The Lucky Child Spirit; Zashiki Warashi
Do you believe in spirits? Whether you answer a yes or no,
it still intrinsically exists in Japanese mythology and is embedded in
their folktales, traditions, and beliefs. Although technology has
developed rapidly and people are quick to disprove the existence of the
paranormal with science and gadgets, these spirit-like beings (or at
least, the idea of them) still have a respected place in Japanese
culture.
There are hundreds of different entities and beings in
ghost form that supposedly tread Japan. What with its prevalent Shinto
beliefs being essentially animistic in nature, with kami manifesting
themselves all around human beings, the Zashiki Warashi is only one of
the many interesting creatures that are worth your attention reading up
on.
The World of Yokai: All About the Zashiki Warashi
The definition of “yokai” or “youkai” is anything that is
under the category of paranormal beings in Japanese mythology. The idea
of a yokai cannot be pinned down to a specific creature. It can be
anything from an entity to an enigma. If you were to translate the word
“yokai”, you would get English words such as “bewitching”, ‘suspicious”,
“attractive”, and “specter”. They’re not all evil, and they’re not all
mischievous – but the Zashiki Warashi is one of them.
The Meaning of the Name “Zashiki Warashi”
In English, the Zashiki-warashi is translated to “zashiki
child”, or more popularly, “guestroom child”. A zashiki (“座敷”) is a room
in a Japanese house where guests can sit, and it is filled with tatami
mats. You can consider it a sort of parlor. “Warashi” (童子“) is an old
Japanese word for “child” that was spoken around Japan’s northeastern
region.
The zashiki warashi is also sometimes referred to as
“Zashiki Bokko”, which means “guestroom basker”. The idea of
zashiki-warashi is that it is a spirit that resides in guest or storage
rooms in the form of a child of either gender. Some would refer to them
as gods, thus the label of “child”.
The Appearance of the Zashiki Warashi
The zashiki warashi can be anywhere from 3 to 15 years old,
but most of them seem to look around 5 or 6. Their faces are distinctly
red from blushing, perhaps because of the mischief they have caused, or
are about to cause. Sightings of a zashiki warashi are uncommon, but
they appear in big, old houses that still have people living in them.
Only a few people can really see them; supposedly only either the owners
of the house they haunt or their children can do so. Because of this,
they are known for the mischief they cause more than their visual
appearance.
There are characteristics to look out for to be able to
identify it as a zashikiwarashi. If the zashiki warashi is a girl,
you’ll see it sport a kimono (Japanese outfit for a woman) such as a
“furisode”, or a Japanese robe called “kosode”. The clothes of male
zashiki warashi tend to veer to more patterned outfits, such as striped
fabrics or patterns of assorted design like “kasuri”. Both genders have
similar hairstyles; usually, straight hair chopped to a bob cut, which
makes it hard to tell what kind of zashiki warashi is inhabiting that
room, though occasionally some zashiki warashi girls possess long hair
that is brushed back and tied.
Then again, stories of zashiki warashi vary widely. Some
stories recount instances of having two or more of them in the same
place at once. Others demonize the look of the zashiki warashi, claiming
it to resemble a black, brute beast, while some male zashiki warashi
boys are said to don warrior clothing. These are rarer counts, though,
compared to the usual witnesses of an innocent child.
What Does the Zashiki Warashi Do?
If you have a fireplace, and suddenly see children’s
footprints on the floor of those ashes (and you’re sure they’re not your
dog’s or anyone else’s), you could be almost certain that is a zashiki
warashi playing a prank on you. They do the same, even with other
substances such as powdered bleach. The laughter that comes from a child
or children, the sound of paper being crumpled, snorting, kagura music,
the creak of an opening door made of wood, and the sound of whirring
gears of a turning wheel are audible signs you have a zashiki warashi in
your house.
If the pillows of your bed are all in disarray, and you can
see that someone has been playing or riding your beloved futon, then
that is a tell-tale diagnosis for a zashiki warashi haunting. Because of
their childlike nature, they want to play and be noticed as much as
possible by those living on the premises. They’d do anything to just be
normal kids; such as have fun and play games – especially with other
children.
If any of the children in a house that is known to have a
zashiki warashi starts showing signs of playing with an “imaginary
friend”, then you know exactly who they’re playing with. To others,
they’re a warm welcome more than a creepy predicament. For couples who
cannot bear any children or the elderly, the zashiki warashi find some
company in them.
A Bringer of Good Fortune
If you do have a zashiki warashi in your house, do not try
to ward it away. They choose when to stay and when to go, and your
efforts to get them to leave or stop playing their pranks can only go
three ways. Either they don’t listen to you and continue playing
harmless pranks, start getting a little more deviant with their pranks,
or leave you alone entirely – which is often the worst-case scenario.
It really isn’t a good idea to shoo them away. They are not
just spirits but also thought to be guardians of your home, as well as
lucky gods. Consider yourself fortunate if you do have a zashiki warashi
in your abode – some Japanese families even go through customs to
invite a zashiki warashi in their house. Their existence has a great and
direct effect on how prosperous a family is.
Families who do have them go out of their way to appease
them, and give them their offerings of food. They don’t have any diet,
but they would love any offerings of treats or candies to them. Some
offer azuki meshi, which is a rice and bean porridge, and monitor the
consumption of this. Once the zashiki warashi stops eating from that
porridge, that means it has the intent to leave.
What Happens When A Zashiki Warashi Leaves?
The zashiki warashi are protected and celebrated, and never
made to feel like a nuisance for a reason. Once they feel disrespected
or that it is time to leave, the state of the house, or even the family
itself collapses. There is a story in the Tono Monogatari, which is a
collection of Japanese folktales from the Tono part of the Iwate
prefecture, that talks about how food poisoning killed an entire family
once the zashiki warashi that resided in their house left.
Other stories concerning the zashiki warashi leaving
involve the sudden decline in the family’s fortune. It is said that a
zashiki warashi that wants to leave will appear in red clothes, possibly
holding a red bucket.
The Origin Of the Zashiki Warashi
The stories that are told about this specific yokai
circulate around the Iwate Prefecture for the most part. Other
prefectures that have counts of zashiki warashi in their households
include the Miyagi Prefecture, Akita Prefecture, Aomori Prefecture, and
parts of the Tohoku region.
Some historians and folklorists suggest that the zashiki
warashi are lingering spirits of kids who were victims of infanticide.
Those children who were purposely murdered were sometimes buried in the
kitchen’s “doma”, which was a kitchen without a floor that eventually
leads to the Kura, or storehouse of the home, thus their tendency to
stay in that specific room.
It’s also speculated that they look like children because
of the Buddhist belief of the existence of “goho-warashi”, which are
protective gods of the Buddhist faith that also come in the form of
children. The zashiki warashi just wants humans to be more generous and
giving, thus, in turn, give them many blessings too.
Different Kinds of Zashiki Warashi
Depending on what region you’re in, this childlike being is
called by different names. Aside from the two already mentioned,
there’s also okura-bokko, zashiki-kozo, and zashiki-warabe.
Zashiki-bokko is the name used around the Prefecture where it’s most
popular in; Iwate.
Then there are the ranked versions of zashiki warashi. The
zashiki-warashi that has the most appealing appearance and is colored
white goes by the name “chopirako”. They are stunning and attractive
spirits and bring more than the usual number of blessings and wealth
upon a household. This comes with a price, though, as the family of that
households needs to give it more care and attention than they would a
normal zashiki warashi. This high-class spirit comes from a deceased
child who grew up in a wealthy family and was given a room and lavish
toys when he/she died.
Those that reside around the dirt floor of a house go by
the name “notabariko”, which means “mortar-pounding child”. It also goes
by the names “usutsuriko”, and “kometsuki-warashi”. This low-ranked
variant of the zashiki warashi don’t come happy, and come out of the
ground and make a strange, thumping noise at night. The energy that they
spread in the household is uneasy, and it does not have any positive or
negative effect on the riches of the family that owns the house it
haunts while it is there. However, if it leaves the household, the
family will still experience some sort of misfortune.
One variant doesn’t look like the normal zashiki warashi;
its differences lie in its member girth and length – they’re as thin as a
vine. These are what you call “hosode nagate”, which means “thin arms,
long arms”. They are called “hosode” for short. In case a natural
disaster was to happen such as a tsunami, a hosode would appear, and
beckon with their thin arms for people to get away from the location
where the incident will take place.
Source : http://yabai.com/p/3044
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