Kurume History Walks
Kurumeshi

noKappa

No.29 Folktales of Kappa, Water Spirits in Kurume 久留米市の河童
Kappa (河童 river-child) is an amphibious supernatural monster and water spirit in Japanese folklore. InKurume, the Suiten-gu Shrine, venerated as a guardian shrine for water traffic, is regarded as a center of kappa
folktales along the Chikugo River.
The book "Chikushino Folktales (published in 1923)", includes tales from some areas of Kurume such as"Kappa's instruction in bone setting", "Kappa's Hand, cut by a farmer", "Kappa Hole".
The Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine houses "Kappa's hand", 12 centimeters long with four fingers and nails of 1centimeter. There are two handed-down stories:
1. In 901, Sugawara Michizane* was sent into exile from the capital to Dazaifu. When he went down theChikugo River, he landed on Kitano Town to escape from pursuers. Sanzenbo (literally three thousandmen), the supreme leader of the kappaclan in the Chikugo, tried to save
Michizane. But the pursuer cut down itshand. Michizane buried it reverently andthen continued to travel.
2. When Michizane was entering the riverwith his horse at Kitano, a kappa grabbed
its leg and attempted to draw it. He got
surprised and cut the kappa’s hand down.
* Sugawara Michizane (845-903), an outstanding scholar,
poet, and politician, displayed his remarkable talents from ayoung age. His political career developed quickly within theimperial court. But, because of the political maneuvering of
his rival, Michizane was sent into exile from the capital city of
Kyoto to the far-off government office of Dazaifu and died afew years later.
Because of his great learning, he is today associated withthe Tenjin, a Shinto Deity, and is enshrined in all Tenman-gu
Shrine throughout Japan.

Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine

Kappa from overseas
In the Kumamoto Prefecture, on the south of Kurume, there are also kappa folktales, of which someseemingly include the real historical events.
At Yatsushiro City, on a bank of a stream tributary to the Kuma River, there is a stone monument with an
inscription regarding kappa:
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Kurume History Walks / No.29 Folktales of Kappa, Water Spirits in Kurume

- Kappas came to live in this river from China in the 5th-6th century.
- The material stones, called Gurappa Stones, of the monument were taken from an old bridge.
- A lore says that a naughty kappa was caught by locals, and it swore that it would never get into mischief again
until these stones would abrade and disappear. It also asked to hold a festival once a year. Locals granted it anddecided to hold the "Oreorederaita River Festival" on every May 18th.
And there is another tale of the 16th -17th century, introduced in two books published in the early and middle
19th century: "Wakunsho 倭訓栞" and "Honcho Zokugen Shi 本朝俗諺志".
A kappa leader called Kyusenbo (literally nine thousand men) and his clan settled in the Kuma. On a summerday, a kappa drew a servant page in the river and killed him, who was receiving a lot of affection from Kato
Kiyomasa, the lord of Kumamoto Domain. Kiyomasa got furious and ordered to exterminate all kappas. It wassaid that kappa would become feeble when it got hot water or met a monkey. Then, Kiyomasa had his retainers
poison the river, heat it with thousands of baking stones, and gather monkeys throughout his territory. In theend, Kyusenbo’s clan made an apology and promised not to inflict any injury on Kiyomasa’s people.
Besides, Hino Ashihei (1907-1960), a novelist, introduced Kyusenbo and kappa's roots in his book "Kappa
Kaigi 河 童 会 議 (1958)". He wrote that a horde of kappa departed from Persia, crossed the Himalaya
Mountains and the Taklamakan Desert, passed through Mongolia and China, and sailed from Korea toYatsushiro, Kumamoto.
By the way, around the 2nd-3rd century, Chinese immigrants landed in Kyushu. Assuming that they,foreigners who differently behaved and spoke, were considered as kappa, some historical facts can be explained.
For example, the name of thefestival "Oreorederaita" could betranslated in Chinese to "Wú rén wúrén de lái duō 呉人呉人的来多”

which means that a lot of people
from Kure* came.
*Wu (呉) was a Chinese kingdom of the3rd century. But Japanese people seem tohave continued calling China as 呉 (Kure inJapanese) even in 8th century according tothe book “Chronicle of Japan (finished in720)”.

Chikugo River

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Kurume History Walks / No.29 Folktales of Kappa, Water Spirits in KurumeAragoro Daimyojin, a Deity worshiped in Ninagawa, KurumeSome old materials from our city support the folktalesof Yatsushiro. They tell that a water god appeared inKurume in the mid-6th century, which was the same period
when a kappa came to settle in Yatsushiro.
The book "Histories of Shinto Shrines in Kurume Domain
久留米藩社方開基 (1670)" described that a dragon deity
appeared in Ninagawa, Kurume in the late 560s, and wasenshrined as Aragoro Daimyojin. That was in Aratama-gu
Shrine, which is today’s Katabuchi-jinja Shrine. Aragoro
Daimyojin is said to be an Aratama (savage spirit) whichcauses the flood of the Chikugo.
"The Chronicles of Japan" mentioned in chapters of283 CE, 306, 310, and 470 that Chinese weavers* came toJapan from the continent. A considerable number offoreigners should have also come nearby. They had brought
techniques of weaving, fishing and sailing, and had
influenced local worship of Water God and Sea God. In thiscontext, Aragoro Daimyojin could be a deity who came

Wooden Statue of Katabuchi Shrinefrom overseas. After the extermination by Kiyomasa, thekappa clan was said to have moved to the Chikugo River. Our lords seem to have had the positive attitude
toward accepting kappa – foreign gods.
*They were called Kuribe (呉部) or Kureme (呉女 female). Then, there is a theory that the city-name Kurume came from it.

Aragoro Daimyojin God worshiped in Amagoze-sha Shrine
The Amagoze-sha Shrine is the predecessor of the Kurume Suiten-gu Shrine. An old document mentionedthat Amagoze Daimyojin God was the Water God of the Chikugo River. Its statue had been placed with that ofAragoro God and Anbo God (?) on both sides, although they don’t exist any longer.

The Kose River and Kappa
Several shrines, in which enshrine Kappa, are dotted along the Kose River (巨瀬) in the western part ofKurume. Then, it posits some historical hypotheses that some people in power named Kose governed this area.
Kose River

Cultural Properties Protection Department ofKurume
Address: 15-3 Jonan Kurume Fukuoka Japan
830-8520 / Tel: 0942-30-9225
Date of publication: February 25th, 2009
Translated in September 2020
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