Monstrum

(host) What looks like a reptile amphibian hybrid, has a dish shaped skull, sm ells like fish, is childlike, and out to steal your crops and drown your livestock?

The Japanese water yokai, kappa.

Kappa translates to "river child," but there are more than 100 variations of the name, and while described as childlike in appearance, their behavior certainly is not.

Kappa is a truly Japanese yokai.

While some yokai originate in China or are inspired by Chinese folklore, the kappa is Japan through and through.

And kappas are obsessed with butts, so hang on to yours.

I'm Dr. Emily Zarka, and this is "Monstrum."

With so many different stories of kappa out there, I knew I would need some extra help digging into the lore of this yokai.

My name is Yoshiko Okuyama.

I'm a full professor of Japanese studies at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

And I'm also the author of "Japanese Mythology in Film."

Personality-wise, the kappa is like the class clown, with a penchant for pranks.

Sometimes, a really bad one.

According to legend, living in rivers, ponds, and lakes.

Kappa are commonly portrayed as green in color with a turtle shell on their back, partially hollowed-out heads, and beak-like mouths.

A popular kappa story is based on a real Japanese feudal lord, Kato Kiyomasa.

After a kappa drowns one of his favorite pages, he orders the execution of all the kappas in his province.

Buddhist priests chanted to ke ep the creatures in the area, monkeys were brought in to frighten the kappa, and all the streams were poisoned and filled with hot rocks.

Scared and sick, the leader of the kappa promised his kind would never harm anyone in the region again.

They were forgiven and kept their word.

This is a common trope in kappa tales.

Oftentimes, kappa must promise to stop harassing people, and they must offer help to people when needed or share their secret medical remedies.

The kappas were especially adept at bone setting, oddly enough.

Their medical knowledge may connect back to other water deities associated with fertility, or agricultural deities, especially in more positive legends, since they were also given offerings in the hopes of securing good health in children.

Outside of making threats, there are a few other ways to survive an attack.

Sometimes, a kappa attack on a human or livestock is foiled when the yokai's arm is pulled out of their bodies.

Luckily for kappa, it can be reattached.

But they have a critical weakness.

If they spill any of the liquid from their unique head dish, it's going to be a problem.

Let's talk about that for a second.

The kappa's head has a divot that holds a liquid directly related to the kappa's life force.

You can defend against a kappa attack by wrestling the kappa or just by showing some manners.

If you bow before your opponent, it will bow back, spilling the contents of its head dish and losing its strength, and maybe even its own life.

Another bizarre attribute of the kappa, it loves cucumbers, which is also the reason why a cucumber sushi roll is called kappamaki, a fun little reference to this mischievous yokai.

Less fun fact, if the kappa pulls you underwater, it will steal your liver or blood.

They will often do so by a rather non-traditional backdoor method.

Why?

Well, they must remove the shirikodama first.

The shirikodama is a mythical ball-like organ or jewel that people have inside their derrieres.

(Yoshiko) That's the source of your vitality, like your life's battery pack.

And Mr. Kappa wants it.

Once it snatches your shirikodama, you are out.

Your body becomes like a noodle, all weak and floppy in the water.

Ah, talk about a bizarre way to lose your mojo, right?

And a way to make it easier for kappa to drown you.

Apparently, this is a tasty snack for kappa, who will consume it or take it to their king as tribute.

And yes, some read earlier kappa lore as symbolic of male-male sexual relationships.

There are a lot of kappa stories involving butts, but let's save that for the comments.

The kappa is often associated not just with violence and thievery, but sexual harassment and assault.

Kappa are almost always male, especially in the earlier lore.

According to author Kunio Yanagita's folklore collection, "The Legends of Tono," the kappa will attack and impregnate human women.

The offspring of these attacks are mercilessly killed, chopped into pieces, and buried in wine casks.

There are a lot of regional variations of kappa given its large geographic range.

They're often depicted as an amphibious creature.

Japan is home to over 30 species of frogs and 17 types of turtles, so an amphibious water yokai makes sense.

In Eastern Japan, kappa commonly had a turtle shell on their back, while in Western Japan, variations were more likely to be covered in hair and walk upright.

I think these kappa might be more heavily inspired by the Japanese macaque or snow monkey, who just so happens to like to take hot spring baths in the winter.

The association with kappa to drowning humans seems straightforward.

They might've been used to warn children to be careful around water.

(Yoshiko) Think of the kappa legend as ancient Japan's version of a no swimming sign.

Back in the day, a written wa rning wouldn't cut it, right?

Since most folks couldn't read.

But a chilling tale of a life snatching water creature would stick in your head.

And they're a reminder to protect livestock.

Those are valuable resources you wouldn't want to lose.

Makes sense, but there's a bit more to it.

In Northern and Eastern Japan, the kappa more commonly pulled horses into the water.

In these regions, horse populations were much higher than cows.

Even going as far back as the 13th century, there's evidence of horse ve terinarian clinics in temples, a clear sign of the equine's importance.

But over in Western Japan, the stories center around kappa attacking cows.

This region's leather trade was largely dominated by cow skins, and boasted the epicenter of the Japanese leather trade.

Whether cows or horses, the kappa's threat is significant.

In the 17th century, an unparalleled set of laws existed to protect these and other animals from maltreatment.

It was illegal to abandon a sick cow or horse, and certain rules existed around how to dispose of their corpses.

In the late 18th century, reports emerged of peasants in rural communities being charged additional fees for corpse removal if the animal dies in fires or from drowning.

A kappa pulling a horse or cow to a watery grave would be significant.

It meant a loss of a valuable asset and a potential fine.

In the early 18th century, written folklore of the kappa developed, and it gave us the first re corded images of the monster.

Around 1713, Terajima Ryoan compiled a truly extensive encyclopedia.

At a whopping 105 volumes, the entries are accompanied by illustrations, including his take on a creature labeled kawataro, which is widely considered to be the first illustration of a kappa.

This important entry into yokai lore is very detailed.

Described by Ryoan as about the si ze of a 10-year-old child, it speaks in a human voice, walks upright, and has a partially concave head that can hold water.

While they favor a watery habitat, they are not above making their way onto land to steal crops or enjoy a little sumo wrestling, a sport they excel in, as long as the top of their head is holding water.

Ryoan also mentions the butt stuff, as in sucking blood from cows and humans through their butts.

That might sound ridiculous to us now, but keep in mind that yokai were presented in academic texts alongside real world animals.

This blurred the lines between folklore and fact.

That tradition would change slightly in 1776 with the publication of the first yokai-exclusive bestiary in Japanese history, and you better believe the kappa is in there.

Author and artist, Toriyama Sekien, also added another detail to existing kappa lore: webbed feet.

With the publication of this text, the kappa became more rooted in folklore rather than real history, and less associated with danger and deviance, serving more as symbols of Japan's rural history.

And that symbolism carried into modern times.

For example, the 1923 novella, "Kappa," written by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, uses the fantastical land of the kappa as an intentional caricature of post-World War I Japanese culture.

Other 20th century creatives also depict the creatures walking upright and acting in more human-like activities, a trend that dominated the kappa of popular culture after Shimizu Kon's "Kappa Tengoku" introduced the kappa into manga in the 1950s.

The series centers around a family of kappa engaging in everyday human behaviors.

They eat, shop, and go to work.

It was in this decade that Shimizu, along with artist, Kojima Ko, standardized the female kappa.

Making kappa more human pushes them further away from being a monster to fear.

Lighthearted versions continued to appear throughout the 1970s, where they recalled a nostalgia for rural life and traditional Japanese folklore.

Rural regions of Japan publicized kappa legends to encourage appreciation of traditional Japanese communities and boost their economies.

One of the most popular kappa tourist destinations is Tono, which just so happens to be an important site for the historic Japanese horse trade back in the day.

Kappa continued to appear everywhere.

Anime, manga, books, and live action and animated films.

They appear in advertisements and logos for everything from sake to credit cards.

Their more nefarious origins have turned into a nostalgic nod to the past.

And they sometimes move beyond Japan's borders.

In 1993, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III" takes the anthropomorphic turtle brothers through a time traveling plot, where they are constantly mistaken as kappa.

Kappa even popped up in everyone's favorite cozy escapism game, "Animal Crossing."

We also see evidence of the kappa's popularity in a form of modern day encyclopedia, the database.

If there's a fandom out there, you can be sure there's a fan base website describing and categorizing the minutia of its universe.

The Pokemon wiki, monster wiki, or the D&D wiki, the kappa appears in all of those.

These collections of fan knowledge aren't just about modernizing the bestiary or encyclopedia, they're part of a global desire for connection.

The appreciation for the folklore and its evolution can be shared around the world.

And kappa in particular holds special meaning in Japanese history.

(Yoshiko) As I stated in my book, "Japanese Mythology in Film," we have this innate desire to preserve our cultural traditions, our ancestors' beliefs, customs, and even spiritual practices.

These are like the tapestry of ancestral wisdom, woven with newly enriched thread, as they are passed down from generation to generation.

I don't know, something tells me Terajima Ryoan would be proud.

I just said boasted, not boosted.

It is boasted!

'Cause it would've boosted the leather trade, but it boasted.

David, you sound so positive.

-We gotta go back to the top.

-We got it, we got it!