Baku (spirit)

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A baku by Katsushika Hokusai.
A baku by Katsushika Hokusai.
A baku by Katsushika Hokusai. For other uses, see Baku (disambiguation).

Baku (獏 or 貘?) are Japanese supernatural beings that devour dreams and nightmares. They have a long history in Japanese folklore and art, and more recently have appeared in Japanese anime and manga (see examples cited below).

The Japanese term baku has two current meanings, referring to both the traditional dream-devouring creature and to the zoological tapir (e.g., the Malaysian tapir). [1] In Korean, the term is maek (Hangul: 맥, Hanja: 貊). In recent years, there have been changes in how the baku is depicted.

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[edit] History and Description

The traditional Japanese nightmare-devouring baku originates in Chinese folklore and was familiar in Japan as early as the Muromachi period (14th-15th century).[2] Hori Tadao (2005) has described the dream-eating abilities attributed to the traditional baku and relates them to other preventatives against nightmare like the use of amulets. Kaii-Yōkai Denshō Database, citing a 1957 paper, and Mizuki (2004) also describe the dream-devouring capacities of the traditional baku.

An early 17th century Japanese manuscript, the Sankai Ibutsu (山海異物), describes the baku as a Chinese mythical chimera with an elephant’s trunk, rhinoceros eyes, an ox tail, and tiger paws, which in belief protected against pestilence and evil, although eating nightmares was not included among its abilities.[3] However, in a 1791 Japanese wood-block illustration, a specifically dream-destroying baku is depicted with an elephant’s head, tusks, and trunk, with horns and tiger’s claws.[4] The elephant’s head, trunk, and tusks are characteristic of baku portrayed in classical era (pre-Meiji) Japanese wood-block prints (see illustration) and in shrine, temple, and netsuke carvings.[5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Writing in the Meiji era, Lafcadio Hearn (1902) described a baku with very similar attributes that was also able to devour nightmares.[10]

Since the 1980s in manga, anime, and other forms of popular culture, the baku appears not as a chimera of an elephant and tiger but as a zoologically recognizable tapir. Examples include Takahashi Rumiko's manga Urusei Yatsura (1995)[11] and Mikimoto Haruhiko's manga Marionatte Generation (2001, original 1990),[12] and in anime, Oshii Mamoru’s 1984 film about Lum, Beautiful Dreamer.[13] Such baku also appear in Pokémon and Digimon (the Drowzee is a baku-like Pokémon, and Digimon features a character called Bakumon)[citation needed]. "Baku" is a main character in the Playstation 2 game Dual Hearts, characterized as a "pig" that eats dreams.[citation needed] However, not all modern baku/yumekui are tapirs ("yumekui" means "dreamcatcher"). In Satoshi Kon’s 2007 animated film “Paprika,” Paprika, a young woman who is kami of the Dreamtime, is a baku/yumekui who devours a dream-villain at the film’s climax.[14] Hakase Mizuki's 2007 manga Ba_ku (sic) and Shin Mashiba's 2008 manga Nightmare Inspector: Yumekui Kenbun are also about baku/yumekui who are not tapirs.[15][16] The Playstation game FFIX features a character named Baku who resembles a pig.[citation needed]

Dream-eating, tapir-shaped baku have also entered non-Japanese popular culture. The picture book "The Dream Eater" by Christian Garrison tells the story of a young boy, Yukio, who meets a baku and brings it to his village[citation needed]. Neil Gaiman’s "The Dream Hunters,” which is based on Japanese mythology, features baku[citation needed]. A video game featuring a dream-eating tapir also exists (see external link).

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Nakagawa, 1999, pp. 33-34.
  2. ^ Hori Tadao 2005
  3. ^ Nakagawa, 1999
  4. ^ Kern, 2007
  5. ^ <http://www.sirasaki.co.jp/baku/baku.html> accessed September 5, 2007.
  6. ^ <http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fv20070216a1.html> accessed September 8, 2007.
  7. ^ <http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shrine-guide-2.shtml> accessed September 8, 2007.
  8. ^ <http://www.tokugawaantiques.com/product.php?productid=579> accessed September 8, 2007.
  9. ^ <http://www.lacma.org/programs/ArtWorkMonth0306.aspx> accessed September 8, 2007.
  10. ^ Hearn 1902
  11. ^ Takahashi Rumiko 1995
  12. ^ Mikimoto Haruhiko, 2001
  13. ^ Oshii Mamoru, 1984
  14. ^ Kon Satoshi, 2007
  15. ^ Hakase Mizuki 2007
  16. ^ Shin Mashiba 2008

[edit] References

  • Hakase Mizuki 2007 Ba_ku. Los Angeles, CA: TokyoPop. (The underscore is correct; it's in the original title.)
  • Hearn, Lafcadio 1902 Kottō: Being Japanese Curios, with Sundry Cobwebs. Macmillan & Co., ltd., pp. 245-248. ISBN 4-8613-3027-0.
  • Hori Tadao 2005 Cultural note on dreaming and dream study in the future: Release from nightmare and development of dream control technique. Sleep and Biological Rhythms 3 (2), 49–55.
  • Kaii-Yōkai Denshō Database. International Research Center for Japanese Studies. Retrieved on 2007-05-12. (summary of excerpt from Warui Yume o Mita Toki ( 悪い夢をみたとき, When You've Had a Bad Dream?) by Keidō Matsushita, published in volume 5 of the journal Shōnai Minzoku (庄内民俗, Shōnai Folk Customs?) on June 15, 1957).
  • Kern, Adam L. 2007 Manga from the Floating World: Comicbook culture and the kibyoshi of Edo Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Asian Center. P. 236, figure 4.26.
  • Kon Satoshi 2007 Paprika. Tokyo: Sony Pictures. ASIN B000O58V8O.
  • Mikimoto Haruhiko 2001 (original 1990) A Profile of the Heart. In: Marionette Generation, Volume 1, San Francisco: Viz Communications. Pp. 159-178.
  • Mizuki, Shigeru 2004 Mujara 5: Tōhoku, Kyūshū-hen (in Japanese). Japan: Soft Garage. P. 137. ISBN 4-8613-3027-0.
  • Nakagawa Masako 1999 Sankai ibutsu: An early seventeenth-century Japanese illustrated manuscript. Sino-Japanese Studies, 11:24-38. Pp. 33-34.
  • Oshii Mamoru 1984 Beautiful Dreamer. New York:US Manga Corp. ASIN: B0001Y4MRW.
  • Takahashi Rumiko 1995 Waking to a nightmare. In: The Return of Lum: Urusei Yatsura. San Francisco: Viz. Pp. 141-156.

[edit] External links

[edit] See also