(1700–1772), a chief court painter and head of the Tosa school, state that
Priest Kenkō (1283–1350) wrote the text and Tosa Nagataka (late thirteenth
century) made the illustrations, but there is no proof to back up this asser-
tion (Nagasaka 18–19; Ueno 106–11).
Plot summary of tsuchigumo zōshi
One day the brave warriors Minamoto no Raikō and Watanabe no Tsuna
saw a skull floating through the air. They followed the skull and it led them
to an ancient, decaying mansion. Raikō entered the house alone and found
it haunted with strange creatures, including a 290-year-old woman, a three-
foot-tall woman with a remarkably large head, and animal-like objects. But
among this supernatural melee was a singular gorgeous female figure. Raikō
was dazzled by the woman’s beauty, yet she threw cloud-like white balls at
him. In response, Raikō unsheathed his sword and wielded it through her
as she vanished into thin air. As Tsuna rushed to Raikō’s side, they found a
huge puddle of white blood on the floor. Following the trail of blood, they
found themselves far off in the western mountains where they met a gigan-
tic creature nearly 200 feet tall. The monster seemed to have no neck but
had numerous legs. It said, “What has happened to my body, it’s so painful.”
As the warriors approached the creature, the monster fiercely resisted their
attack. But Raikō unsheathed his sword and decapitated it. When they cut
open its flank, numerous small spiders about the size of seven- or eight-
year-old children spilled out. In the creature’s great belly, they found numer-
ous skulls. The warriors dug a grave in the ground and buried the skulls,
then set fire to the monster’s den.
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Part I: Samurai
the illustrations
With its skillful portrayal of architecture and figures using delicate lines,
the artwork is often praised as a work produced by first-class orthodox
yamato-e painters. The explanation of Tsuchigumo zōshi on the website of the
Tokyo National Museum describes it as follows: “This scroll is considered
to be one of the pioneering works leading to otogizoshi emaki (picture scrolls
of popular short stories) that became prevalent in the Muromachi period.
While most of the paintings in otogizoshi emaki were simple in style, the
paintings in this picture scroll bear characteristics of the authentic painting
styles of the Kamakura period and traditional yamato-e (classical Japanese
painting style), making this valuable historical material.”3
In contrast to the dignified Raikō, strange creatures such as a large-headed
woman and animal-like beings are humorously depicted. Interestingly, the
animal-like beings (see Figure 2.1) are portrayed like tsukumogami, or animat-
ing objects with features of animals, such as birds and cows. A cow-man has
a tripod on his head, and a wicker basket has a smiling face on it holding a
basin with handles ( tsunodarai ). This portrayal reminds me of an illustration
in Fudō riyaku engi (The Benevolence of Fudō myōō; ca. fourteenth century).
one illustration in Fudō riyaku engi portrays a scene of a yin-yang diviner
praying and five unidentifiable creatures that represent illness (see Figure
7.2, this volume). Among the five creatures, two look like types of contain-
ers: one is a furry tsunodarai, and another looks like a large furry bowl. Such
strange creatures seem to have been a popular subject to portray.
There is one noticeable mismatch between an illustration and the text.
When Raikō and Tsuna follow the spider’s blood trail and see the earth spi-
der, the written text is rendered as “the monster seemed to have no neck but
had numerous legs.” But the illustration portrays two gigantic figures with
necks and two legs (see Figure 2.3). This kind of mismatch is not uncom-
mon in otogizōshi works.4 In the case of Tsuchigumo zōshi, this mismatch seems
to reflect the close relationship between an oni and tsuchigumo or even the
fluid nature of tsuchigumo, as I explain later.
tsuchiguMO in anCient Literature
What is tsuchigumo? Mark Hudson considers the tsuchigumo “an example of
the Yamato language of political allegiance, whereby people who opposed
the state were assigned the status of barbarian” (Hudson 201).5 It is com-
monly accepted among scholars that tsuchigumo refers to the less-cultivated
indigenous people of Japan who inhabited the islands after their creation
.
apanese Studies
h Center for J
esearc
national R
Inter
tesy of
oblins visit Raikō. Cour
Figure 2.1. Spirits and g
66
Part I: Samurai
who claimed authority to rule Japan and these indigenous people as descen-
dants of heavenly beings. The term tsuchigumo is used derogatorily in ancient
Japanese literature to refer to those who defied imperial (central) author-
ity (Tsuda, Nihon koten no kenkyū 188–95). For instance, in Kojiki (Ancient
Matters, 712; see Philippi), on his eastward expedition to claim his heav-
enly authority, Emperor Jinmu (reigned BCE 660?–BCE 585?) and his men
smite a great number of indigenous pit-dwelling tribesmen described as
earth spiders (Kurano and Takeda 157; Philippi 174–75). An overwhelming
majority of earth spiders had fought and been eliminated in bloody battles,
though a few survived by apologizing profusely for their resistance toward
imperial authority and thus escaped capital punishment.6
As for the origin of the name, Urabe Kanekata, a Shinto priest of
the thirteenth century, writes in his Shaku Nihongi (Annotated Edition
of Nihongi or Nihon shoki ), “According to Settsu Fudoki (Topography of Settu Province), in the reign of Emperor Jinmu, there was a villain called
tsuchigumo—he was given the contemptuous name of ‘earth spider’ because
this person always dwelled in a pit” (Urabe 132). William G. Aston also
writes, “The ‘short-bodies,’ etc., of the ‘Nihongi’ description I take to be
nothing more than a product of the popular imagination working on the
hint contained in the name Tsuchi-gumo, which is literally ‘earth spider’ . . .
In one of the passages above referred to, the Tsuchi-gumo are described
as inhabiting a rock-cave, but in others they are said to live in muro or pit-
dwellings, and this is obviously the origin of the name” (Aston 129). A
tsuchigumo is thus depicted in ancient literature as a villainous human being
whose living customs differ from mainstream conventions.
tsuchigumo (earth spider) in nihon shoki
one of the most important descriptions of tsuchigumo during the develop-
ment of the tsuchigumo story appears in the Nihon shoki. During Emperor
Jinmu’s eastern expedition in Katsuraki (sometimes “Katsuragi”), “There
were . . . tsuchigumo at the village of Taka-wohari, whose appearance was as
follows: They had short bodies, and long arms and legs. They were of the
same class as the pigmies. The imperial troops wove nets of dolichos, which
they
flung over them and then slew them. Wherefore the name of that village
was changed to Katsuraki” (Aston 130; NKBT 67: 134; SNKBZ 1: 228–29).
Dolichos ( katsura) is a general term for a creeper or vine, and Katsuraki
literally means a dolichos castle. In the Noh play, the tsuchigumo introduces
himself as the spirit of an earth spider who lived on Mt. Katsuraki in
ancient times.
A Tale of an Earth Spider
67
This episode of an earth spider in Nihon shoki has perhaps influenced
Tsuchigumo zōshi in that a main character, a person or a spider, throws threads
to capture its enemy, a spider or a person. In both cases the tsuchigumo is
killed in the end, although the subject who throws the threads is either the
imperial army or tsuchigumo, depending on the work. In Nihon shoki, the
imperial army murders the defiant earth spiders by throwing the net of doli-
chos. In contrast, in Tsuchigumo zōshi (and other later literary and performing
arts works) it is the earth spider that throws the strings to catch the prey. It
is understandable to see a supernatural spider throwing silk threads when
one considers the nature of a physical arthropod spider that catches its prey
by extruding silk and making cobwebs.
The gender of Mt. Katsuraki’s tsuchigumo is not known, but the spider
of Tsuchigumo zōshi is presumed to be a female. When Raikō and Tsuna “cut
open its flank, numerous small spiders about the size of seven- or eight-
year-old children noisily trotted around.” She is a large mother spider. This
should not come as a surprise because, as many scholars point out, there
are a number of female tsuchigumo in ancient literature (see, for example,
Nagafuji, Fudoki no sekai to Nihon no kodai 175–96).
The physical description of tsuchigumo in Nihon shoki as “pigmies” or
dwarfs ( shuju) is interesting in that one of the strange creatures that appears to
Raikō in the haunted house of Tsuchigumo zōshi is a three-foot-tall nun. Perhaps
the author of Tsuchigumo zōshi has made the nun short to show his knowledge
of the Tao-chou people who appear in Po Chu-i’s (Bai Juyi’s) poems,7 but it is
amusing to imagine that the author may also have alluded to the short height
of the tsuchigumo killed in the battle at Katsuraki. For that matter, a floating
skull that leads Raikō and Tsuna to a dilapidated mansion at the beginning of
the Tsuchigumo zōshi, a decoy to entice Raikō into the house, may have been
one of the skulls of tsuchigumo killed by the imperial army in ancient times.
kuMO (sPiDer) in nihOn shOki
one noticeable element in regard to Tsuchigumo zōshi is that despite the title,
the word tsuchigumo does not appear in the text. The spider is introduced as
yamagumo (mountain spider).8 Some scholars speculate that people may have
given the title Tsuchigumo zōshi later (Ueno 106). Hence, strictly speaking, a
spider in the text may not in fact be an earth spider. While the earth spider
is a derogatory name for antiestablishment forces (or perhaps individuals),
a physical spider in ancient literature is by and large considered a good sign
in that it brings the person one waits for ( NKBT 67: 334; SNKBZ 2: 119;
Sudō 70–71).
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Part I: Samurai
The oldest extant example of such usage appears in Nihon shoki in the
poem composed by Sotoori Iratsume on the second month of the eighth
year in the reign of Emperor Ingyō (reigned 412?–53?) (Sudō 70). The
poem is preceded by an explanatory note: “The emperor went to Fujiwara
and secretly observed how matters were with Sotoori Iratsume. That night
Sotoori Iratsume was sitting alone, thinking fondly of the emperor. Unaware
of his approach, she made a song, saying:
Waga sekoga
This is the night
kubeki yoi nari
My husband will come
sasagane no
The little crab—
kumo no okonai
The spider’s action
koyoi shirushi mo
Tonight is manifest.”
( NKBT 67: 443; Aston 320)
Aston noted that “it was considered that when a spider clung to one’s
garments, it was a sign that an intimate friend would arrive. Little crab is
another name for spider” (Aston 320). Consequently, scholars discussed
how a spider, a good omen, became a shape-shifting supernatural creature
of tsuchigumo in medieval Japan.
the aPPearanCe Of suPernaturaL
tsuchiguMO in meDievaL JaPan
Sudō, who writes that the spider in the Tsuchigumo zōshi is the first appear-
ance of a supernatural spider in Japanese literature, considers its shape-
shifting ability to come from its venom, especially that of the jorōgumo
( nephila clavata, literally a “prostitute spider”) (Sudō). Although a jorōgumo as a supernatural creature starts to appear in Edo-period literature, she speculates that a prototypical image of jorōgumo must have already existed in the
preceding period. She conjectures that the word jorō (prostitute) in jorōgumo
is associated with the word jōrō, which refers to a lady-in-waiting, but in the
Muromachi period it also referred to a prostitute. Thus, she suggests that
the image of a prostitute may be behind the creation of the female shape-
shifting spiders (Sudō 68–69).
Watase Junko speculates on the influence of Chinese literature primar-
ily because the name tsuchigumo, or “supernatural spider,” does not appear
in any Japanese texts between ancient times and the Tsuchigumo zōshi, or
“Swords chapter,” of medieval times, and the Shaku Nihongi of the thir-
teenth century describes tsuchigumo as a human being, not a spider. Watase
writes that the study of Nihon shoki during the medieval period focuses on
A Tale of an Earth Spider
69
the “Divine Age” book of the Nihon shoki, and readers probably did not
read Nihon shoki in its entirety; consequently, it is hard to imagine from the
annotations that the educated people of that time developed an image of
tsuchigumo as a harmful supernatural being (Watase 78). Likewise, Sudō writes
that she sees no ancient image of tsuchigumo as defiant people in Tsuchigumo
zōshi (Sudō 67–68). It seems to me, however, that the image of defiance is
present in Raikō’s statement: “Our kingdom is a divine country. The gods
protect our country, and the emperor rules the country with the help of his
subjects. I am a subject and a grandson of a prince . . . Now when I look
at this creature, it is a beast. Beasts . . . bring disaster to the country and are
the foes of all humans. I am a warrior sworn to protect the emperor, and
his compatriot, sworn to help him rule the country. How can you disobey?”
( MJMT 9: 440).
Important poems such as the above-mentioned poem by Sotoori
Iratsume—the poem cited in Kokin wakashū’s preface and the subject of seri-
ous studies in the medieval period—do appear later, that is, after the “Divine
Age” book of the Nihon shoki, so it is hard to imagine that scholars overlooked
the descriptions of the tsuchigumo of Nihon shoki. Perhaps with the notion of a
creature injurious to the country, the scroll was titled
Tsuchigumo zōshi. It does
not mean, however, that I deny the influence of spider’s venom and Chinese
literature. But in my opinion, it is hard not to visualize the real spider from the
name tsuchigumo of ancient literature such as Nihon shoki, “They have short
bodies, and long arms and legs. They are of the same class as the pigmies.”
Indeed, as Nagasaka Kaneo notes, it is easy to replace a human being with a
real spider later from such descriptions (Nagasaka 19–20).
Further, I speculate that the image of the killer female spider also came
from the tsuchigumo’s association with oni—supernatural creatures known
for shape-shifting and cannibalism exemplified in Shuten Dōji. I assume
that tsuchigumo’s association with oni became tangible enough to be visual-
ized in Tsuchigumo zōshi. The mysterious, beautiful woman in Tsuchigumo zōshi
is a spider—a female earth spider—in disguise, and indications suggest that
she is the first or one of the earliest portrayals of an earth spider as a female
killer shape-shifter. In examining the image of the cannibalistic earth spider
of Tsuchigumo zōshi and its relation to the “Swords chapter” of Heike monoga-
tari, we can see the development of the image leading to its fruition in the
Noh play Tsuchigumo.
Oni versus tsuchigumo
Although oni and spiders are completely different creatures with differ-
ent visual images, they have one major commonality—they both represent
70
Part I: Samurai
those who defied imperial (central) authority. A brief explanation of oni
may be helpful here.
Ancient Japanese literature assigns a number of different written char-
acters such as 鬼, 魑魅, and 鬼魅 to express oni (Tsuchihashi 95). Among
them, the character used now is 鬼, which in Chinese means invisible soul
or spirit of the dead, both ancestral and evil. The early examples of 鬼
appear in Nihon shoki and in Izumo fudoki (Topography of Izumo Province,
733), describing evil or antagonistic beings. In Nihon shoki, for example,
when Takamimusuhi, the Deity of Heavenly Creation and an imperial
ancestor, desires that his grandson rule the Central Land of Reed-Plains
(Japan), he pronounces, “I desire to have the evil Gods of the Central Land
of Reed-Plains expelled and subdued” (Aston 64; NKBT 67: 134).9 He calls