“In Japanese Folklore, Ijuu is a strange beast that lives in the forests. If you are hiking and run into Ijuu, don't be scared. Just offer to split your lunch with it and the beast will most likely repay you by carrying your heavy backpack.”
I didn’t know this yokai before, but wow, what a helpful friend! Its name is one of the more uncreative ones I’ve encountered—異 i literally means ‘strange’ (or ‘different’) and 獣 juu means ‘beast’ (as in 怪獣 kaijuu). Some Japanese websites refer to it as Japanese Bigfoot, but I’m not sure about that... still, I am a sucker for anything that lies at the intersection of food and the paranormal!
The Ijuu is only featured in one story, Hokuetsuseppu (北越雪譜 Snow Stories of North Etsu Province). Here’s how it’s depicted there.
The story is about a man named Takesuke, who was hauling heavy cargo through the mountains. Exhausted, he sat down to rest against a tree and eat his lunch, when from the bamboo emerged a strange creature—larger than a man, like a monkey but decidedly not a monkey. It was covered all over in fur, with the mane on its head long enough to reach its back, and it had bulging, goggling eyes.
Of course, this would be alarming for you or me, but not our boy Takesuke! He had the presence of mind to notice that the creature was eyeing his lunch, and he thought to himself, “Well, whatever it is, it must be hungry.” He split his meal in half and offered up one of the portions.
The Ijuu was delighted and devoured the food. Then, when every crumb was gone, it leapt up, hoisted Takesuke’s heavy cargo like it weighed nothing at all, and waited expectantly. Takesuke started down the path toward his destination, and it followed him happily. Once the town was in sight, the Ijuu gently set down its burden and disappeared into the woods, never to be seen again.
If you’d like to meet an Ijuu for yourself, head to Tottori—incidentally, one of Japan’s least visited prefectures—and check out this statue on Mizuki Shigeru Road. (It really reminds me of these Kodak stuffed animals my brother and I had as kids. Mine was Snap, the orange one, and his was Focus, the deep blue.)
In the spirit of this blog, I did try to look up what it was that Takesuke was eating, but the most detail I could find was “bento.” So while I can’t add to my list of the favorite foods of yokai, to make up for it, I’ll quote my old blog and remind you that a kappa’s almost-favorite food is a cucumber, second only to 尻子玉 shirikodama, a mythical, ball-shaped organ that houses the human soul and that is also located inside of the human anus. So... things could have gone much differently for Takesuke!
(Unless maybe his bento included a cucumber with his name written on it. That will distract a kappa. I don’t think it will convince them to carry your bag or anything, but if you wanna avoid having your soul sucked out your butt, it’s good to know you have options. Remember, if you meet a yokai, offer it food!)
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