Kudan Yokai Legends

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. Japanese legends and tales 伝説 民話 昔話 - Introduction .
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kudan 件 と伝説 Legends about the Kudan Yokai

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The Kudan (件, literally "matter", more creatively translated as
"human-faced bovine")
is a yōkai which became widely known throughout Japan during the first half of the 19th century.
Etymology
The kanji for kudan is composed of two characters: hito (人, "human"), and ushi (牛, "cow" or "bull").
"Like the Kudan"
Throughout Western Japan, the idiom "like the kudan" (件の如し, kudan no gotoshi) began to appear on deeds and official documents. The phrase indicated that "As the prophecy [of the kudan] is always true, so too is the information in this document." However, while the description of the kudan did not appear until the late Edo Period, the idiom "like the kudan" has been documented since the Heian period. It appears on page 128 of the early 11th century book The Pillow Book. For this reason, the relationship between the phrase "like the kudan" and the yōkai is considered an anachronistic one.
Appearance
Traditionally, the kudan is depicted as having the head of a human and the body of a bovine. Subsequent depictions have occasionally switched these elements and placed the head of a bovine onto the body of a human similar to a Minotaur.
Ushi-onna
During the period of post war reconstruction which followed World War II, another rumour similar to that of the kudan started to appear. Instead of a human-faced bovine, the creature spoken of was a kimono-wearing woman with a cow's face, referred to as ushi-onna (牛女, lit. "cow woman").
Interpretation
The most widespread interpretation of the kudan comes from the Edo period, in which it is described as a creature which—despite being born from a cow—has the ability to use human speech. The creatures invariably die just a few short days after their birth,[3] yet in that time they are said to coincide with some major event. Sometimes these events bring various misfortunes such as poor crop harvest, natural disasters, or sickness, only for the kudan to die when the event has come to pass.
They are also said to issue prophecies of things to come. These prophecies typically depict bleak happenings such as war. A kudan was rumoured to have predicted Japan's defeat during World War II. Despite this, pictures and talismans of the kudan are still seen as good luck charms due to their association with honesty.
- Historical appearances
- Media appearances
- Video games
- source : wikipedia -

. ushi oni, ushioni, gyuuki 牛鬼 "bull-demon" .
Gyuki ギュウキ, Goki ゴキ / Kudan 件 クダン

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Kudans - Japanese belief in cow-human hybrids
In Japan, there is a centuries-old belief that rare hybridization between human beings and cows occurs. These animals, known as kudans, are supposedly short-lived and infallible seers — they are born, speak their prophecies and promptly die.
Such trust is placed in these purported prophecies that related sayings have entered the language, such as “honest as a kudan.” And people widely wear, or at least have worn in the past, pictures of supposed kudans as amulets, with the idea that they provide a tutelary function.
..... During World War II a kudan was supposed to have been born in Kyoto and in its prophecy it predicted that people that ate beans and rice within a certain time period would survive the bombings. Needless to say, consumption of those two foods promptly skyrocketed. .....
- source : macroevolution.net/kudans... -


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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures :


......................................................................................... Okayama 岡山県
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八束 Yatsuka willage 中和村 Chukason village

. Kudan predicting war, harvest and an epidemic .


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- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -
90 件 to collect

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. Kaido highway legends 街道と伝説 - - ABC list .

. 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 -

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