Danzaburou-danuki

Danzaburou-danuki (upper left) lends money to human merchants in the painting Danzaburou-danuki of Sado Province (佐渡国同三狸) by Kawanabe Kyōsai; from the book 100 Images by Kyōsai.[1]

Danzaburou-danuki (団三郎狸 Danzaburō-danuki) is a bake-danuki passed down in stories on Sado Island, particularly in Aikawa and Niigata. In Sado, tanuki were called "mujina (狢)", thus he was also referred to as Danzaburou-mujina (団三郎狢).[2] In the Ukiyo-e, its name was written as 同三狸."[3][4] Together with the Shibaemon-tanuki of Awaji Island, and the Yashima no Hage-tanuki of Kagawa, they form the "three famous tanuki" of Japan.[5]

Legend

The supreme commander of the tanuki on Sado Island, most tales of Danzaburou focus on his trickery of humans.[6] He would create wall-like structures to block people's paths at night,[7] fooled people with mirages,[8] and sold leaves from trees by making them look as if they were made of gold.[7][8] He also created mirages to lure people into his lair (said to be a hole in the ground or a cellar), making it appear as a splendid estate.[6] If he ever became ill, Danzaburou would disguise himself as a human and visit human doctors for treatment.[7][9]

His reputation was not all bad, however. He was said to have often lent money to people struggling with financial troubles, though said funds were in all likelihood obtained by him fooling people into working for him, or otherwise embezzled.[6] Some tales actually purport that Danzaburou would repay what he stole; a story from the town of Orito (near Aikawa), reported that the tanuki left a sealed promissory note with the victim’s name, the sum of money taken, and the date it was to be returned. When the day came, the victim found the note had disappeared and the payment was left in its place.[3][10] Afterwards, Danzaburou was deified in Aikawa as Futatsuiwa Daimyoujin (二つ岩大明神), into which people heartily put their faith.[11]

It has been said that the reason why there are no kitsune (foxes) in Sado is because Danzaburou drove them out, detailed in two legends:

There several more tales of Danzaburou's antics, but also a legend that he once lost to a man in a battle of wits, and ceased tricking humans.

Possible origin

In Meireki 三 (AD 1657), tanuki were farmed and their skins were used in the crafting of bellows. Danzaburou was the name of a human merchant in Echigo, who purportedly began caring for and trying to conserve the tanuki in Sado, and became widely respected on the island. Theory states that the tanuki itself was later worshiped as an ujigami.[13]

In popular culture

Notes

  1. 暁斎妖怪百景. pp. 46頁.
  2. 村上健司編著 (2000). 妖怪事典. 毎日新聞社. pp. 216頁. ISBN 978-4-620-31428-0.
  3. 3.0 3.1 暁斎妖怪百景. pp. 129頁.
  4. "狸の戯". 本銀行金融研究所貨幣博物館. 日本銀行金融研究所. 2004-09. Retrieved 2011-01-09. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. 宮沢光顕 (1978). 狸の話. 有峰書店. pp. 229頁.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 幻想世界の住人たち. pp. 241–243頁.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 変態伝説史. pp. 63–70頁.
  8. 8.0 8.1 日本伝説叢書. pp. 175–180頁.
  9. 根岸鎮衛. "耳嚢". 奇談異聞辞典. pp. 574–575頁.
  10. 滝沢觧. "燕石雑志". 奇談異聞辞典. pp. 573–574頁.
  11. "二つ岩大明神 ~相川~". やまきスタッフが発見した裏佐渡スポット紹介!! 裏サド. 相川やまき. 2010-01-26. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  12. 12.0 12.1 日本の伝説. pp. 162–168頁.
  13. 田村博 (August 1981). "信楽狸の発生と流行6 -甲賀郡信楽町-". 民俗文化 (滋賀民俗学会) (通巻215号): 2140頁.

References