Namahage

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A Namahage costume

Namahage (生剥^?)^[1] in Japanese folklore tradition is a demonlike being impersonated by men wearing oversized ogre masks and traditional straw capes (mino^(ja)) during a New Year's ritual^[2] of the Oga Peninsula^[3] area of Akita Prefecture in northern Honshū, Japan^[4].

The frightfully dressed men, armed with deba knives (albeit fake ones that are wooden^[3] or made of papier-mâché) and toting a teoke (手桶, "hand pail" made of wood^?)^[2], marching in pairs or threes going door-to-door making rounds of peoples' homes, admonishing children who may be guilty of laziness or bad behavior^[2], yelling phrases like "Are there any crybabies around?" (泣く子はいねがぁ, nakugo wa inēgā?^?)^[5] or "Are naughty kids around?" (悪い子はいねえか, waruigo wa inēka?^?). (The speech is in the pronunciation and accent of the local dialect).

For a list of similar practice in Akita (yamahage, nagomehagi), Tohoku area (suneka), and other regions of Japan see under #Similar ogre traditions.

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^[6] (using the Western calendar). But it used to be practiced on the so-called "Little New Year" (小正月, Koshōgatsu^?)^[3], 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^[7] 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^[3][8]. One of the refrains used by the namahage in the olden days was "Blisters peeled yet?" (なもみコ剝げたか剥げたかよ, nammomi ko hagetaka yo^?)^[3]. 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^[8].

Some of the namahage's other spoken lines of old were "Knife whetted yet?" (包丁コとげたかとげたかよ, hōchōko togetaka yo^?)^[3] and "Boiled adzuki beans done yet?" (小豆コ煮えたか煮えたかよ, azuki ko nietaka yo^?)^[3]. The knife apparently signified the instrument to peel the blisters^[9]. And it may be mentioned in passing that it was customary to have azuki gruel on the "Little New Year"^[10].

Although the namahage are nowdays 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^[3]. Thus it is a kind of toshigami.

The namahage" would typically receive mochi from the households they visited^[3], but newlywed couples were supposed to play host to them in full fomral attire and offer them sake and food^[3].

Legend

A 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^[6][11].

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^[5] (variant: from the sea shore to the top of Mt. Shinzan^[11]) all in one night, then the villagers will supply them with a young woman every year^[11]. But if they failed the task they would have to leave. But just as the the ogres were about to complete the work, a villager mimicked the cry of a rooster, and the ogres departed, believing they had failed^[5][11].

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. 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.
• '''Nagomehagi'''^(ja) (ナゴメハギ^?) of Noshiro, Akita.
• '''Amahage'''^(ja) (アマハゲ^?) of Yamagata prefecture.
• '''Amamehagi'''^(ja) (あまめはぎ^?) of Ishikawa prefecture.
• '''Appossha'''^(ja) (あっぽっしゃ^?) of Fukui prefecture.
• '''Suneka'''^(ja) (スネカ^?), Anmo, Nagomi or Nagomihakuri in northern Iwate prefecture.
• '''Amaburakosagi'''^(ja) (あまぶらこさぎ^?) in Ehime Prefecture (Shikoku)
• Toshidon^(ja), parallel practice in Koshikijima Islands, Kagoshima prefecture^[12]
• Akamata-Kuromata^(ja), a parallel but secretive practice of the Yaeyama Islands, Okinawa ^[13]

Popular Culture

• In the NHK English language education animation, Little Charo, chapter Tōhōku^(ja), there appears a character named Mage, dressed just like a namahage (NHK's website explicitly says it is inspired by it^[14])

See also

• List of Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties
• Setsubun or mamemaki, practice of casting roasted soy beans to ward ogres or ghouls.
• tsuina^(ja), a more ancient form of ghoul-warding passed down from China.
• Kasedori^(ja), where men dress taper-headed straw costume Kaminoyama, Yamagata
• Krampus

References

• Nakamura (1951). "Notes on namahage (Possible remnants of primi- tive secret societies on the Japanese archipelago)(ナマハゲ覚書)". Minzokugaku kenkyu (民族学研究) XV. 

External sites

• Akita Prefecture (2003). "男鹿のなまはげ" (preview). 美しき水の郷あきた. Akita Prefecture. http://www.pref.akita.jp/fpd/bunka/namahage.htm. Retrieved may 2012.