What is fear?

What is scary, anyway?

As the word awe suggests, it refers to feelings of fear,

People also say "fear" when they feel exposed to danger and feel anxious or scared.

Some people have a fear of sharp objects or cluster phobia.

 

Thinking about it now,

I was such a scaredy child back in the Showa era that it's strange to think that I now live in a world surrounded by monsters.

(Even now, I don't like artificially created haunted houses or Halloween horror content. ←Maybe that's because of the trauma I have from the Showa era haunted houses that were operated by humans.)

I was the type to be so scared of TV specials on ghosts or comedy skits by the Drifters that I would change the channel (also the episodes about Alien Baltan and Zetton in Ultraman, or the "Karankoron" song at the end of the black-and-white Kitaro).

Although it was the late Showa era, it was still a somewhat dark and fishy time (in terms of public health as well).

When I look up at the ceiling from my futon, my eyes meet the grain of the wood (lol). Gradually, it starts to look like it is squirming, and I get a scream, cover myself with the blanket, and fall asleep like that countless times.

That's why, perhaps, I grew up not feeling uncomfortable about ghosts and spirits being around me.

 

 

I was playing around until late when a neighbor lady passed by.

"Hurry up and go home or you'll encounter a ghost."

"The child catcher is coming."

I have been told that and have rushed off in a panic countless times (laughs).

 

 

My family home is across from the shrine.

During summer and autumn festivals, night stalls were set up and lively voices could be heard until late at night.

Of course, I used to run around the shrine grounds and in the so-called "Omiya-san no Ura" (a small forest next to the main hall) almost every day. (I'm sorry, but now I can't remember climbing lanterns or trees... I even caught cicadas.)

It wasn't until I was in high school that I learned that it was a historic shrine, apparently the site of a certain emperor's palace.

 

A rumor once spread among children that a sicklefish appeared at the shrine.

By that time, I probably already had Mizuki-sensei's illustrated encyclopedia of monsters in my hands... At any rate, I knew that it was a monster that could cut off limbs and cause pain, so being a scaredy-cat, I didn't want to encounter it and was terrified.

A neighborhood leader told me,

"A couple was meeting in the temple grounds when everyone had already left by the time the children returned home, but the boyfriend never showed up. When the girlfriend wondered if he was there yet and tried to peek towards the entrance (the gate on the side where our house is), her feet moved on their own accord towards the torii gate, and all of a sudden her legs spread apart (like the 'P!' sound when playing hopscotch). When she looked down in shock, she saw on the ground (between her spread legs) the face of a woman with a frightening expression, who grinned broadly."

 

Shivers shivers...

Th-that's scary!!

 

...But then, a few years later, I suddenly remembered,

To this day, I still think, "Well... it's a scary story, but what about the Kamaitachi element? And what's the punch line of the story? (← it's the Kansai people's nature to need a punch line.)"

I continue to worry about this.

As I get older, the mystery deepens.

I researched Kamaitachi and googled the history of the shrine (since it's related to the Imperial family, it seems like there may have been many sentimental messages left behind from the struggle for power etc...).

I wonder if it might have been a spin-off of urban legends from that time (it was the era of the Slit-Mouth Woman and the Dog-Faced Man), but I can't find any stories that seem similar.

 

This kind of thing is a bit of a truncated story.

It was written in a sloppy manner and abandoned midway... something like that.

Lately I've come to think that there must be countless ayakashi spirits out there who want to transform into spirits, but because they are like Kotodama, they have a hard time materializing and are therefore hesitating.

If so, maybe you have had a similar experience, or there is an episode like this about Kamaitachi.

For example, the official name of the female monster grinning at your feet.

If anyone knows, I would appreciate any comments.

 

 

[Sakuraya Mirage] I've loved yokai since I was a child.
During his university days studying Japanese art history, he encountered Yoshitoshi, Kyosai, and Inabi-bi-koroku. Wanting to quietly carry ayakashi with him in his daily life, he makes handmade yokai. (He has an account on minne under the name "sakuyamirage"

" currently being registered)