Dear Iwate, Yokai Work

Hello, this is Ema. In Iwate, the tulip leaves have finally started to appear, and there are signs of spring. Just after I wrote this, snow has piled up, and it looks like we will have a snowy start to April.

Well, last time I talked about how "people have given names to things that are beyond their control, and yokai are among them," but as I wrote about false accusations, I don't think that the events themselves are yokai. They lent their names to help people overcome unfortunate accidents or other things that made them angry. I think that was the job of yokai in the past. If a horse, an important tool of business, or a precious child drowned in a river, there would have been anger that they had no outlet for, and I think kappa were the ones who took on that anger.
I don't think the kappa of those days would have been happy about that (after all, they were bad guys), but I think their job was to warn people that it was dangerous to approach the river carelessly. Just like the umibozu, tengu, foxes, and yuki-onna. It's always been the fault of the yokai. Because that was the yokai's job. (Or at least I think so.)

As time passed, the environment in which people could live expanded, and as a result, the number of unfortunate accidents like those of the past decreased. Probably. New unfortunate accidents that did not exist in the past may have arisen, but the number of "jobs of taking false accusations" assigned to youkai has decreased in relative terms, and I think they are less likely to be treated as villains.
Yokai that are no longer villains have become beloved. These include yurukyara (mascot characters) from all over the country (I think that yurukyara themselves are a new type of yokai), as well as characters from manga and games. Of course, there are yokai that have always been loved (I think zashiki warashi and nekomata have long been popular characters), but yokai that were once villains who kept humans away from danger now play a part in culture and tourism, and attract people rather than repel them. That goes for all the yuki-onna (snow women) who worked at the end of the year, too.
I'm sure that even now, yokai as unknown creatures live quietly around the area, and the yokai as concepts they once borrowed names from are now working to attract people to various places. (Am I right in thinking that among you yokai who work to attract people, there are some who are real and live with humans?)

We need to invite more people to the Kappa of Tono and the Zashiki Warashi of Ninohe. There are many other places to see, and although the cherry blossom season is still a long way off, it is still easy to plan your trip. Whether you are starting a new life or just continuing on from Friday, why not take a trip to Tohoku, or even Iwate, along with the cherry blossom front?