All about the dinosaur monster Babame

Hello, this is Kamiyo, who is writing other articles to distract himself from the discussion of Oni no Kubi, as he has reached a dead end. I am not running away from the discussion. I am deliberately taking a detour now in order to move forward with the discussion to come. Yes, really.

…So, do you know the monster called "Babame" mentioned in the title? It is a monster that only a few people know about, as it does not even appear in "Japanese Monster Encyclopedia" by Shigeru Mizuki, which is also the textbook for the Sakaiminato Monster Certification Examination.

There are many dinosaur objects at the station.Even I, who live in Fukui Prefecture and love dinosaurs, had never heard of this monster until recently.Vinegared rice currySuch a unique combination is beyond the imagination of ordinary people. I never even wondered if it existed.

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Babame was a monster that lived in a valley in Kyoto and repeatedly attacked passersby. One day, a brave young man heard about the monster's misdeeds and went to the valley to defeat it, but was instead attacked and swallowed by the monster. However, he managed to cut open Babame's stomach from the inside with a sickle and successfully defeated the monster.

and,The story doesn't end there.That night, Babame suddenly appeared in the young man's dream and said,

"(Rough translation) I have done terrible things. To atone for my sins, from now onProtect all living things."

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As expected, the Yokai who have witnessed Japanese history since the Jurassic period (I guess) have a different level of generosity. I, a timid person, would like to emulate the speed of his reflection and the scale of his words.

This Babame legend is actually a relatively new one, having come from a book called "Quarterly Folktales" published in 1974. The 1970s was the height of the so-called "second monster boom"... Perhaps the public's focus on monsters led to the Babame legend, which had been on the decline until then, gaining enough recognition to be published in a book.

If the trends of the times influence the folklore that is discovered, what kind of folklore will see the light of day in the Reiwa era? I'm looking forward to it.

(Image: Illustrain)