The Amazing Adventures of Archibald Esq.

Inugami: a mythical Japanese dog

Nexium For Sale Prevacid Generic Buy Elimite Online Prevacid Without Prescription Ultram No Prescription Prevacid For Sale Ultram Generic Buy Prednisone Online Toprol XL Without Prescription Amoxil No Prescription

In Japanese mythology an inugami (犬神; lit. “dog god”) is a shikigami (familiar spirit) resembling — and usually originating from — a dog.

Inugami or dog gods commonly carry out acts of vengeance on behalf of the “inugami owner” or companions of the doggish. Inugami are extremely powerful and capable of existing independently, as well as turning on their “owners” and even sometimes possessing humans.

As in most cultures, the dog is viewed in Japan as a kind, bold, and nimble companion, who is ferocious toward its master’s enemies. In Japanese folklore, dogs themselves are regarded as magical beings; one legend states that the dog could once talk, but lost the ability. The indingenous Ainu people of Hokkaidō consider the dog a wily, dangerous and somewhat human animal.

One dreadful belief (from a dog’s point of view) is that an inugami is created by burying a dog up to its neck and placing food around it, which it cannot reach. It would take days for the dog to die, and during this time the dog’s master would tell it that its pain is nothing compared to his own. When the dog dies, it would become an inugami; since its dying wish would have been to eat, the food placed around the corpse would act as a placatory offering, and thus make the spirit obedient. (Why not simply assume the loving and obedient companion will naturally be an inugami when it passes into the spirit world? Awoof!)

A more specific legend states that an old woman who desired revenge against an enemy buried her treasured dog in the ground with only its head sticking out, and said “If you have a soul, do my will and I will worship you as a god.” She then sawed the dog’s head off with a bamboo saw (which would have been extremely painful), releasing the dog’s spirit as an inugami. The spirit did as she wished, but in return for its painful death it haunted the old woman. Grrwooof! For any crazies who might have ideas about this sort of thing, you’ve been warned… Harm us hounds and haunting will happen!

In the Oki Islands, the inugami takes on the function that the kitsune (fox) holds in many other regions of Japan. It is believed that an inugami-mochi will be blessed with great fortune and success. However, in exchange the inugami-mochi are shunned by other people, and find it hard to get married; they must also be careful not to offend their inugami lest they receive its wrath, as unlike the kitsune, an inugami does not merely follow its master’s wishes, but also acts on its own impulses.

Many small villages in Japan are considered to have at least one old lady with the power of the inugami-mochi.

An inugami’s original body stays behind when it leaves to follow its masters wishes; the buried corpse slowly withers and rots, and if the inugami returns after the body is no longer habitable, it may take control of its master’s body, making it even more powerful. However, possession by an inugami is said to cure sickness, or ill health, even if it also results in the possessed behaving like a dog.

Yōko in the animated film entitled Inukami! is referred to as an inugami until it is known that she is a Kitsune or Fox spirit.

Several inugami feature in manga tales as well as in Play Station games such as ‘Shadow Hearts: Covenant’ and ‘Kurando Inugami.’ Kotarō Inugami features in the manga and anime series Negima, and Inugami is also the name of a manga written by Masaya Hokazono.

So this ancient Japanese myth has made its way into modern Japanese culture. In Japan normal, everyday, average dogs are believed to be able to see spirits and ghosts — a view quite common in Western European cultures. What makes Japanese views of the dog distinct from Western cultures is the admittedly terrifying notion of inugami as dog gods.

It seems regrettable to me that to become a dog god requires such torture and violence (being starved, stuck in sand, having one’s head cut off!) But if those things did happen, it’s heartening to know that haunting occurred — and sometimes not to the profit of the person who perpetrated the voilence to the original dog. And notice too, despite all the tragedy of these stories, that the thing that marks the inugami as a powerful spirit being is the inugami’s independence. Even spirit dogs don’t always take orders! Grrwooof!

Superwoof to the spirit of dogs and spirit dogs alike!

Awoof! Archie

Posted 29 Aug 07