NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Kappa (mythical creature)

Kappa (河童^?), sometimes Gataro (川太郎^?), are mythical creatures, water imps found in Japanese folklore, but have also been said to be a part of cryptozoology, due to apparent sightings. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Fishing with a net. ... The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... A legendary creature is a mythical or fantastic creature (often known as fabulous creatures in historical literature). ... IMP may be a word: Imp, a fantasy creature. ... Japanese mythology is an extremely complex religion and system of beliefs. ... Loch Ness Monster (Painting) by Heikenwaelder Hugo Cryptozoology is the study of animals that are rumored or suspected to exist, but for which conclusive proof is missing; the term also includes the study of animals generally considered extinct, but which are still occasionally reported. ...

Appearance

Most depictions show kappa as child-sized humanoids, though their bodies are often more like those of monkeys or frogs than human beings. Some descriptions say their faces are apelike, while others show them with beaked visages more like those of tortoises or with duck beaks. Pictures usually show kappa with thick shells and scaly skin that ranges in color from green to yellow or blue. Cynomolgus Monkey at Batu Caves, Malaysia Monkeys, Mori Sosen (1749-1821) A monkey is any member of two of the three groupings of simian primates. ... Distribution of frogs (in black) Suborders The frog is an amphibian in the order Anura (meaning tail-less from Greek an-, without + oura, tail). ... Human beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. ... Families Hylobatidae Hominidae Apes are the members of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates, including humans. ... Genera Chersina Dipsochelys Furculachelys Geochelone Gopherus Homopus Indotestudo Kinixys Malacochersus Manouria Psammobates Pyxis Testudo A tortoise is a land-dwelling reptile of the order Testudines. ... Subfamilies Dendrocygninae Oxyurinae Anatinae Merginae For other uses, see Duck (disambiguation). ... Various seashells The hard, rigid outer covering of certain animals is called a shell. ... In most biological nomenclature, a scale (Greek lepid, Latin squama) is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animals skin to provide protection. ...

Kappa inhabit the ponds and rivers of Japan and have various features to aid them in this environment, such as webbed hands and feet. They are sometimes even said to smell like fish, and they can certainly swim like them. The expression kappa no kawa nagare ("a drowning kappa") conveys the idea that even experts make mistakes. A pond is a body of water smaller than a lake. ... The Murray River in Australia. ... Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus: one of the most abundant species of fish in the world. ...

The kappa's most notable feature, however, is the water-filled depressions atop their heads. These cavities are surrounded by scraggly hair, and this type of bobbed hair style is named okappa atama for the creatures. The kappa derive their incredible strength from these liquid-filled holes, and anyone confronted with one may exploit this weakness by simply getting the kappa to spill the water from its head. One trusted method to do this is to appeal to the kappa's deep sense of etiquette, for a kappa cannot help but return a deep bow, even if it means losing its head-water in the process. Once depleted, the kappa is seriously weakened and may even die. Other tales say that this water allows kappa to move about on land, and once emptied, the creatures are immobilized. Stubborn children are encouraged to follow the custom of bowing on the grounds that it is a defense against kappa. Street haircut in Harbin, China. ... Etiquette, also known as decorum, is the code that governs the expectations of social behavior, the conventional norm. ... Bowing is the act of lowering the head, or sometimes the entire upper body from the waist, as a social gesture. ...

Behavior

Kappa are mischievous troublemakers. Their pranks range from the relatively innocent, such as loudly passing gas or looking up women's kimonos, to the more troublesome, such as stealing crops, kidnapping children, or raping women. In fact, small children comprise one of the gluttonous kappa's favorite meals, though they will eat adults as well. They feed on these hapless victims by sucking out the entrails (or blood, liver, or "life force", depending on the legend) through the anus. Even today, signs warning about kappa appear by bodies of water in some Japanese towns and villages. Kappa are also said to be afraid of fire, and some villages hold fireworks festivals each year to scare the sprites away. Image File history File links Kappawarning. ... Image File history File links Kappawarning. ... fart, see fart Flatulence is the release of a mixture of gases known as flatus produced by symbiotic bacteria and yeasts living in the gastrointestinal tract of mammals. ... Kimono (Japanese: ç€ç‰©, literally something worn, i. ... Everyday instance of theft: the bike which fits on this wheel has disappeared. ... Disembowelment is evisceration, or the removing of vital organs, usually from the abdomen. ... Human blood smear: a - erythrocytes; b - neutrophil; c - eosinophil; d - lymphocyte. ... The liver is the largest internal organ of the human body. ... Male Human Anatomy Anal redirects here. ... A large bonfire. ... The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House illuminated under New Years Eve Fireworks 2005 A fireworks event (also called a fireworks display or fireworks show) is a spectacular display of the effects produced by firework devices on various occasions. ...

Kappa are not entirely antagonistic to mankind, however. They are curious of human civilization, and they can understand and speak Japanese. They thus sometimes challenge those they encounter to various tests of skill, such as shogi (a chess-like game popular in Japan) or sumo wrestling. They may even befriend human beings in exchange for gifts and offerings, especially cucumbers, the only food kappa are known to enjoy more than human children. Japanese parents sometimes write the names of their children (or themselves) on cucumbers and toss them into kappa-infested waters in order to mollify the creatures and allow the family to bathe. There is even a kind of cucumber-filled sushi roll named for the kappa, the kappamaki. Shogi (å°†æ£‹ shÅgi), or Japanese chess, is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan. ... Chess is an abstract strategy board game for two players. ... Sumo (ç›¸æ’² SumÅ), is a competition contact sport where two wrestlers or rikishi face off in a circular area. ... Binomial name Cucumis sativus L. The cucumber is the edible fruit of the cucumber plant Cucumis sativus, which belongs to the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, as do melons and squash. ... In Japanese cuisine, sushi (Japanese: is a food made of vinegared rice combined with various toppings or fillings. ... Kappamaki (Japanese:ãã±ã¾ã) is a type of Japanese sushi roll that is made from cucumber, rolled with vinegared rice (shari) and nori to make a maki, or sushi roll. ...

Once befriended, kappa have been known to perform any number of tasks for human beings, such as helping farmers irrigate their land. They are also highly knowledgeable of medicine, and legend states that they taught the art of bone setting to mankind. Due to these benevolent aspects, some shrines are dedicated to the worship of particularly helpful kappa. Kappa may also be tricked into helping people. Their deep sense of decorum will not allow them to break an oath, for example, so if a human being can dupe a kappa into promising to help him, the kappa has no choice but to follow through. High-altitude aerial view of irrigation in the Heart of the Sahara (, ) Irrigation (in agriculture) is the replacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops. ... Medicine is the branch of health science and the sector of public life concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury. ... Bone-setting is an ancient art of healing through bone manipulation. ... A torii is a gate leading to a jinja. ...

Origins

There are several theories for the origins of the kappa in Japanese myth. One possibility is that they developed from an ancient Japanese practice of floating stillborn fetuses down rivers and streams. Another theory is that the kappa were invented to explain the swollen anus common in drowning victims. The name "kappa" may be derived from the term for "robe" used by the Portuguese monks who arrived in Japan in the 16th century; they called this garment a capa, and the monks' appearance is not unlike that of the similarly named Japanese sprites, from the loose, shell-like cloaks to the tonsured hair. Some modern commentators even suggest that the kappa may be space aliens, and many of their pranks are similar to those often attributed to UFOs. A stillbirth occurs when a fetus, of mid-second trimester to full term gestational age, which has died in the womb or during labour or delivery, exits the maternal body. ... Fetus at eight weeks Foetus redirects here. ... A monk is a person who practices asceticism, the conditioning of mind and body in favor of the spirit. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... The term sprite is a general term referring to a number of legendary creatures. ... Tonsure is the practice of some Christian churches of cutting the hair from the scalp of clerics as a symbol of their renunciation of worldly fashion and esteem. ... The existence of extraterrestrial life remains hypothetical though human beings continue to search Extraterrestrial life is life that may exist and originate outside the planet Earth. ... UFO redirects here. ...

Kappa in popular culture

Kappa are popular figures in Japanese animation, children's toys, and literature. Modern depictions make them much less monstrous, showing them instead as cute, cartoonish figures. Image File history File links Kappanokuni. ... Image File history File links Kappanokuni. ... Still from the movie Ghost in the Shell (1995) This article is about Japanese animation. ... Japanese literature spans a period of almost two millennia. ...

A notable literary appearance is the short story "Kappa" by Akutagawa Ryunosuke. The INKlings in Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World are at one point refered to as kappa. This is, however, limited to the English translation, and no mention of kappa is made in the Japanese original. One of comic artist Shigeru Mizuki's most popular characters is Sanpei, the Kappa (カッパの三平), who starred a long running comic series, as well as several animated features. The kappa were also the inspiration for the creature in the film Ringu. A series of animated shorts on Japanese TV, 河童の飼い方 (How to Raise a Kappa) detail the humorous trials of a young man trying to raise a kappa as a pet. A commemoration of Akutagawa and RashÅmon Akutagawa RyÅ«nosuke (èŠ¥å· é¾ä¹‹ä»‹, March 1, 1892 - July 24, 1927) was a Japanese poet and writer. ... Haruki Murakami , born January 12, 1949) is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. ... Cover to the first Vintage International paperback edition of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (ä¸–ç•Œã®çµ‚ã‚ã‚Šã¨ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ‰ãƒœã‚¤ãƒ«ãƒ‰ãƒ»ãƒ¯ãƒ³ãƒ€ãƒ¼ãƒ©ãƒ³ãƒ‰, sekai no owari to hÄdoboirudo wandÄrando) is a 1985 novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. ... Shigeru Mizuki (æ°´æœ¨ã—ã’ã‚‹ b. ... Ring ) is a 1998 Japanese horror mystery film from director Hideo Nakata, adapted from a novel by Koji Suzuki of the same name. ...

Kappa appear in a number of video games, many of which have appeared in localized form in the West. A status ailment in the computer role-playing game Final Fantasy VI transformed the affected player character into a kappa; however, the word "kappa" was replaced with the word "imp" for the English language localization of the game. The Koopas in the Super Mario Bros. games also appear to be based on the creatures, and Super Mario World goes so far as to name a mountain with its peak filled with water "Kappa Mountain". Two Pokémon, Lombre and Golduck, are undoubtedly based on the imp, while Golduck's Japanese name actually is Kappa. InuYasha, Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, Pocky & Rocky and We Love Katamari also feature kappa characters. In computer and video games, a status ailment is a reduction of ability in the player-character normally incurred during combat. ... Computer role-playing games (CRPGs), often shortened to simply (RPGs), are a type of computer and video games that use traditional gameplay elements found in pen-and-paper role-playing games. ... Final Fantasy VI ) is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square Co. ... A player character or playable character (PC for short) is a fictional character in a game, that is controlled by the player. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Software localization is a process of translating software user interfaces from one language to another and adapting it to suit a foreign culture. ... A Koopa Troopa playing golf in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. ... Super Mario Bros. ... Super Mario World ) (also known as SMW and Super Mario Brothers 4: Super Mario World) was the first launch game for the Nintendo Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System game consoles. ... PokÃ©mon , pronounced //, although frequently, and even intentionally mispronounced //), is a multi-billion dollar media franchise[1] created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996 (it celebrated its tenth anniversary on February 27, 2006). ... Lombre (ãƒã‚¹ãƒ–ãƒ¬ãƒ Hasubrero in Japan, Lombrero in Germany and Lombre in French) is a fictional character from the PokÃ©mon franchise. ... The Golduck ) are one of the 395 fictional species of PokÃ©mon creatures from the multi-billion-dollar[1] PokÃ©mon media franchise â€“ a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. ... The Golduck ) are one of the 395 fictional species of PokÃ©mon creatures from the multi-billion-dollar[1] PokÃ©mon media franchise â€“ a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. ... InuYasha )[1] is a popular shÅnen manga and anime series created by Rumiko Takahashi. ... The Harvest Moon is the full moon that appears nearest to the autumnal equinox, which occurs on or about 23rd September. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Pocky and Rocky (known as KiKi KaiKai in Japan) was an action/shootem up game released for the Super Nintendo in 1992. ... We â™¥ Katamari (ã¿ã‚“ãªå¤§å¥½ãå¡Šé‚; Minna Daisuki Katamari Damashii, roughly Everyone Loves Katamari Damacy) is a video game published by Namco for the PlayStation 2. ...

Western media includes notable appearances of kappa as well. The James Bond novel The Man with the Red Tattoo by Raymond Benson features a Japanese assassin nicknamed "The Kappa", because of his short height. In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, the title characters are confused with Kappa during their time travels to Japan's feudal era. The children's cartoon Arthur aired an episode in which one character faces a kappa during a fantasy scene. An early story in Usagi Yojimbo has the title character fighting such a monster. The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced double-oh seven), is a fictional British spy created by writer Ian Fleming in 1953. ... The Man with the Red Tattoo, first published in 2002, was the sixth and final original novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Flemings secret agent, James Bond (including film novelisations). ... Raymond Benson, born September 6, 1955, is an American author best known for being the most recent author of the official James Bond novels. ... The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT or Ninja Turtles) are a fictional team of four anthropomorphic turtles who were trained by their sensei, Master Splinter (an anthropomorphic mutant rat) to become powerful ninjas. ... Arthur is a Canadian-produced animated television series that airs on PBS Kids and PBS Kids GO! in the United States and on CBC in Canada. ... Usagi Yojimbo book 11: Seasons Usagi Yojimbo (Literally Rabbit Bodyguard, can be written ã†ã•ãŽç”¨å¿ƒæ£’ or å…Žç”¨å¿ƒæ£’ Usagi Yojimbo) is a comic book series created by Stan Sakai. ...

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Wikimedia Commons logo by Reid Beels The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ...

Contents

Appearance

Behavior

Origins

Kappa in popular culture

See also

External links