Kamaitachi
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Kamaitachi (窮奇, sometimes also 鎌鼬) is a Japanese yōkai, most common in the Kōshinetsu region.
It was traditionaly classified as a wind yōkai. There are several conceptions of how it looked like or operated, but the most common is one of a trio of weasels with sharp claws, riding on a gust of wind and cutting peoples' skin on the legs. According to this interpretation, the first weasel knocked the unsuspecting victim down, the second cut the victim's flesh and the third applied medication to the wounds, so that at the time the victim realised what was happening they were left only with painful wounds that weren't bleeding. Sometimes the three are described as brothers, sometimes as triplets. This account can be traced back to Toriyama Sekien, who was presumably also the first to imagine the apparition to have the form of a weasel. The weasel was a typical Toriyama pun - one of the folk names for the appparition was kamaetachi (構え太刀), meaning "attacking tachi", which he changed slightly to mean "sickle weasel".
The idea of lightning fast weasels wielding razor-sharp claws appealed to manga and anime artists and the kamaitachi often appear in those media.
[edit] Kamaitachi in popular culture
- The arcade game Ghouls 'n Ghosts features a kamaitachi as a minor enemy in the first level.
- In the Digimon series, Kyukimon is a digimon patterned after the legend of the kamaitachi. The characters 窮奇, used to write kamaitachi, can alternatively be read as kyūki.
- In the Japanese version of Pokémon, there is a "move" named Kamaitachi. It was translated into English as "Razor Wind".
- There is a series of Sound Novels by Chunsoft entitled Kamaitachi no Yoru (Night of the Kamaitachi).
- Kamaitachi is the name of a spirit in the anime Shaman King.
- Kamaitachi appears as an enemy monster in the PlayStation 2 game Ōkami.
- In the Nintendo DS game Megaman ZX, one of the eight main bosses, Hurricaune, is a weasel that fights with electric blades.
- In the MMORPG Ragnarok Online, the Ninja class has a skill named Kamaitachi. It is described as the wrath of the wind.
- In the PlayStation 2 game Soul Calibur III, one of the weapons in the Steel Fan discipline is named Kamaitachi.
- In the PlayStation 2 game Namco x Capcom, several types of kamaitachi appear as recurring enemies.
- KAMAITACHI is the name of a "Freeform Hardcore" track by DJ Technorch and GUHROOVY from Beatmania IIDX 14 GOLD
[edit] References
- Kamaitachi. The Obakemono Project.
- Kamaitachi. Encyclopedia Mythica. Retrieved on March 6, 2006.
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