Storied Islands
Mythical Beings of the Islands
Kenmun (tree sprite, fairy, wraith)
The kenmun is a wraith unique to Amami.
His height is about that of a small child, and he’s skinny and covered all over with red hair and his legs and arms are unusually long.
The shins of his legs are so long that when he sits down, his kneecaps come all the way up to his head.
His eyes sparkle round and round, and shiny green snot runs from his nose as he moves his face to the right and left.
Kenmun’s earlobes hang long so that he resembles a Japanese kappa without the shell on his back.
He really stinks in much the same way as a male goat.
Mostly, people say he spends his time in the tops of banyan trees, alternately working tricks on and cooperating with villagers in what is a deep connection with daily life on the islands.
In Amami, where the people feel the presence of the gods in all the things of nature, some researchers believe the Kenmun serves to teach the relationship between people and the natural environment.
He may be a gatekeeper who appears from time to time at the boundary between human society and the natural world.
It used to be that there were a lot of people who said they saw the Kenmun, but you don’t hear that very often anymore.
Yet people still place Chiragra spider conchs and other seashells with large protrusions like on gateposts and under the eaves of their homes as talismans to ward off evil.
Types of Kenmun that appear in Nanto Zatsuwa, a text that illustrates nature and culture in Amami at the end of the shogunate (Amami City Amami Museum).
Once in a while, the Kenmun gets an islander lost by luring him into the forest.
Stories about him also say he likes to sumo wrestle (without causing anyone any harm, though), and that he’s been known to give lumberjacks a hand by hoisting trees onto his back to carry.
Nanto Zatsuwa(Amami City Amami Museum)
Kenmun picture drawn by Yoshimori Ebara (1905 - 1988), Amami folklore researcher.
Ebara scientifically analyzed the Kenmun stories he collected and published them in the newspaper.
He’s been known as the "Kenmun scholar" ever since.
Works include Amami no Kenmon.
Kenmun setting fire (by Yoshimori Ebara)
Kenmun loves to sumo wrestle, and will often approach someone to goad him to wrestle.
Hates octopus / They say he is afraid of octopus and giant clams, and that he becomes powerless if he touches metal.
Testimonies from people who saw Kenmun
Amami Oshima
Man claiming he met a Kenmun mimics him (Amami Oshima)
When I was in 5th grade, I was sitting with a kid from the neighborhood on a log near the shack where we made salt. Something smelled foul, and I looked to my side to see a small creature about 70 centimeters tall and covered all over with coarse, rusty-brown hair..
His mouth looked a little pointed and dripped with long strands of drool that put off an awful green stink.
I had heard a lot of stories about seeing the Kenmun at the time, but I didn’t hear any more once they started cutting trees down for pulp.
Kikaijima
Gahrow, similar to the kappa
On Kikaijima, which has no forest, you hear that there is a specter in the ocean and reservoirs and other places of water who is alternatively called Gahrow, Ganaoh and Niiburee.
They say he’s red-faced, pulls people’s bottoms off, and both hands are connected as they move from side to side, and with other features quite similar to the kappa of the Japanese mainland.
Tokunoshima
Kenmun, drawn based on testimonial
What follows is testimony from a person on Tokunoshima who claims to know about Kenmun.
“I can see Kenmun.
The places where the gods are also happen to be the same places the Kenmun are.
Kenmun are gods who know the human heart, and if you’re going to do a bad thing, they will spank you in order to lead you down the right path.
Even if it looks like something bad is going to happen to a person with a good disposition, they’ll protect such a person.
Kenmun are like human children, with a face that’s human and a torso like a snake, and they have got so many faces and shapes that it’s funny.”
Okinoerabujima
Hiinumun hanging over
On Okinoerabujima is a tree sprite very similar to Kenmun that people call Hiinumun.
This is testimony of the creature.
“Once, when I was in fifth grade and just about to nod off after I cut the grass, Hiinumun appeared and kept prodding me with “c’mon, sumo wrestle me, sumo wrestle me.”
Even though I always flung him down, he had a charming face much like a kappa, but without a plate around his head. And hair sprouted on his whole body like a monkey.
I often heard stories of Hiinumun who get on top of somebody who’s sleeping and hold the person down tightly so they can’t move.
Yoronjima
Ishatou walks the ocean on one leg
On Yoronjima, where there are neither rivers nor forest, a specter called Ishatou (also known as Hatapakimanjai, a slur meaning “one-legged jerk”) is said to walk in the ocean on one leg.
He’s not tall and wears a bamboo hat to cover his face, eats fish eyes, teases and makes mischief.
Illustrations / Jun Aiki
Interview and Text/ Horizon Editorial Office
