the inhabitants of the Central Land who are not subjugated ashiki 鬼, or evil
gods. Another example is that when Emperor Keikō (reigned 71?–130?)
tells Yamato Takeru (?–?) to conquer the rebels in the east, he says, “So by
cunning words thou mayst moderate the violent Deities, and by a display
of armed force sweep away malignant demons [ kadamashiki 鬼]” (Aston
204; NKBT 67: 302). The corresponding phrase in Kojiki is “the un-submis-
sive people” ( matsurowanu hitodomo) (Philippi 81; SNKBZ 1: 223). In Izumo
fudoki, a one-eyed 鬼 appears on reclaimed land in the community of Ayo
in Izumo Province (present-day Shimane prefecture) and devours a man
( NKBT 2: 238–39). Komatsu Kazuhiko writes, “People who had different
customs or lived beyond the reach of the emperor’s control” were consid-
ered some form of oni (Komatsu, “Supernatural Apparitions and Domestic
Life in Japan” 3).
An earth spider defies central authority and has different physical fea-
tures from those of mainstream culture. In this sense, the earth spider is con-
sidered one of the most ancient types of oni (Baba, Oni no kenkyū 170). one
account that tells of an intertwined relationship between oni and tsuchigumo
is the legend of Kugamimi no mikasa in the areas of Mt. Ōe and Ōemachi
in present-day Kyoto. According to Tango Fudoki zanketsu (Account of the
Topography of Settu Province), Hiko imasu no miko (?–?), a stepbrother
of Emperor Sujin (reigned BCE 148?–BCE 29), led a force to smite the
tsuchigumo named Kugamimi no mikasa (?–?) and Hikime (?–?). Hikime was
killed, but Kugamimi no mikasa escaped. Hiko imasu no miko consulted a
shaman to ascertain the whereabouts of Kugamimi no mikasa, and it was
revealed that Kugamimi no mikasa had gone into hiding on Mt. Ōe of
Tanba Province [the rest of the story is missing] (Minobe and Minobe 141).
Mt. Ōe is famous for Shuten Dōji (Drunken Demon) as we saw in chapter
1, Japan’s most renowned oni of the medieval period. Minobe Shigekatsu
A Tale of an Earth Spider
71
and Minobe Tomoko consider that the legend of Kugamimi no mikasa,
that is, a tsuchigumo, is a source for the famous Shuten Dōji story (Minobe
and Minobe 141–42). Also, Araki Hiroyuki reports the legend of onihachi
(lit. oni eight) in Miyazaki prefecture and concludes that onihachi, who is
believed to have rebelled against Emperor Jinmu’s younger brother, is a
tsuchigumo and an indigenous person of that area (Araki, “Onihachi denshō
o megutte” 4–8). This report suggests a close relationship between oni—as
it appears in the name onihachi—and a tsuchigumo.
Another aspect of commonality between oni and tsuchigumo is their per-
ceived power to cause illness in ancient and medieval times. For example,
Takahashi Masaaki identifies an oni as a deity responsible for causing epi-
demics, in particular smallpox (Takahashi, Shuten Dōji no tanjō 4); a mushi
(insect, bug, worm) was also believed to cause illness. Peter Knecht writes:
“Under the influence of Chinese medical treatises, early medieval Japanese
practitioners of medicine argued that the causes for human diseases are cer-
tain entities active inside the human body. These causes were conceived as
oni, but at that time oni were not yet the terrifying figures they became later.
However, in later interpretations it was thought that a kind of mushi (an
imaginary ‘insect’) was active in the different parts of the body. Challenged
by some outside being, these mushi were believed to cause a disease together
with the intruder” (Knecht, Preface xiv).
Further, Knecht, Hasegawa, Minobe, and Tsujimoto report an interest-
ing contagious disease called denshi-byō (illness caused by denshi ), in which
a person is emaciated by the time of death. The modern diagnosis of this
illness is pulmonary tuberculosis, although this interpretation is open to
debate. Fascinatingly, this denshi was considered both a mushi and an oni
from the ancient through the early modern periods, and consequently a
remedy was sought from both medicine and religion (Knecht et al., “Denshi
‘oni’ to ‘mushi’ ”). As discussed later, Raikō’s illness is caused by a spider’s
spirit in the earth spider story of the “Swords chapter” and the Noh play.
I speculate that through the symbolic similarity as an enemy of imperial
authority and perhaps some resemblance as a vector of illness, tsuchigumo
came to adapt some of the characteristics of oni, namely transformational
skills and cannibalism (Reider, Japanese Demon Lore 27–50).
Just as oni infamously eat humans in one gulp, the spider on its way
out of the decayed mansion in Tsuchigumo zōshi eats “the old woman in
one gulp.” And as oni transform into men or women to get their targets,
the spider shape-shifts to a beautiful woman and dazzles Raikō to capture
him. The Tsuchigumo zōshi text seems to offer a close relationship between
oni and tsuchigumo or perhaps a fluid intermingling of the two creatures.
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As mentioned, there is a mismatch between the text and the figure when
Raikō and Tsuna meet the spider after Raikō injured it. According to the
text, “The monster seemed to have no neck but had numerous legs.” But
the accompanying figure portrays two creatures depicted more like gigantic
gozu (ox-headed demons) and mezu (horse-headed demons), both types of
oni. Minobe Shigekatsu and Minobe Tomoko believe hese creatures are the
oni, although they understand the oni to be a relative of tsuchigumo (Minobe
and Minobe 142) rather than the tsuchigumo itself. The tsuchigumo’s associa-
tion with oni becomes clearer in the “Swords chapter,” one of the sources
for the Noh play.
tsuchigumo zōshi and the “swords Chapter”
The similarities between Tsuchigumo zōshi and the “Swords chapter” are
remarkable, especially the sequence of the events and the relationship
between the tsuchigumo and oni.
In the “Swords chapter,” an episode of the earth spider (Asahara,
Haruta, and Matsuo 522–23; Sadler 331–32) comes immediately after the
oni episode (Asahara, Haruta, and Matsuo 518–22; Sadler 326–31), as the
following summaries show. The oni episode is as follows:
[Minamoto no Raikō inherited a pair of treasured swords, Higekiri (beard-
cutting) and Hizamaru (knee-cutting), from his father.] During the time of
Minamoto no Raikō, people begin disappearing in the capital. Raikō sends
Watanabe no Tsuna to the capital on an errand. Thinking that the capital is
dangerous given the many disappearances, Raikō lends his famous Higekiri
sword to Tsuna to protect himself. At Modoribashi Bridge, which is in the
capital, Tsuna encounters a beautiful woman of about twenty years of age
who asks him to escort her to her home. Tsuna agrees and lifts the lady on
his horse, just as she reveals her true identity—a monstrous oni. Grabbing
Tsuna’s topknot and flying in the air, the oni declares that s/he is going to
take Tsuna to Mt. Atago. In rapid self-defense Tsuna manages to cut off
one of the oni’s arms,
causing the oni to flee without Tsuna. Tsuna and the
oni’s severed arm fall on the southern corridor of Kitano Shrine. Later, the
same oni, disguised as Tsuna’s foster mother, attempts to enter his house.
The foster mother–oni asks Tsuna to show her the famous oni’s arm.
Believing that the woman is actually his foster mother, Tsuna takes the dis-
guised creature to the chest where he has placed the oni’s arm. Seeing the
severed arm, the creature reveals its true identity, grabs the limb, and flies
away with it. In light of the incident with Tsuna, Raikō’s renames his sword
onimaru (demon sword).
A Tale of an Earth Spider
73
The oni episode is immediately followed by the tsuchigumo episode:
In the summer of the same year, Raikō becomes ill. All the incantations
and prayers by the monks and priests fail to cure his illness. Raikō’s inter-
mittent fevers continue for more than thirty days. one night a seven-
foot-tall priest unfamiliar to everyone approaches Raikō’s bed and tries to
restrain him with ropes. Raikō takes up his Hizamaru sword and strikes the
priest, who then vanishes. As his shitennō and others rush to Raikō’s room
they find a trail of blood that leads to a mound in Kitano where there is a
giant spider. Raikō realizes that his illness has been caused by this spider.
Raikō and his men impale the spider and transport it to the riverside as a
warning. Raikō renames his Hizamaru sword Kumogiri (spider-cutting).
Raikō and his shitennō s’ encounter with an oni and a spider is sequen-
tially similar to Raikō and Tsuna’s encounter with the oni (i.e., the spider
illustrated as oni) and the spider in Tsuchigumo zōshi. The oni and spider in
Tsuchigumo zōshi are effectively the same creature because the oni returns as
a projectile aimed at Raikō—the sword tip Raikō lost in an earlier struggle
with a spider, in the shape of an alluring woman. The oni and the spider in
the “Swords chapter” could be related, too. one indication is that the oni’s
arm is dropped on the southern corridor of Kitano Shrine and the earth
spider’s mound is located in Kitano. Kitano Shrine is dedicated to the spirit
of the famous scholar-statesman Sugawara no Michizane (845–903). Before
he was worshipped as the deity of scholarship, he was an extraordinarily
powerful vengeful spirit who posthumously fought imperial authority as the
king of oni (Reider, Japanese Demon Lore 12–13). The oni that escapes Tsuna
may have appeared as an earth spider to torment Raikō.
The events in the tsuchigumo episode of the “Swords chapter” and the
Tsuchigumo zōshi are quite similar. Raikō in the tsuchigumo episode was alone
and sick—not alert—when the strange priest attacked him with ropes. The
gorgeous woman in Tsuchigumo zōshi attacks Raikō with white balls or strings
when Raikō is alone and not alert—he is dazzled by the woman’s beauty.
The woman’s action—throwing white balls or strings at Raikō—is the same
as that of the strange priest who throws ropes at Raikō in the “Swords
chapter.” Kuroda Akira, who considers Tsuchigumo zōshi an important work
in terms of the development of the tsuchigumo episode of the “Swords
chapter,” speculates that the beautiful woman in Tsuchigumo zōshi is an ante-
cedent of a beautiful woman Tsuna meets at the Modoribashi Bridge in
the “Swords chapter” (Kuroda, “Tsurugi no maki oboegaki” 325).10 That
is quite possible, although I am inclined to think the peerless beauty is a
precursor of the eerie priest in the “Swords chapter.” The rest of the plot
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of the tsuchigumo episode is the same as that of Tsuchigumo zōshi—Raikō
unsheathes his sword and slashes his opponent, who vanishes, leaving a
copious amount of blood behind; Raikō’s loyal retainer(s) follow the blood
trail, find a gigantic spider, and kill it.
maiden and spider in the noh Play tsuchigumo
The Noh play Tsuchigumo has had a great influence on later performing
arts and literature, such as Kanhasshū tsunagiuma (Tethered Steed and the
Eight Provinces of Kantō,11 a Kabuki piece and puppet theater) written
by Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653–1725), Tsuchigumo (Earth Spider, 1881,
a Kabuki dance piece)12 by Kawatake Mokuami (1816–93), and Shiranui
monogatari (The Tale of Shiranui; a gesaku, or popular literature of the late
Edo period)13 written by Ryūkatei Tanekazu (1807–58), just to name some
notable examples. In all of these plays, an earth spider appears first as an
attractive female figure.
According to the Noh text, Minamoto no Raikō is stricken by an
unknown illness. His maid, Kochō, brings medicine but it does not help.
One night, a strange priest appears at Raikō’s bedside and begins casting
silken threads across Raikō’s body.14 Surprised, Raikō strikes the creature
with his renowned sword and the being disappears, dripping blood behind
it. It turns out that Raikō’s illness was caused by this strange creature, whose
real identity is the spirit of the spider that had been killed by the emperor’s
army at Mt. Katsuraki. Raikō’s vassal follows the trail of blood and kills the
spirit of the spider.
A number of scholars consider Kochō to be a mere human maid
and think the section on Kochō at the beginning of the play should be
tion, especially in foreshadowing the priest-spirit in the form of a female. It
gives depth to the Noh play if we interpret that Raikō has been weakened
slowly and steadily by Kochō, a spirit of the spider. As Ikenouchi Josui
speculates, Kochō is not a mere human maid of Raikō’s. Ikenouchi explains
that the interpretation of Raikō’s phrase “iro wo tukushite yoru hiru no”
(Sanari 3: 2059; emphasis added) should be “exhausting love day and night”
rather than the conventional “exhausting various [methods of healing] day
and night” (my translation); that is, iro should be interpreted not as “vari-
ous” ( iroiro) but to mean the iro of “love, lust, sensuality” (Ikenouchi 14).
Ikenouchi writes that even a great hero falls for a supernatural beauty in
the transient world, and this concept of human weakness goes along with
a Buddhist message of the Noh play, too (Ikenouchi 14–15). Ikenouchi’s
A Tale of an Earth Spider
75
interpretation is insightful, and I agree that Raikō feels for Kochō, just as
Raikō in Tsuchigumo zōshi let down his guard and was dazed when he saw the
beautiful woman. But I believe Kochō is a spirit of the earth spider primar-
ily because of the influence of Tsuchigumo zōshi as a female transformer who
casts threads to trap the warrior and the poem the priest recites when he
reveals his identity as the spirit of a spider.
The poem the priest recites is the aforementioned poem by Sotoori
Iratsume, the version that appears in Kokin wakashū (A Collection of Poems
Ancient and Modern, ca. 905, SNKBZ 11; McCullough, Kokin wakashū). In
number 1110 of Kokin wakashū, Sotoori Iratsume’s poem appears as “Waga
seko ga, kubeki yoi nari, sasagani no, kumo no furumai, kanete shirushi mo”
(This is the night, my husband will come, the little crab, the spider’s action,
it manifests in advance)—it is a love poem ( SNKBZ 11: 28, 421).15 As men-
tioned earlier, the spider in ancient literature is by and large considered a
good omen, ushering in a person one pines for (Sudō 70–71; NKBT 67:
334; SNKBZ 2: 119). The poem in the Noh play reveals the priest’s identity
as a spider and the priest-spider’s identity as Kochō. When the eerie priest
appears to Raikō, Raikō asks who he is. The priest replies by reciting the first
three lines of the poem: “Waga seko ga, kubeki yoi nari, sasagani no.” While
this poem discloses the priest’s identity as a spider, it also carries an image
of a female composer as a woman waiting—recall that Sotoori Iratsume
was pining for the emperor. In other words, through the poem, the priest
implies his true identity as a spider and, further, as Kochō, a woman who
waits on (and awaits) Raikō. Perhaps what she gives Raikō is not medicine
but venom to make him sick. This Kochō was once the stunningly beautiful
woman who waited for Raikō in the haunted house. As the beauty turned
out to be a gigantic female spider, Kochō in the Noh play is a spirit of the
spider who also shape-shifted into the priest. But Raikō does not recognize
the priest, so he continues the fourth line “kumo no furumahi” (the spider’s
action) but changes the last line to “kanete yori shiranu to iu ni nao chika-
zuku” (in advance I know not, but it still approaches) (Sanari 2060), as the
spider’s spirit Kochō is an important part of the play.
The Noh play Tsuchigumo is categorized as a demon play.16 According to
Terui Takeshi (Leaflet), a Noh performer and scholar, it is the most popu-
lar of the demon plays. The popularity does not necessarily stem from the
plot but rather from the lead actor tsuchigumo’s spectacular performance of
throwing numerous spider threads on the stage (see also Yokoyama, “Noh
Tsuchigumo”). Kanze Kasetsu (1884–1959), a famous Noh performer of the
Kanze school, says of Tsuchigumo that it is a small, light piece, and there is
nothing special to learn and no secret transmission to perform (Kanze 33).
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Part I: Samurai