Greetings yokai fans!
As I am fighting off a cold and some food poisoning, I am wondering how many of these little guys I have inside of me right now! But painting has been helping me to forget the discomfort. Hopefully you can enjoy these without having to feel their effects!
Hizō no Mushi
脾臓の虫
ひぞうのむし
TRANSLATION: spleen worm
HABITAT: the spleen
APPEARANCE: Hizō no mushi lives in the spleen and attacks the liver and muscles. It has a bright red body which is very hot. Its limbs are tipped with sharp claws. It staggers throughout the body on its thin legs.
INTERACTIONS: People infected with hizō no mushi take on some of its characteristics; most notably the staggering style of walking about, with left and right arms spread wide. When hizō no mushi reaches out from the spleen and grasps the liver in its talons, its victims develop hyperthermia. When hizō no mushi grasps the muscles in its talons, the victim’s body becomes hot and he begins to feel dizzy as if hit on the head.
A hizō no mushi infection can be cured by taking Chinese medicine made from mokkō (a species of thistle) and daiō (a kind of rheum).
Hizō no kasamushi
脾臓の笠虫
ひぞうのかさむし
TRANSLATION: capped spleen worm
HABITAT: the spleen
APPEARANCE: Hizō no kasamushi get their name from the bright red cap-like feature on top of their heads. They have a long, worm-like body covered in short red hairs, which ends in a hairy forked tail.
INTERACTIONS: The hizō no kasamushi’s cap interferes with the normal intake of food, so people infected with this worm become pale and weak. It can cause rapid weight loss as well as extreme weight gain.
This bug is very difficult to remove the from body, but its symptoms can be somewhat relieved by taking Chinese medicine made from agi (dried gum from the roots of ferula plants) and gajutsu (made from the stems and roots of turmeric plants).
Akuchū
悪虫
あくちゅう
TRANSLATION: evil bug
HABITAT: the spleen
DIET: prefers rice
APPEARANCE: Akuchū is a very dangerous bug which infects the spleen. I can easily move throughout the body with its flexible body and tail. It has six sharp claws with which it strongly grasps the spleen.
INTERACTIONS: Akuchū clings to the spleed and eats the food that its host eats with its hooked bill. No matter how much food is eaten, it is very difficult to gain weight or receive nourishment while infected with akuchū.
Akuchū can be easily treated with mokkō (Chinese medicine made from a species of thistle).
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That’s all for now! I’ll have a post on February’s yokai later this week.