Umi bōzu

**Umibōzu** (海坊主, "sea priest") is a paranormal phenomenon or *yōkai* from Japanese folklore. Other names include ***Umihōshi*** (海法師, "sea priest") or ***Uminyūdō*** (海入道, "sea priest"). Little is known of the origin of *umibōzu* but it is a sea-spirit and as such has multiple sightings throughout Japan. Normally, *umibōzu* appears to sailors on calm seas which quickly turn tumultuous. It either breaks the ship on emergence or demands a bucket or barrel from the sailors and proceeds to drown them. The only safe way to escape an *umibōzu* is to give it a bottomless barrel and sail away while it is confused.

## Concept

They appear and disappear in the oceans, often at night, and it is thought that they would suddenly appear on what was previously a calm sea surface as a giant's black *bōzu* head and destroy ships. They are often a few meters to a few tens of meters in length, so they are seen as quite large, but there are also tales about relatively small ones.

Like *funayūrei*, there are often many tales that seem to be about hallucinations, and often the difference between them is not clear. They would say "lend me a ladle," and sometimes the *funayūrei* that come to sink ships are considered the same as *umibōzu*. However, unlike the *funayūrei* who come with stormy weather, *umibōzu* sometimes appear at seas with no abnormalities (and in this case, once the *umibōzu* was seen, the weather would start getting stormy), so it's pointed out that these could be things that actually exist that were seen incorrectly. Some examples of things that could have been seen incorrectly include sea organisms, cumulonimbus clouds, big waves, and other natural phenomena.

Also, *umibōzu* would often come in swarms as naked *bōzu*-like beings and attack ships, and they would do things like cling on to the hull and scull as well as put out the basket fire. It is said that they would sometimes let out a voice saying "yaa yaa" while swimming, and when hit with the scull would let out shrieks of "aitata". Their weakness is tobacco smoke, and it is said that if one is unlucky enough to encounter one, having one of those ready can lead to being saved

## Legends by areas

In the Tōhoku region, there is a custom of sacrificing to the gods the first fish caught when fishing, and it is said that if this is not followed, an *umibōzu* would appear and destroy the boat and kidnap the boat owner.

The *nurarihyon* that appears often in Bisan Seto has a large round head and as they float towards the boat, they would then slowly sludge (*nurari*) away and then unexpectedly (*hyon*) float approaching the boat again. They would do this several times over to mess with people.

In Cape Shiriya, Higashidōri, Shimokita District, Aomori Prefecture, it is said that people eaten by sharks would become "mōjabune". They can be repelled by melting some miso and letting it into the sea. The "*umikozō*" told about in the Kamo District, Shizuoka Prefecture is a boy covered with hair all the way to the sides of the eye, and it is said that they would approach fishing lines with a grin. Also, in Mikonohama, Kii Province, a small animal called the "*mokuri kokuri*" that resembles a weasel would go to the mountains on March 3 and to the sea on May 5, and they have the shape of a human, but would expand and contract at will and disappear as soon as they appear, and extract from the butts of people who come to wheat fields at night. They have a jellyfish-like shape, and are said to come floating in swarms above the ocean. During the Mongol invasions, they were considered to be the spirits of those who died in water, and their name was *ateji* for Mongolian Koguryo. In the Kitauwa District, Ehime Prefecture, the sea would become white at night and a "*shirami*", also called "*shirami yūren*", would come swimming, and fishers would call these idiots. However, it is said that if they hear "idiot", they'd get angry and cling on to the scull and give a bad time. On Sado Island, the "*tateboshi*" are a monster said to stand at a height of 20 meters who would aim at ships and try to flip them over.

*Umibōzu* are also said to change their appearance, and in Kesennuma Ōshima, Miyagi Prefecture, there are tales of them shapeshifting into a beautiful woman and engaging in swimming contests with humans. There is also a similar tale in Iwate, but there it is said that those who accept the challenge would be swallowed down instantly. In Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, there are tales where they would shapeshift into a *zatō* (blind person) and kill human women. Also, while there are many legends of them attacking humans, in Uwajima there is the legend that those who see an *umibōzu* would live a long life.

There are also *umibōzu* with strange appearances. In Wakayama Prefecture, something called the "*umibōzu* of Kemiura" would appear and disappear. In Meiji 21, or 1888, December 26, the Miyako Shimbun reported that at Mii-dera, Wakayama Prefecture, there was an *umibōzu* like a large monkey with a height of about 7–8 shaku (about 2.1–2.4 meters) and a weight of about 60–70 kan (about 225–263 kilograms). It is said to have had brown hair, orange eyes, and had the mouth of a crocodile, the torso of a fish, the tail of a lobster, and the cry of a bull.

In Nagano Prefecture, there are *umibōzu* who live in rivers, unusual through all provinces. According to legend, they live in rivers near Kaesa, Nakano, and had giant bodies and black heads that looked like big Buddha statues. Only their upper bodies were said to be above water.

Outside Japan, there are half-human legends about sea monks and sea bishops.

## Recent Sighting

In April 1971, off the coast of Onagawa, Oshika District, Miyagi Prefecture, a fishing boat, the *28th Konpira Maru*, was travelling to New Zealand to fish for tuna, when the boat's long line was suddenly cut, and a large creature surfaced from the water. It had many grey-brown wrinkles on its body and eyes that were about 15 centimeters in diameter, a collapsed nose, and no mouth to be seen. Half its body was submerged in murky water so its whole body could not be ascertained, but it was said to leave a trail. It is said that as they got ready to poke it with a harpoon, the monster disappeared into the sea.

When an officer of the research lab, the Enyō Suisan Kenkyujo, at branch office in Yaizu heard of this account, he supposed that it was likely that the fishermen were mistaking an organism, like a fish or whale, for a monster. In another eyewitness account, the half of its body that appeared from the water surface was about 1.5 meters in length, so by inferring that its whole body was several times that length, they said that they never heard of an organism like that.

These accounts of strange events was published in Mainichi Shimbun on July 17 of the same year.

## Similar Creatures

In China, there is the legend of the *kikokutan (鬼哭灘) no kai*, and according to research, it is said to be related to Japan's *funayūrei* and *umibōzu*, but it has a different appearance. It is thought that when a boat goes on the sea above a *kikokutan*, its appearance was described by the words 没頭, without a head, 隻手, having one hand, and 独足, having one leg, and it was short, and the bald monster would attempt to overturn the ship (on having no hair, this part of their appearance is the same).

## Origin

The origin of *umibōzu* is unclear as there are no stories specifically referencing what caused its creation or its first appearance. One theory about the origin of *umibōzu* is that they are the spirits of dead priests who were thrown into the ocean by Japanese villagers for some reason or another. Because their bodies have nowhere to be laid to rest, their souls inhabit the oceans and haunt it in the shape of a dark shadow, reaping its revenge upon any souls unlucky enough to come across it.

## Manifestations

*Umibōzu* always appear only in the ocean, usually during peaceful waters and fair weather. These fair conditions would normally put the sailors at ease as they are literally "sailing on smooth waters" but the possible presence of a malicious spirit put many sailors on edge in these times of peaceful sailing. Upon its sudden rising from the ocean, causing waves and sometimes flipping ships or breaking them with its emergence, *umibōzu* is accompanied by the winds begin to blow and waves toss the ship about. The appearance of an *umibōzu* alone causes this dramatic shift in weather which puts any ship in immediate peril, not only from being capsized by the waves but also from being crushed by the *yōkai*. This could be a mixing of the *funayūrei* legends which suggests these *yōkai* appear during storms at sea. With very few first person sightings which are recorded or passed on, *umibōzu* tends to have characteristics with other *yōkai*. Similar to the *funayūrei*, *umibōzu* either breaks the ship with its arms or it demands a barrel from the sailors which it consequently uses to drown the sailors by scooping up water and dumping it into the ships deck. *Funayūrei* use ladles to drown sailors in some Japanese legends while some accounts of *umibōzu* claim it appears with a ladle for the same purpose. The only way to escape from an *umibōzu* safely is to give it a bottomless barrel, such that it cannot scoop up water, thereby giving the sailors a chance to escape. While it is confused and attempting to scoop up the water in a futile effort, the sailors have just enough time to sail away to safety. The *yōkai* seems to be foolish in the way it does not understand why it cannot scoop water with the bottomless barrel, possibly showing the superiority of humans over *yōkai* in general. Normally, a chance encounter with *umibōzu* is deadly for all and as such there are very few instances of first-person accounts of an *umibōzu* encounter. Any survivors of such an encounter are due to their giving a bottomless barrel or if there were a shipwreck survivor adrift in the ocean who washed ashore.

Usually called the "sea monk" (*umi* means sea and *bōzu* means monk), *umibōzu* has no ties to religion in any of its actions or sightings. Victims of this *yōkai* are random and have no ties to any action or belief. Sailors who were attacked were of no specific sect or religion as they are only ever described as pitiable sailors, the victims of an attack.

## Gallery

Umi Bōzu's appearance in the Bakemono no e