Tsuchigumo

The Tsuchigumo (土蜘蛛?), also called Yatsukahagi (八握脛?), were a people of ancient Japan, believed to have lived in the Japanese Alps until at least the Asuka period. The name means "ground spider", likely due to perceived physical traits that were later exaggerated or embellished.

Suggested Reading

Asiatic Society of Japan. Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan: Volume 7. The Society. (1879)

Aston, William George. Shinto: the way of the gods. Longmans, Green, and Co. (1905)

Brinkley, Frank and Dairoku Kikuchi. A history of the Japanese people from the earliest times to the end of the Meiji era. The Encyclopædia Britannica Co. (1915)

Horne, Charles Francis. The Sacred books and early literature of the East. Parke, Austin, and Lipscomb: (1917)

Oriental Institute (Woking, England), East India Association (London, England). The Imperial and asiatic quarterly review and oriental and colonial record. Oriental Institute. (1892)

Studio international, Volume 18. Studio Trust. (1900)

Trench, K. Paul. Nihongi: chronicles of Japan from the earliest times to A.D. 697: Volume 1. The Society. Trübner. (1896)