Greetings yokai fans!
It’s been one month since I touched down in Japan, and it’s been a busy one! But things are finally settling in and I’ve been able to get to making good progress on yokai again. We moved in to our house on February 4th, got heating installed the following week, making it actually possible to live there, and finally got internet access installed early this week, making it possible to live and work here full-time! I’m still setting up a studio space, but for now I am able to do my painting in the living room, bundled up under my kotatsu.
Today’s post probably would have been more fun on Valentine’s Day, with all the blood-sucking and increased libido and other traits these guys have, but sadly they weren’t ready by then. But I hope you’ll still enjoy them as a late Valentine’s Day present!
There’s one more set of bugs coming after this one, and after that I’ll be moving back to more “traditional” yokai!
Taibyō no kesshaku
大病の血積
たいびょうのけっしゃく
TRANSLATION: terrible disease blood shaku (a type of infection)
ALTERNATE NAMES: kesshaku, chishaku
HABITAT: the stomach
DIET: blood
APPEARANCE: This yōkai infects hosts after they have suffered from a terrible sickness. It’s body is shaped like a flexible bulb. It has flippers and a broad tail which help it swim about the stomach. Its head it shaped like a hammer, and it uses it to smash through the stomach wall and enter the heart, where it feeds off of its host’s blood.
INTERACTIONS: A person infected with a taibyō no kesshaku becomes pale, with thin and emaciated cheeks. The victim’s entire body becomes weak and worn out. This infection can be cured by vomiting up the taibyō no kesshaku and sprinkling it with shukusha (medicine made from black cardamom seed). When a taibyō no kesshaku is smashed, its body rips open and an enormous blood clot is released.
http://yokai.com/taibyounokesshaku/
Kakuran no mushi
霍乱の虫
かくらんのむし
TRANSLATION: vomit and diarrhea bug
HABITAT: the stomach
APPEARANCE: Kakuran no mushi is a parasitic yōkai which lives in the stomach. It has a black head and a red body. It has tiny legs interspersed across its long body. Its facial expression resembles that of a person who is about to vomit; its mouth is open and its eyes are tiny pinpoints.
INTERACTIONS: People infected with kakuran no mushi suffer symptoms similar to food poisoning: frequent diarrhea and vomiting. This infection can be cured by taking goshuyu, a medicine made from a dried, unripe fruit (Tetradium ruticarpum).
In one record of a kakuran no mushi infection, this yōkai’s head was briefly visible in its host’s mouth during a particularly violent bout of vomiting. A friend of the victim grabbed the kakuran no mushi’s head to try to pull it out, but when he did, the victim became very weak and seemed as if he was about to lose consciousness. The friend let go of the head, and the kakuran no mushi retreated back into its hosts body. Afterwards, the victim died. When an autopsy was performed, the doctor found the kakuran no mushi wrapped up around its host’s liver so tightly that he couldn’t remove it. The doctor ground up shazenshi (Plantago asiatica) and mokkō (Saussurea costus) and sprinkled it on the kakuran no mushi, and the creature disappeared.
http://yokai.com/kakurannomushi/
Kishaku
気積
きしゃく
TRANSLATION: mind/spirit/mood shaku (a type of infection)
HABITAT: the stomach
DIET: oily foods
APPEARANCE: Kishaku’s most distinguishing feature is its mouth, which is split three ways. It has a red, furry body with a white stripe and a black tail. It loves greasy, oily foods. It lives in the stomach and feeds off of the oily foods, such as fish and chicken, that its host eats. It completely ignores rice and other foods that it doesn’t like.
INTERACTIONS: People infected with kishaku experience an extreme increase in sexual desire. This sickness can be cured with medicine made from a tiger’s intestines.