1. The tengu -天狗-

The tengu is one of the most famous monsters in Japan. They have red face and long nose. They fly and sometimes kidnap a child being lost in the mountain. But the first time the tengu is completely different from the image that is believed today.

The first time the tengu appeared in Japanese history is 638 A.D when Emperor-Jomei ruled. A big comet appeared above the capital growling like a thunder. Then priest-Min who had just back to Japan from China said “That is the tengu, not meteor! Their cry is like a thunder.” The tengu writes “天狗”. “天” means the sky and “狗” means a fox. The ancient Chinese people could consider the trail which comet left to a fox’s tail. In brief, the tengu came from Chinese legend and that is a sing of disaster. But thereafter the tengu didn’t appear in Japanese history for more than 200 years.

The tengu appear in the middle of Heian Period again. Around this time the relationship the tengu and a mountain ascetic began to be strong. First, the tengu was treated like a fairly as the cause of the echo. And they came to use magic that they change man to women, women to man. Moreover they came to curse the nobles who tried to build the house in the mountain of the tengu. In this way the teng penetrated as a popular belief. However the tengu was not more popular than the ogre, the vengeful spirit, dragons and foxes that deceive the people.

The Japanese Warrior Society started, the tengu gained the power. They love the war because they are originally sign of disaster. There are a lot of tales which were written in this age about the tengu and samurai. In fact, around this time, mountain ascetic’s status was established. More and more people began to be a mountain ascetic. They must want to be like the tengu using magical powers and being liberty. So it is natural that many legends about the tengu rose among the people. In this way, the tengu became a one of the most famous monsters in Japan.

Unfortunately, today a lot of people don’t believe the tengu. I don’t say that we should warship the tengu, but it is sad that so many people live in the city that the relationship between people and nature, such as forest and mountain, is being weak. If you go to the mountain having a legend about the tengu, you will find the reason why many people believed the tengu.

reference   天狗考(知切光蔵)
                    天狗の研究(知切光蔵)