. Japanese legends and tales 伝説 民話 昔話 - Introduction .
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hebi 蛇と伝説 Legends about snakes and serpents
hebi 蛇 / 蛇 / へび / ヘビ snake - Schlange
In the traditional Kagura dance, the serpent is called Orochi 大蛇 .
. daija, orochi 大蛇 the huge serpent, great snake .
. dokuhebi 毒蛇と伝説 poisonous snakes and serpents .
. Hebigami, Jashin 蛇神 Snake Deity .
. Jao 蛇王 / Hebio Sama ヘビオウサマ Serpent king .
. Suwa Jinja 諏訪神社 Suwa Shrine .
The messenger of the Deity is a serpent.
. ike no nushi 池の主 the Master of the Pond .
. mekura hebi メクラヘビ the blind snake from Sekigahara .
. mizuchi, medochi 蛟 water Yokai like a serpent . 大虬, 蛟龍, 美都知
. nuibari and snake 縫針 sewing needle .
. Benten to hebi 弁天と蛇伝説 Legends about Benten and serpents .
. shimenawa 注連縄 sacred rope and serpents .
. shirohebi / hakuja 白蛇と伝説 Legends about white serpents .
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. Raijin 雷神と伝説 Legends about the God of Thunder .
The serpent and thunder (lightning) are the same.
Once in a village in Ibaraki 努賀媛（ねがひめ） Princess Nugahime became intimate with a God and gave birth to 小蛇 a small serpent.
When the serpent ascended to heaven, she tried to kill her father (震殺 furi-korosu) with a shock of lightning, but did not succeed.
- source : 雷神研究 / 郷土趣味
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Is someone points with a finger to a snake or bat, this finger will rot.
One has to put spittle on it and insert the finger into the obi 帯 belt to be cured.
- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures :
............................................................................... Aichi 愛知県
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. aodaishoo, ao daishoo 青大将 Japanese rat snake .
eating ants to protect swallows
. hebi 蛇 a serpent turned woman .
at 扶桑村 Fuso village
............................................................................... Ehime 愛媛県
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四国中央市 Shikoku Chuo City 富郷町 Tomisato town
tonbyoo gami トンビョウ神 Tonbyo no Kami / トンボ神 Tonbogami / トボ神 Tobogami
トンビョウサン tonbyoo san or トンベ神 Tonbegami are other names for serpents. Some have the power to possess humans.
They are small serpents of about 30 cm. They like to possess humans with resentments for others.
............................................................................... Fukui 福井県
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福井市 Fukui city
. katame no hebi 片目の蛇 snake with one eye .
and a hitobashira 人柱 "human pillar" sacrifice
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今立郡 Imadate district 池田町 Ikeda town
. amagoi 雨乞い a rain ritual with surume スルメ squid .
............................................................................... Fukushima 福島県
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Fukushima 南会津郡 Minami-Aizu district 檜枝岐村 Hinoemata village
. 鎮守様 the Chinju Sama guardian deity .
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Fukushima 南相馬市 Minami-Soma city
. 八沢の蛇塚 a stone mound for the serpent in Yasawa .
............................................................................... Gifu 岐阜県
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揖斐川町 Ibigawa town
. ao daishoo 青大将 at 諏訪神社 Suwa Jinja .
. ohaguro お歯黒 / 御歯黒 black teeth serpent .
............................................................................... Gunma 群馬県
. Serpents in 榛名湖 Lake Harunako .
............................................................................... Kyoto 京都府
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北区 Kita ward
. Arigaike 蟻が池 / 蟻ケ池 "the Ant Pond" .
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木津川市 Kizugawa city 山城町 Yamashiro town
. Kanimanji 蟹満寺 Kaniman-Ji, Kyoto "Crab Temple" .
............................................................................... Miyagi 宮城県
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仙台市 Sendai city 青葉区 Aoba ward
. jatai banzan 蛇体番山 (ジャタイバンザン) straw serpent from Mount Banzan .
............................................................................... Nagano 長野県
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十日町市 Tokamachi city 松之山町 Matsunoyama town
. Two Snake Legends .
............................................................................... Nara 奈良県
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吉野郡 Yoshino district 下北山村 Shimo-Kitayama
hakuja (shirohebi) 白蛇 white serpent
At Eboshi no taki, エボシ滝 / えぼしの滝 the Eboshidaki waterfall in エボシ谷 the Eboshi valley once there hang a white serpent like a Shimenawa at the top of the waterfall.
To keep it alive, people are not allowed to make a fire near the tail part of the serpent.
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吉野郡 Yoshino district 十津川村 下北山村 野近川村 川上村 Totsukawa region ..
. nodohikari ノドヒカリ / 咽喉光り/ 蛇 "shining throat", serpent .
............................................................................... Niigata 新潟県
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西頚城郡 Nishi-Kubiki district 能生町 Noo machi
. 天狗山 Mount Tenguyama deity is a serpent .
............................................................................... Osaka 大阪府
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岸和田市 Kishiwada city
. shooja 小蛇 small serpent at 竜宮 the Dragon Palace .
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Osaka 吹田市 Sugita city
. Serpent and the Chinoike 血の池 Blood Pond .
............................................................................... Shizuoka 静岡県
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庵原郡 Ihara district 両河内村 Ryogochi mura village
. Serpent and inoshishi 猪 wild boar .
............................................................................... Tokushima 徳島県
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三好郡 Miyoshi district
. Serpent as messenger of Yamanokami 山の神 is hikagiri ヒカギリ Hikagiri .
a small serpent with a ring around its neck.
............................................................................... Tokyo 東京都
. Chuo Ward 中央区 - snake becomes a belt .
. Itabashi 板橋 ward and snake legends .
. Kanda Aisomegawa 神田藍染川 wara ningyoo 藁人形 straw dolls for curses .
. Negishi 根岸 and snake legends .
. Shinagawa 撫で白蛇 white serpent to rub for making a wish .
. Shinjuku 新宿区 - 円照寺 Ensho-Ji / 宝仙寺 Hosen-Ji Nakano .
. Sumida 墨田区 - 両頭蛇 serpent with two heads .
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Tokyo, 新島村 Niijima island
. Shipwrecked in Niijima Island .
............................................................................... Toyama 富山県
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高岡市 Takaoka city
. Harumi matsuri 晴見祭り Harumi festival .
with four snakes, on 卯月中の巳の日 in the fourth lunar month on mi no hi 巳の日 the day of the snake
............................................................................... Wakayama 和歌山県
. Snake legends .
from Arida district 有田郡 and Hidaka district 日高郡
............................................................................... Yamagata 山形県
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南陽市 Nanyo City
. a monk playing the biwa 琵琶 lute for a serpent .
............................................................................... Yamanashi 山梨県
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南巨摩郡 Minami-Koma district 南部町 Nanbu town
. Suwa Jinja no Kami 諏訪神社の神 The Deity of Suwa Shrine - a white serpent .
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- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -
2374 蛇 collecting
956 ヘビ (00)
8 霊蛇 reija (01) 19 青大将 aodaisho Japanese rat snake (02) 50 小蛇 small serpent (01)
12 巳の日 (01)
12 蛇塚 hebizuka (01)
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. animals and their legends 動物と伝説 - - ABC list .
. plants and their legends 植物と伝説 - - ABC list .
. trees and their legends 樹木, 木と伝説 - - ABC list .
. Persons, People, Personen and their legends - - ABC list .
. 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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. Join the friends on Facebook ! .
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- - - - - #hebisnake #daijaserpent #serpent #snake #dokuhebi #schlange #giftschlange #poisonsnake #tonbyo #tobyo #aodaisho #hebigami-
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20 comments:
Tokyo, Setagaya
hitokui matsu 人喰松 "man-eating pine"
At the 渋谷道玄坂 Dogenzaka slope in Shibuya there is a pine tree with this name.
During the restructuring of modern Tokyo, this tree had to be moved. Two sisters living in Setagaya were very pious, chanting the 法華経 Hokekyo Sutra and got a message from the Deity.
In former times something bad had been buried under the roots of this tree and cursed the people. When they eventually dug below the roots, they found the bones of a hebi 蛇 serpent.
During the recital of the Sutra, the serpent turned all white and made its way up into the heaven.
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https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2018/06/setagaya-ward.html
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Legend from Yamanashi
- - - 若草町 Wakakusa town
Gomi Shirozaemon and the serpent 蛇
About 280 years ago, the old family of 五味四郎右衛門 Gomi Shirozaemon lived in 若草村浅原 Wakakusamura village.
His wife was always worried about water damage and flooding from the river 釜無川 Kamanashigawa. One day in Summer there was a huge typhoon, so the took the lid of kama 釜 the kettle , threw it into the wild river and jumped on it. The woman changed into a serpent and became invisible.
But after that, there have never been major floods in the river, so t was called
Kamanashigawa "river without a kettle".
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https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2015/10/rokugo-watashi.html
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Legend from Yamanashi, Minobusan
At 古谷城 Koyashiro there lived a beautiful young girl. A man from 梅ヶ島 Umegashima came to visit her every night.
Her mother was worried and one evening put a needle with a thread in his sleeve. She followed him to the river side 牛淵 Ushifuchi.
Later her daughter gave birth and was put into a tub with hot water, where she gave birth to hebi 蛇 a snake.
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https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2020/01/minobu-kaido-highway.html
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Legend from Hokkaido, 松前領 Matsumae
reija 霊蛇 "spirit snake"
In the year 1823, the wife of 立之助 Ryunosuke from Ahinoma village was simple and not greedy.
In the sixth lunar month when she worked in the fields, she found a lot of kozen 古銭 old coins. She kept working in the fields but then took some coins home.
On her way back home, a small snake followed her, but was not to be seen any more when she was home.
When Ryunosuke heard this, he checked the basket for carrying soil, there was a small snake inside. He killed the snake with his kiseru キセル metal pipe.
Then he went out to the field, hoping to find more coins, but did not find anything. This was because he had killed the serpent.
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https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2020/02/matsumae-fukuyama-kaido.html
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hebi ishisama ヘビイシサマ / ヘービシ(蛇石) - stone that looks like a serpent
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At 恩賀部落 the hamlet Onga they venerate a stone that looks like a serpent.
At 信州岩村田 Iwamurada they also use amulets to ward of the appearance of serpents in spring
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hebi ishi sama, 蛇石 hebi ishi, hebiishi
11 legends to explore
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https://gokurakuparadies.blogspot.com/2020/03/matsuida-fudoji.html
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Legend from Iwate, 釜石町 Kamaishi town
kohebi, shooja 小蛇 small serpent
In the year 1916, three members of a family got sick at the same time. This happened because they had killed a small red snake in their garden.
The serpent had been the master of the nearby riverpool, who wanted the third daughter of the family as his wife. When the daughter died, the other family members got well.
They buried the body of the girl, but the bones soon disappeared.
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https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2020/02/kamaishi-kaido-highway.html
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Legend from Fukushima 福島県
At a hamlet named 浅川 Asakawa a villater became a lung disease and drunk the blood of shimahebi 縞蛇 a striped living snake (Elaphe quadrivirgata).
The lung disease healed, but his child born soon after was a little snake. His wive became crazy and died. They say this was
hebi no tatari 蛇の崇 the curse of the serpent
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https://heianperiodjapan.blogspot.com/2020/01/haibyo-lung-disease-legends.html
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Legend from Aichi
A baby that had been put to sleep in a mountain hut suddenyl begun to cry. When they looked, a serpent had bitten into its right leg. They looked for the serpent, found it outside and killed it. But they feared the serpent might have been yama no nushi 山の主 the master of the mountain, so they built a small Shinto Shrine to venerate it.
Some time later 材木商の職人 a craftsman working for a lumber dealer damaged the painting of a blind serpent in the Shrine. The next day when he went to work people saw ryuu 龍 a dragon above his head. When they looked closer, it was just a piece of fujizuru 藤蔓 wisteria vine. The man died soon after.
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https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2020/05/shokunin-craftsmen-legends.html
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Legend from Iwate 岩手県
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In the year 1877, the teacher of a terakoya 寺子屋 temple school saw the shadow of a young man moving on the sliding doors.
A hebi 蛇 serpent had shape-shifted into the young man to seduce the wife of the teacher priest.
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https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2020/05/takumi-master-craftsman.html
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Legend from Nagano 長野県
木曽郡 Kiso district 上松町 Agematsu town
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hebizuka 蛇塚 stone mound for a serpent
In 萩原の里 the hometown of Hagiwara there was a farmer’s home where three beautiful sisters lived. The youngest sister was especially beautiful and soon had a young lover, who came to her home every night. The other members of the house felt a bit strange about this man. One day they put a cotton thread in a sewing needle and stuck it into his robe. Later they followed the thread to 箱だたみの淵 the Hakotatami river pool. The young man was a serpent living there. The young man never came to the house again. The daughter got pregnant and had a child, which was a young serpent. The girl died soon after that. The family built a stone mound to pray for the serpent.
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https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2020/08/cotton-momen.html
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Legend from Nagano Kita-Azumi district 白馬村 Hakuba village
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. katsura 桂 Japanese Judas tree, Cercidiphyllum japonicum .
katsura no ki かつらの木 Katsura tree
降宮嶺方諏訪神社 Amefurimiyaminekatasuwa Shrine
The deity in resicence at 嶺方雨降宮諏訪社 Minekata amefuri no miya Suwasha is a jatai 蛇体 a serpent.
It had come from Echigo and wondered where to go, until it reached Nagano. At that moment, there was a great light emanating from the Katsura tree.
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https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2020/03/suwa-jinja-legends.html
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Legend from Nagano 南佐久郡 Minami-Saku district
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- - - - - . ujigami 氏神 clan KAMI deities .
In the ground of the Ujigami at 諏訪様 Suwa Shrine there lived once many serpents. The villagers asked the priest of the nearby temple to perform 蛇封じ special rituals to drive out the serpents and read the sutras. After that, the serpents did not appear any more.
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https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2020/03/suwa-jinja-legends.html
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Legend from Niigata, 南魚沼市 Minami-Uonuma city
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a fast change 変化
On the 7th day of April in 1726, the priest in charge of the money of the temple 上田の庄の安養寺 Anyo-Ji in Ueda went through a strange set of changes in one night.
His head looked like a horse, his body looked like a dove with wings, one leg looked human and the other one like that of a bird. His tail looked like a serpent blowing fire. The serpent ate three portions of rice every day.
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https://gokurakuparadies.blogspot.com/2020/09/anyoji-kannon-kagurazaka.html
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Legend from Yamagata
hakuryuu 白竜 Hakuryu, White Dragon
The Waterfall basin Hakuja no Taki 白蛇の滝 the the waterfall of the White Serpent is very deep and maybe has no end.
It is about 4 km long like a tunnel and reaches 最上川 the river Mogamigawa.
If anyone falls in this basin, he will never come back.
The master of this waterfall eventually went to heaven and became a hakuryuu 白竜 white dragon.
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https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2020/03/hakusan-shrine-legends.html
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Legend from Iwate, 遠野 Tono
A story from 附馬牛 Tsukimoushi village.
One day when grandmother was looking after the grandchile in the nearby 観音堂 temple of Kannon, one serpent appeared.
Grandmother killed the serpent.
When she wanted to go to the temple again with the child, it cried every time.
Grandmother asked a diviner for advice.
She was told that the serpent was the mamori honzon 守り本尊 protector deity of this Kannon Bosatsu. She should paint a scroll with the serpent and venerate it at the Kannon Temple.
Soon after the grandchild would accompany her again to the temple.
The temple is Nr. 7 at the seven special Kannon temples in Tono.
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https://gokurakuparadies.blogspot.com/2020/12/mamori-honzon-legends.html
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Legend from Chiba - Kisarazu
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. Mizuchi, Medochi 蛟 water snake Yokai .
Mizuchi ミヅチ is a kind of water snake monster.
Until the Meiji period, people who passes at 山王様の沼 the swamp of Sanno Sama dismounted their horse and payed respect to the deity.
The Masters of the Pond at 吾妻神社 the Azuma Shrine in Kisarazu where two 白蛇 white serpents.
At the beginning of the Meiji period they came to live at the Swamp of Sanno Sama.
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https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2020/03/hiyoshi-shrine-and-sanno-legends.html
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Legend from Okayama, 総社市 Soja city 秦 Hada / 山王様
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In the estate of shooya 庄屋 the village headman there is a sanctuary for 山王様 Sanno Sama.
In former times, a family member had killed 白い蛇 a white serpent and as punishment grandmother became blind.
To atone for the killing, they built the sanctuary.
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https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2020/03/hiyoshi-shrine-and-sanno-legends.html
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Legend from Tottori, 西伯郡 Saihaku District 南部町 Nanbu town
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jatai 蛇体 the body of a serpent
The daughter of a Samurai from Matsue had fallen in love with a priest from 大山寺 the Temple Daisen-Ji.
In her troubles she jumped into Akamatsu no Ike 赤松の池 the "Pond of the Red Pine tree"
and became a serpent.
Since there is now a serpent in the pond, if people throw metal things into it, there will be flooding.
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https://gokurakuparadies.blogspot.com/2022/05/taisanji-yakushi-yahata.html
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Legend from Kumamoto, 阿蘇郡 Aso district
nureonna ヌレオンナ a wet woman
The nure-onna ヌレオンナ a wet woman often appears in the Aso region.
She is a monster with wet hair. She lures people and drinks their blood.
People think it is a middle-aged serpent.
She is often seen at 薬師堂 the Temple Yakushi-Do near the 栃木温泉 Tochigi hot spring.
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https://gokurakuparadies.blogspot.com/2021/09/yakushi-do-hall-legends.html
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大光寺 Daikoji // 岩野薬師 Iwano Yakushi
When 親鸞上人 Saint Shinran passed here, there was a woman
who had turned into a serpent because of envy.
Shinran healed the woman.
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https://gokurakuparadies.blogspot.com/2024/06/daikoji-yakushi-iwano.html
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