall over") and there is a legend where it would slip into the darkness at night and pull on people's legs, making them fall over, and different from how the sunekosuri is said not to particularly cause harm to people, there are also stories where children made to fall over and hurt their noses.[3]
They have various images in fictional works. In Mizuki Shigeru's manga GeGeGe no Kitarō, it takes on the appearance of a cat rolled into a ball. This is different from tales of people who said to have actually witnessed one, and although there are many who testified that "it was like a cat," the yōkai researcher Yamaguchi Binatarō have determined this to be because of the strong influence of Mizuki Shigeru's designs that people got this impression.[4] Also, there are netsuke that resembles Mizuki's design,[5] and so there is the possibility that they referred to Mizuki's design.
In the movie The Great Yokai War related to Mizuki, there appeared many sunekosuri as yellow and white lumps of hair with cute eyes.[6]
References
- ^ 佐藤清明 (1935). 現行全国妖怪辞典. 中国民俗学会. pp. 28頁.
- ^ 宮本幸江・熊谷あづさ (2007). 日本の妖怪の謎と不思議. 学習研究社. pp. 85頁. ISBN 978-4-056-04760-8.
- ^ a b c 化野燐 (2005). "妖怪人類学フィールドワーク 油すましとスネコスリ". In 郡司聡他編 (ed.). 怪. カドカワムック. Vol. vol.0018. 角川書店. pp. 124–125頁. ISBN 978-4-04-883912-9.
{{cite book}}:|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ 山口敏太郎監修 (2005). 本当にいる日本の「未知生物」案内. 笠倉出版社. pp. 191頁. ISBN 978-4-7730-0306-2.
- ^ N250708
- ^ 『妖怪大戦争』全日本妖怪推進委員会・編『写真で見る日本妖怪大図鑑』 角川書店 2005年 ISBN 4-04-853901-9