Tsukumogami
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Tsukumogami (Lit. "artifact spirit") are a type of Japanese spirit. Tsukumogami originate from items or artifacts that have reached their 100th birthday and thus become alive and aware. Any object of this age, from swords to toys, can become a tsukumogami. Tsukumogami are considered spirits and supernatural beings, as opposed to enchanted items.
Tsukumogami vary radically in appearance, depending on the type of item they originated from as well as the condition that item was in. Some, such as tsukumogami originating from paper lanterns or broken sandals, can have tears which become eyes and sharp teeth, thus giving a horrifying visage. Others, such as worn prayer beads or teacups, may merely manifest faces and appendages, giving a warm and friendly appearance.
Though by and large tsukumogami are harmless and at most tend to play occasional pranks on unsuspecting victims, as shown in the Otogi Zoshi they do have the capacity for anger and will band together to take revenge on those who are wasteful or throw them away thoughtlessly. To prevent this, to this day some Shinto ceremonies, such as the Hari Kuyou, are performed to console broken and unsuable items.
Some of the better known tsukumogami include the following:
- Kasa Obake
- Zorigami
- Ichiren-Bonze, the heroic prayer-bead tsukumogami from the Otogi Zoshi
- Moé-chan, a French-made automaton from the Love Hina anime series
External links
- Tsukumogami excerpt from the Otogi Zoshi at Kyoto University's Digital Library website (http://ddb.libnet.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/exhibit-e/otogi/tsukumo/tsukumo.html)
- Tsukumogami entry at Yokaimura.org (http://www.youkaimura.org/tsuku.htm)
