Namahage

File:Namahage.jpg

A Namahage costume

Namahage (生剥) in traditional Japanese folklore is a demonlike being, portrayed by men wearing hefty ogre masks and traditional straw capes ([[{{{1}}}]]) during a New Year's ritual of the Oga Peninsula area of Akita Prefecture in northern Honshū, Japan.

The frightfully dressed men, armed with deba knives (albeit wooden fakes or made of papier-mâché) and toting a teoke (手桶^?, "hand pail" made of wood), march in pairs or threes going door-to-door making rounds of peoples' homes, admonishing children who may be guilty of laziness or bad behavior, yelling phrases like "Are there any crybabies around?" (泣く子はいねがぁ, Nakuko wa inee gā?) or "Are naughty kids around?" (悪い子はいねえか, Waruiko wa inee ka?) in the pronunciation and accent of the local dialect.

Older tradition

The above description is the modern rendition of the namahage visit, but the practice has shifted over the years.

Season

The namahage visits are nowadays practiced on New Year's Eve (using the Western calendar). But it used to be practiced on the so-called "Little New Year" (小正月, Koshōgatsu), the first full moon night of the year. This is 15th day of the first lunar calendrical year, which is not the same thing as January 15 as it usually falls around mid-February, exactly two weeks after the Chinese New Year (Japanese: Kyūshogatsu).

Etymology

The namahage's purpose was to admonish laggards who sit around the fire idly doing nothing useful. One of the refrains used by the namahage in the olden days was "Blisters peeled yet?" (なもみコ剝げたかよ, namomi ko hagetaka yo). Namomi signifies the heat blisters, or more precisely hidako (火だこ, hidako) (Erythema ab igne or EAI), a rashlike condition caused by overexposure to fire sitting by the dugout irori hearth. Thus "Fire rash peeling" is generally believed to be the derivation of the name namahage.

Some of the namahage's other spoken lines of old were "Knife whetted yet?" (包丁コとげたかよ, hōchōko togetaka yo) and "Boiled adzuki beans done yet?" (小豆コ煮えたかよ, azuki ko nietaka yo). The knife apparently signified the instrument to peel the blisters. And it may be mentioned in passing that it was customary to have azuki gruel on the "Little New Year".

Although the namahage are nowadays conceived of as a type of oni or ogre, it was originally a custom where youngsters impersonated the kami who made visitations during the New Year's season. Thus it is a kind of toshigami.

The namahage would typically receive mochi from the households they visited, but newlywed couples were supposed to play host to them in full formal attire and offer them sake and food.

Legend

The legend of the Namahage varies according to an area. An Akita legend has developed regarding the origins of namahage, that Emperor Wu of Han (d. 87 BC) from China came to Japan bringing five demonic ogres to the Oga area, and the ogres established quarters in the two local high peaks, Honzan (本山) and Shinzan (真山). These oni, as they are most commonly called in Japan, stole crops and young women from Oga's villages.

The citizens of Oga wagered the demons that if they could build a flight of stone steps, one thousand steps in all, from the village to the five shrine halls (variant: from the sea shore to the top of Mt. Shinzan) all in one night, then the villagers will supply them with a young woman every year. But if they failed the task they would have to leave. But just as the ogres were about to complete the work, a villager mimicked the cry of a rooster, and the ogres departed, believing they had failed.

Interpretations

An obvious purpose of the festival is to encourage young children to obey their parents and to behave, important qualities in Japan's heavily structured society. Parents know who the Namahage actors are each year and might request them to teach specific lessons to their children during their visit. The Namahage repeat the lessons to the children before leaving the house.

Some ethnologists and folklorists suggest it relates to a belief in deities (or spirits) coming from abroad to take away misfortune and bring blessings for the new year, while others believe it is an agricultural custom where the kami from the sacred mountains visit.

Similar ogre traditions

Similar traditions in other regions are called:

• Yamahage in the former Yūwa, Akita, now part of Akita, Akita.
• [[{{{1}}}]] (ナゴメハギ) of Noshiro, Akita.
• [[{{{1}}}]] (アマハゲ) of Yamagata prefecture.
• [[{{{1}}}]] (あまめはぎ) of Ishikawa prefecture.
• [[{{{1}}}]] (あっぽっしゃ) of Fukui prefecture.
• [[{{{1}}}]] (スネカ), Anmo, Nagomi or Nagomihakuri in northern Iwate prefecture.
• [[{{{1}}}]] (あまぶらこさぎ) in Ehime Prefecture (Shikoku)
• [[{{{1}}}]], parallel practice in Koshikijima Islands, Kagoshima prefecture
• [[{{{1}}}]], a parallel but secretive practice of the Yaeyama Islands, Okinawa

In popular culture

• In the 1972 Tokusatsu series, Ultraman Ace, a Namahage is one of the monster of the week, commanding a huge Super Beast Snowgiran against the titular Ultraman. He was killed by the Father of Ultra via Father Shot.
• In the NHK English language education animation, [[{{{1}}}]], there appears a character named Mage, dressed just like a namahage (NHK's website explicitly says it is inspired by it)
• In early 2012, Japanese professional wrestler Kyosuke Mikami began working for Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) under the ring name "Namajague", wearing a mask inspired by Namahage.
• In the 2006 video game Okami, Namahage appear as a sort of demon that plague the northern lands of Kamui. Unlike their real life incarnations, they appear to be considered the embodiments of loneliness in snowy lands, and are vicious man eaters than the admonishers of the misbehaving.
• Chōjin Neiger, a local hero in Akita Prefecture, was designed after the namahage.
• The Yo-Kai Watch video games feature a Namahage for the player to acquire.
• In 2014, the Japanese heavy metal band Ningen Isu released a video clip of a song named "Namahage" via Tokuma Japan Communications.

See also

• List of Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties
• Setsubun or mamemaki, practice of casting roasted soy beans to ward ogres or ghouls.
• [[{{{1}}}]], a more ancient form of ghoul-warding passed down from China.
• [[{{{1}}}]], where men dress taper-headed straw costume Kaminoyama, Yamagata
• Krampus, a demonic creature, believed to accompany Saint Nicholas to punish children in some European countries during Christmas.
• Black Peter, a similar being who plays a similar role for Christmas celebrations in The Netherlands.
• Ogoh-ogoh - demons of Bali who are celebrated on their new year.

References

(dictionaries and encyclopedias)

• (world encyclopedia, in Japanese).
• , p. 98
• , p. 57. This source and many other sources give the date of "January 15", without properly commenting that this is the lunar calendar date used in old times (closer to mid-February, two-weeks after Chinese New Years, as explained above).

(monograms and folklore studies)