EXPLORING JAPANESE FOLKLORE
Zashiki-warashi, also known as “parlor child” or “parlor boyo,” is a type of spirit often mentioned in legends and folklore from the Iwate Prefecture. According to these tales, zashiki-warashi are yokai (supernatural beings) that reside in parlors or storage rooms. They are mischievous in nature and known for playing pranks on people. It is believed that encountering a zashiki-warashi brings good fortune to those who see them. There are also legends of how these spirits bestow prosperity upon the families they inhabit.
There are mentions that families blessed with the presence of these spirits become prosperous. In recent years, the media, such as television programs and magazines, have reported on ryokan (traditional Japanese inns) in the Iwate Prefecture where sightings of zashiki-warashi are said to be possible.
· Appearances
· Zashiki-warashi Shrine
· Regional Zashiki-warashi
· Origin of Zashiki-warashi
· Sightings of Zashiki-warashi
Please support the writer with a complete read by scrolling to the end
An incomplete read will be registered as a “view” instead of a “read”
Appearances
These entities typically have a red face and hair that hangs down. They appear to be aged between three and fifteen years old and have either a bob haircut or very short cropped hair. Both male and female zashiki-warashi have been sighted. Males are often described wearing blackish clothes with a kasuri pattern, while females are said to don a red waistcoat (chanchanko), kosode, and sometimes a furisode. There are also zashiki-warashi whose appearance is unclear, making it difficult to determine their gender. Some legends depict them as black beasts or warriors.
Zashiki-warashi are mischievous beings known for their playful nature. They leave traces of ash or bleaching powder on top of their tiny footprints, and at night, they create sounds resembling a revolving spinning wheel or a kagura performance. There are stories of sewing sounds, rustling papers, or snorting noises when someone is alone in the family. Opening a wooden door may reveal no one present. These spirits are said to engage in pranks like riding on top of guest room futons, turning over pillows, and preventing sleep. Attempts to stop their actions are futile, as their strength and power surpass human influence. Zashiki-warashi sometimes interact with children as well.
In one legend from Iwate, zashiki-warashi from a shrine in Hayachine would follow visitors from distant lands and teach the nursery rhyme of Iwate to children in those regions. Another legend from Gonohe, Aomori Prefecture, tells how a zashiki-warashi can be summoned to a new house by burying a golden ball beneath the floors.
The visibility of zashiki-warashi is often restricted to family members or exclusively to children, while adults remain unaware of their presence. Stories mention instances where adults counting the number of children find an extra person, but due to their lack of understanding about zashiki-warashi, they are unable to identify the additional individual. These themes frequently appear in literature.
One notable belief is that families blessed with a zashiki-warashi experience prosperity, whereas families from whom the zashiki-warashi have departed face decline. This aspect likens zashiki-warashi to fortune deities or protective spirits governing a family’s well-being. In the Tōno Monogatari, there are tales of families succumbing to foodborne illness after their zashiki-warashi left them, as well as stories of a wealthy family in the Iide section of Tsuchibuchi, Iwate Prefecture, whose zashiki-warashi was shot by a child, causing it to leave and the family’s fortunes to decline. Some suggest a connection between the decline of a family after a zashiki-warashi’s departure and the prosperity that follows the departure of a binbōgami (a spirit of poverty).
According to some beliefs, encountering a white zashiki-warashi signifies good fortune, while the sight of a red one (with a red face, red clothes, and a red bucket) indicates that the zashiki-warashi will depart, leading to misfortune. There are accounts of families who saw a red-clothed zashiki-warashi experiencing subsequent deaths from foodborne illnesses.
Zashiki-warashi Shrine
Zashiki-warashi primarily reside in the inner guest rooms (zashiki) of houses, and their presence is believed to influence the path a family takes. Some families extend hospitality to them by offering daily meals. It is said that zashiki-warashi particularly enjoy azuki meshi (sweet red bean rice), so families may offer it every day. If the food remains untouched, it is considered an omen of the family’s decline. Unlike having kitsune (foxes) or inugami (dog spirits), zashiki-warashi are never seen as a nuisance. On the contrary, they are revered as deities, and families housing a zashiki-warashi are often treated with respect by others.
In the vicinity of Ninohe City, there is a local custom of setting up a room with desserts and toys for a deceased or infant (infanticide) child and offering worship to the child. This tradition has persisted to the present day. There is also a custom of creating a room that would appeal to a child in order to attract a zashiki-warashi and bring prosperity to the family.
According to the Tonō Monogatari, a wealthy family in the town of Tsuchibuchi had a small space called the “Zatō room.” It was used to await the arrival of the Zatō, members of the builder’s guild such as the tōdōza, Anma (massage practitioners), moxibustion practitioners, biwa hōshi (lute-playing minstrels), and related groups, during banquets. However, Sukeyuki Miura, a literary researcher, speculates that this room might have been used for worshiping the protective spirit of the household deity.
Regional Zashiki-warashi
In some regions and legends, zashiki-warashi are categorized or ranked. The Jippōan Yūreki Zakki mentions zashiki-warashi seen in the Inase area of Esashi, Iwate Prefecture (now part of Esashi District, Ōshū). In this account, zashiki-warashi found in dirt floor areas of homes are referred to as kometsuki-warashi, notabariko, usutsuriko, and other names. The most beautiful white zashiki-warashi residing in the inner guest room is called chōpirako. However, not all zashiki-warashi are believed to influence a family’s fortune. Some simply move around the house and create noises, which can be perceived as creepy.
There are variations of zashiki-warashi described with long, thin arms resembling vines. They use these arms to beckon people and warn of disasters like floods and tsunamis. They are referred to as hosode or hosode nagate, meaning “thin arms” or “thin arms long arms.” In a story, a poor man throws firewood into the water and is invited into the dragon palace, where he receives an ugly-looking but fortune-bringing ryūkyū-warashi (dragon palace child). There are also zashiki-warashi that reside in dozō (storehouses), known as kura-warashi or kura-bokko.
Origin of Zashiki-warashi
According to Kizen Sasaki, zashiki-warashi may be the spirits of children who were crushed to death and buried within the home. In the Tōhoku region, infanticide was known as “usugoro” or “mortar kill.” It involved crushing children with a stone mortar to reduce the number of mouths to feed. The custom was to bury these children in the dirt floor room or kitchen. It is believed that the spirits of these children, resembling zashiki-warashi, would wander around the periphery of the house on rainy days, shaking and frightening guests.
The lower-ranking zashiki-warashi known as notabariko and usu-tsuki warashi are associated with the location where infanticide occurred, such as the dirt floor room or underneath a mortar. Some suggest a connection between these specific zashiki-warashi and the dark aspects of the village community, as they are often found in old homes and linked to legends of misfortune befalling families after a visiting Buddhist pilgrim was killed.
In Sadako Takahashi’s work “The People Who Saw Zashiki-Warashi,” there are stories of zashiki-warashi resulting from curses placed by carpenters and tatami makers who faced difficulties in their construction jobs. Rituals involved inserting a doll with peeled wood between the pillars and beams of a house.
There are theories proposing that zashiki-warashi are actually kappa, a type of mythical creature. Some stories describe zashiki-warashi as kappa that would rise from the depths and enter nearby homes to play pranks. Other tales speak of kappa that have settled in a home and transformed into zashiki-warashi.
One theory suggests that zashiki-warashi resemble children because of the belief in the connection between childlike deities and humans, as seen in Buddhism with gōhō-warashi, wrathful gods who protect Buddhism in the form of children. Another theory proposes that the childlike appearance embodies divinity.
According to Kunio Yanagita, the protective spirits of Buddhism and local shrine maidens (mikos) are related to the belief in honoring the fresh spirits of young leaves. This connection extends to zashiki-warashi, who became protective spirits of homes, bridging the gap between divinity and humanity. Kazuhiko Komatsu, a folklorist, views zashiki-warashi from a cultural anthropological perspective, noting similarities between them and animal spirit possessions such as izuna-tsukai (“weasel-using”). He suggests that zashiki-warashi have been used to explain changes in fortunes within folk society, particularly in old homes and families.
Sightings of Zashiki-warashi
The belief in zashiki-warashi is deeply rooted in the people of Tōhoku, and the tales of these spirits have been told for generations, dating back to the Meiji and Shōwa eras. In Kunio Yanagita’s “Yōkai Dangi,” it is mentioned that in 1910 (Meiji 43) around July, a zashiki-warashi appeared at a school in the village of Tsuchibuchi (now Tōno, Iwate Prefecture) in Kamihei District, Rikuchū. Interestingly, the zashiki-warashi was only visible to the first-year students and not to older students or adults.
Certain ryokan, such as Ryokufūsō at Kindaichi Onsen in Iwate Prefecture, Sugawara Bekkan, and Warabe in Tenjin village in Morioka Prefecture, have been managed for many years, spanning the Shōwa, Heisei, and beyond. These lodges are known to be inhabited by zashiki-warashi, and there are accounts from guests who claim to have seen them, heard footsteps, or even felt physical touches. However, unlike the typical legends of zashiki-warashi, the one at Ryokufūsō is considered to be an ancestor who passed away from an illness and became a protective spirit.
Near Warabe, there is the Hayachine Shrine, which was established over 1200 years ago. It is said that festivals have been held there to offer prayers to zashiki-warashi since the founding of Warabe, and the shrine’s zashiki-warashi visits the Warabe ryokan.
As for the zashiki-warashi at Sugawara Bekkan, it was originally a fire deity during the Edo period, protecting the original home of the proprietress from fires. When the proprietress married into the family of this establishment, the zashiki-warashi is said to have followed her. There are also tales of guests at this ryokan finding success in their marriages and careers, attributed to the presence of the zashiki-warashi.
These accounts highlight the enduring belief in zashiki-warashi in Tōhoku, with sightings and experiences reported in various locations, including schools, ryokan, and shrines, continuing to the present day.
Thank you for reading 🖤
Resources
Warashi no Yado Ikujuen (shojuen.com)
Gibeon — Wonders and Mysteries of Space, Earth and Animals (gibe-on.info)
