Akateko (folklore)
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Anakateko(Tay không nhi,lit. "red child's hand" )is ayōkai,or Japanese monster, from thefolkloreofAomori Prefecture,specifically in the city ofHachinohe.[1][2]The monster is also alegendlocal toKagawaandFukushimaprefectures.[1]
Mythology[edit]
Themonsteris described as the red, disembodied hand of a small child descending from aJapanese honey locust tree.It is accompanied by the specter of a young woman (around the age of 17 or 18) at the base of the tree whose beauty lulls unsuspecting passersby into a trance or fever state.
According to the some legends, the hand will then grab thetravelerby the neck and rip them apart, limb by limb, but in moststoriesthehandis harmless.[1]In Kagawa and Fukushima prefectures, the spirit will travel in pairs, resembling moving feet or legs.[3]Some even suggest that those two creatures are, in fact, two parts of the sameyōkai.[4]
According to most sources, this creature is harmless, and only frighten passers-by.[4]
A theory pointed that Akateko may be an illusion created by otheryōkaisuch askitsuneortanuki,who have shape-shifting abilities.[5]
References[edit]
- ^abcKizen Sasaki(2007).Tōno no Zashiki-warashi to Oshirasama.Chūkō.Chuokoron-Shinsha.p. 71.ISBN978-4-12-204892-8.
- ^Kenji Murakami, ed. (2000).Yōkai Jiten.Mainichi Shinbunsha. p. 7.ISBN978-4-620-31428-0.
- ^Hencho, Konno Ensuke (1981).Nihon kaidanshū: yōkai hen(Shohan. ed.). Tōkyō: Shakai Shisōsha.ISBN978-4-390-11055-6.
- ^abMeyer, Matthew."Akateko".yokai.
- ^"Akateko".June 7, 2018.
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