Yofune-nushi

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Yofune-nushi is a Japanese sea monster, living off-shore the Oki Islands.

The story of the Yofune-nushi was recorded by Richard Gordon Smith in the book Ancient Tales and Folk-Lore of Japan, published in 1918. In the story, Yofune-nushi is a monster, living in the sea near the coast of one of the Oki Islands. It demands a tribute of a virgin girl once a year. A brave girl, called Tokoyo, dives into the sea instead of the girl intended as offering and defeats the unsuspecting monster. She also finds a cursed wooden idol that was causing a nobleman grief, thereby lifting the curse.

[edit] Authenticity of the story

The Yofune-nushi and his requests for virgin girls and the slaying of the monster in its lair and the recovering of a treasure are reminiscent of the European dragon fable more than any Japanese lore. There seem to be no Japanese sources confirming the story, and Richard Gordon Smith himself points out in the preface of the story that he did not verify it and does not vouch for its authenticity. There is a high probability that the story does not relate actual folk-lore and should thus be taken with a grain of salt.