tabi socks legends

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. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話 昔話 - Introduction .
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tabi 足袋 と伝説 Legends about Tabi socks

If you go to bed with split-toe socks on,
you will not be able to see your parents at their deathbed.

足袋を履いて布団に入ると親の死に目に逢えないといわれている。




. tabi 足袋 traditional Japanese socks .
- Introduction -



tabi oni　足袋鬼 the Tabi monsterlin
Once the young Tabi-Oni lost his Tabi and went on a long trip to find them again. But after more than a few hundred years he had still not found them. Eventually horns grew on his head and he became a full-blown Oni.
Nowadays young people worry more about a fashionable pattern than about the Tabi themselves.
So the journey of Tabi-Oni continues to our day.
- reference : youkaiwiki.com/entry - 束酢子太郎 -





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Taboo for fishing

In winter it is better to put some ritual sand from the Shrine into the Tabi.

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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures :

.......................................................................... Aichi 愛知県 .................................
美浜町 Mihama

If you go to bed with split-toe socks on, your eyes will become ill.

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北設楽郡 Kitashitara district

At the pass 御園峠 Mizono Toge there is the grave of 望月右近太夫 Mochizuki Ukon Daiyu. He had been to the pass and for some reason killed one of the local people. An old woman from the village said she would help him flee and gave him some gold to put in his Tabi to protect him from the mountain bandits.
But later he was killed by the locals and they took the gold out of his Tabi.
The family of the old woman was cursed for many generations.



.......................................................................... Aikta 秋田県 .................................

If you sit in the kotatsu 火燵 heated table with split-toe socks on,
you will not be able to see your parents at their deathbed.

The same is told in Gifu 岐阜県.


.......................................................................... Gifu 岐阜県 .................................
和良村 Wara village

kitsune no yome-iri 狐の嫁入り "the fox taking a bride"
Once on a day like that, when a rainbow was seen in the evening sky,a young woman went to the toilet outside at night with her white Tabi on and hair nicely dressed up in a 島田Shimada knot. Then she took a lantern and went off to the mountain.

. kitsune no yomeiri　狐の嫁入り "the fox taking a bride" .
spell of sunshine during a rainy period



Inari fox split-toe socks


.......................................................................... Gunma 群馬県 .................................

On the day of the specal Ebisu ceremonies エビス講, you are not to wear Tabi to walk to the temple.

. Ebisu えびす　/ エビス 恵比寿　 .
エビス講 Ebisu Ceremony Group
Ebisu is one of the seven gods of good luck.



.......................................................................... Kagawa 香川県 .................................
三木町 Miki

tanuki 狸 badger
Once upon a time, there was a girl sitting at the beach for a long time. She was wearing white Tabi and had streched her legs. A passer-by asked her twice why she would not go home, but she did not say a word. So he kicked her legs with his wooden 下駄 Geta sandals. She gave a loud cry and disappeard in a moment. Yes, it was a Tanuki after all !





.......................................................................... Mie 三重県 .................................

If you go to bed with your Tabi on, you will become ill.


.......................................................................... Niigata 新潟県 .................................
吉川町 Yoshikawa

itachi いたち / 鼬 weasel
Once a man walked alone on a full-moon night, when a woman approached him. She was wearing white Tabi, a formal 袴 Hakama skirt and carried an umbrella, although it was not raining. When she came closer, she disappeared and only the sound of her steps was to be heard. The man realized he had been tricked by an Itachi weasel.



.......................................................................... Saga 佐賀県 .................................
塩田町 Shioda



Izumi Shikibu 和泉式部
Once upon a time, an old couple without children went to the Kannon Hall to pray for offspring. The temple is located in 和泉村 Izumi village.
The priest from the temple 福泉寺 Fukuzen-Ji (Auspicious Spring Temple) told them they would get a child. They stayed over night at the temple, when they suddenly heard the voice of a baby. A mother deer was giving milk to a human baby! So the old couple took the child home and reared her as their own. She grew up to a most beautiful girl, but she had only two toes, like a deer, and were quite different from human feet.
This child was no other than the poetess Izumi Shikibu. And to hide her feet she had to wear Tabi all her life.

Another version
福泉寺に猪がやってきて仏の茶湯を捨てたのを飲むようになった。あるとき、仏殿の後ろから赤子の鳴く声が聞こえたので見に行くと、件の猪が人の子を産んで乳を飲ませているところだった。暁、藤津郡の塩田庄大黒丸の夢に老僧が現れ、「お前は年頃子を切ったことがある。お前の子が福泉寺の堂の後にいるから取って来いという告げがあり、赤子を取りにいった。これが和泉式部であったという。

Essay: 和泉式部の足袋
by 柳田国男 Yanagita Kunio, 1962 (Teihon Yanagita Kunio Shu 定本柳田国男集)
(The Selected Original Works of Yanagita Kunio).
11 legends to explore
鹿の子 - similar to the Shikibu tale
狐女房 / 熊太郎 / 鹿娘,鹿姫 / .浄瑠璃御前 / 清少納言 Sei Shonagon / 赤染衛門 Akajimeemon
- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -


.......................................................................... Wakayama 和歌山県 .................................
田辺市 Tanabe

Once a beautiful young Samurai came to the Tabi shop. When he showed his leg for a try, they were quite hairy. Then he stumbled and turned into 古だぬき an old Tanuki. He payed two Ryo and disappeared.
But looking closer at the money, it turned into itadori 虎杖 (いたどり) Japanese knotweed, konpachiゴンパチ in the local dialect.





.......................................................................... Yamanashi 山梨県 .................................

If you go to bed with your Tabi on,
you will not be able to see your parents at their deathbed.

The same is told in Fukushima 福島県, Miyagi 宮城県.

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- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -

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- source - yahoo auctions -

oni tabi 鬼足袋　Demon-Tabi for sale


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. Legends about Kobo Daishi Kukai - 弘法大師　空海 - 伝説 .

. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話　昔話 - Introduction .

- Yookai 妖怪 Yokai Monsters of Japan -
- Introduction -

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- #tabisocks #tabi #splittoesocks -
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