. Japanese legends and tales 伝説 民話 昔話 - Introduction .
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Oosuke, ōsuke, Daisuke 鮭の大助 / 鮭の大介 legends about the salmon king
Sake no Oosuke サケの大助（おおすけ) - The BIG one, サケの王様
shake no daisuke 鮭の大介 (しゃけのおおすけ) (shake is generally used for the salmon as food)
. sake 鮭 legends about the salmon .
- Introduction -
Salmon pair called 大助 Osuke (or Daisuke) and 小助 Kosuke, “big one” and “little one.
These are common names in the Tohoku region of Japan.
Especially in the 15th day of the 11th lunar month the local fishermen have to take a day off in ritual respect for the animals. They take away the salmon catching traps and nets and open the river for the fish to pass upstream for reproduction.
The Salmon King Osuke with his wife Kosuke come up the river and call
「鮭の大助今のぼるぞー」. 「鮭の大助今通る」 「鮭の大助今のぼる」Osuke is now going upriver!
Osuke Kosuke ima noboru 「大助こうすけ今登る」"Here we come up, Osuke and Kosuke!"
Whoever hears this call is going to die or have ill fortune, so there are various taboos in the region.
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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures :
.................................................................. Iwate 岩手県 ....................................................................
最上郡 Mogami
鮭の大助 (サケノダイスケ) Daisuke
Once upon a time, the King of Salmons came up the Sakegawa 鮭川 Salmon River.
Now he calls out
Daisuke Kosuke nobore 「大助・小助・大助・小助」「大助のぼれ、小助のぼれ」on his way.
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陸前高田市 Rikuzen Takata, Rikuzentakata
A tale of the Hanawa family 旧家羽縄(ハナワ)家
The family kept many cows but every year a 巨鷲 huge eagle came by and snatched away a cow.
They wanted to kill the hawk. The head of the Hanawa family disguised himself in the skin of a cow and waited. The hawk came down, grabbed him and flew him to an uninhabited island near the coast 玄界灘の孤島 into the branches of 老杉 an old cedar tree.
The man did not know how to escape from the island and was quite scared. There an old man appeared.
"I am the Salmon King Daisuke, head of a large family of salmons. Every year our family comes to the river 気仙の今泉川 Imaizumigawa on the 20th day of the 10th lunar month, going upstream to lay eggs and multiply.
Since you usually let us pass, I will now help you!"
The man from the Hanawa family could thus go home safely.
Since then the head of the Hanawa family goes down to the river mouth, makes an offering of Sake and takes away the fishing nets, to provide an easy access for the salmon to go upstream.
And all members of the Hanawa family never eat a bite of salmon.
Shake no Daisuke 鮭の大介 (しゃけのおおすけ)
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Takekoma
"A beautiful girl ... was snatched by an eagle and dropped into the depths of an eagle. Out of the water, there appeared an old man who carried her home. He was a salmon in disguise. The girl married the salmon and their descendants never eat the salmon ...
A variant of this tale tells that it was not a girl but a man who was carried away by an eagle. And the old man who brought his home from a small island off Kyushu to Iwate was none other than Sake no Osuke, Big Salmon."
(in other versions, it was a hawk, not an eagle)
.................................................................. Niigata 新潟県 ....................................................................
The masters [master & mistress] of the river were a conjugal salmon couple, called Osuke (Big Salmon) and Kosuke (Small Salmon).
... On that eve, Osuke appeared in his dream as a white-haired old man and asked for mercy."
Soojin Gyorui Monogatari,
"the battle between the Vegetable Foodstuffs and Fish ones", a 16th century Chr.E. parody of a historical struggle between clans in the 12th century Chr.E.]
"the supreme commander of the fish army is none other than Sake no Osuke Hirenaga or Big Salmon with Long Fin, resident of Echigo Province, which is the present Niigata prefecture. Osuke ruled all the rivers flowing northwards."
{cf. the parody True History by Lucinus, battle "with the Stockfish under a general called Slimer on the right, the Tunnyheads on the left" (TH)}
.................................................................. Yamagata 山形県 ....................................................................
sake no oosuke 鮭の大助 (サケノオオスケ) the salmon called Osuke
On the 15th day of the 11th lunar month people pound mochi 餅をつく rice cakes with a lot of noise, because Sake no Osuke is on his way upstream the Mamurogawa river.
"If a human happened to hear the cry of the salmon masters, he would die on the spot. Therefore the people pounded rice, making much noise, and kept to the house, in order not to hear it".
Now it was a widespread custom in Japan for somebody to close his ears with two rice cakes when he heard of the death of a friend of a same age. Thus he pretended not to hear the bad news, and wanted to ward off possible ominous effects on himself."
Women had to stay in their homes and men were also forbidden to see the salmon.
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oosuke and koosuke オースケコースケ Osuke and Kosuke
On the 15th day of the 11th lunar month the fisherman collect their tools to catch salmon and store them.
The King of Salmons comes upriver, calling
オースケコースケ今上る Osuke Kosuke ima noboru.
Anyone who hears this voice will die immediately.
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taka 鷹 hawk
A man who was captured by a taka 鷹 hawk and taken deep into the mountain forest wa lucky on the 7th day of the 11th month. The King of Salmons, in the form of an old man, came to his rescue, taking him on his back on the way downstream.
Now people beat the drums on the riverside so as not to hear the voice of the Salmon King and be stuck with bad luck.
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金山町 Mogami, Kaneyama
There are variuos taboos in the fishing village about
鮭の大助 サケノオオスケ Osuke
On the 15th day of the 10th lunar month
Osuke is sometimes calling, but whoever hears his voice has to die within 3 years.
So people stay inside and drink a lot of sake and make noise.
On the 15th day of the 11th lunar month
there is the call 「鮭の大助今のぼる」
If anyone hears this call he will have bad fortune and especially children will get a sickness of the ears or even turn deaf.
And whoever hears his voice has to die within 3 years. So people stay inside and make noise.
On the 15th day of the 12th lunar month
鮭の大助今のぼる」, whoever hears his voice will have bad fortune.
On the 15th day of the first lunar month
Sometimes the Salmon King calls late at night
「大助今通る」to bring bad fortune, so children are put to bed early.
On the 16th day of the first lunar month
The Salmon King calls
「鮭の大助今通る」, so people go to bed early as not to hear him.
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東田川郡 Higashitagawa
鮭の大助 (サケノオオスケ) Osuke
On the 15th day of the 11th lunar month, the souls of the fish are coming upriver, calling
「大助こうすけ今登る」"Here we come up, Osuke and Kosuke!".
Anyone who hears their voice will die within 3 days.
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新庄市 Shonai
サケノダイスケ Daisuke
On the night of the 11th day of the 11th lunar month, the salmon fishing comes to an end at the river 最上川 Mogamigawa. On this night there is a ritual at the river, but people should not talk that night.
If anyone sees Daisuke the Salmon going upriver, he will get ill.
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Osuke, the Fish
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- quote -
... we have a pair of salmon named Osuke and Kosuke (“bigger and smaller man”).
They are said to run upriver crying loud in human language, thus letting know of their yearly return.
These brother pairs in Japanese cases can be compared with American parallels.
Twin heroes in South American mythology are often hunters or are culture heroes who created game and fish for the mankind (Métraux 1946). Northwest Coast peoples have connected twin brothers or siblings with salmons in their customs and myths (Obayashi 1990). It is known that in many cultures twins have been associated with animal parents or deified with the riomorphic characters (Harris 1913, Sternberg 1916, Lagercrantz 1942). This would suggest that brother pairs and twin brothers partly reflect the worldview of hunting and fishing societies where humans and animals were considered nearer with each other.
- source : comparative mythology - buoneverita
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Sake no Osuke 「さけのおおすけ」- - 水谷章三・佐川美代太郎
Tale 01
むかし、小国郷（おぐにごう：現最上町）に八右衛門（やえもん）という牛方（うしかた）と漁師を兼業している男があった。五月節句（せっく）は牛馬を休ませる日であったから、八右衛門は牛を川に連れていって洗っていたところ、いきなりワシが彼をさらっていった。
海を越えてついたところが佐渡ケ島（さどがしま）の岩鼻であった。そこで八右衛門はワシの親子を腰の山刀（やまがたな）で切り殺してしまった。さて仇（かたき）をとったものの、どうして帰ってよいか困ってしまった。岸辺に泳いでいた魚が「俺たちの親方、鮭の大助は毎年10月のエビス講（えびすこう）の日になると、最上川（もがみがわ）へのぼっていくから、その時、頼んで乗せてもらったらどうか」と教えてくれた。そこで八右衛門はエビス講の前日、岸辺に立って鮭の大助に最上川の支流小国川にある小国郷まで乗せていってもらいたいとたのんだ。
鮭の大助は「おまえが簗掛け（やなかけ：サケをとるためのシカケをする人）八右衛門か。いつも俺たちの魚を簗（やな：捕獲のシカケ）にかけてとる憎い奴」と怒るのであった。
「これから以後、鮭とりはいっさいしませんから、どうか助けてくれ」と八右衛門はあやまって、大助の背に乗せてもらった。
佐渡ケ島を朝たって、それから酒田港（さかたみなと）に行き、そこから最上川をさかのぼると、ちょうどエビス講の夜になっていた。八右衛門は「鮭の大助、今のぼる」と大声で叫びながら、ようやく小国郷に帰りつくことができたという。
Tale 02
サケの大助（おおすけ）というのは、サケの王様という意味です。
サケの王様が帰ってくる日、村人たちは、川にしかけたサケドメ（鮭留：サケをとるシカケ）を開いて、サケを上流にのぼれるようにしてやり、サケが根こそぎ捕獲されることを防ぎました。結果的にこのことは、サケ資源を再生し、毎年豊かなサケの到来を村々にもたらすことになったのです。
「サケのおおすけ」の民話は、サケの王様が産卵のために帰ってくる日には、漁を休み、これを破るものは、不幸になるという「いましめ」になっています。
Legends from Yamagata
山形県：最上小国川沿岸での言い伝え
At river Ogunigawa 小国川（おぐにがわ）の人々は「鮭の大助、今のぼる」の叫び声を聞くと、よくないことが必ず怒るといわれています。そのため、人々はその声を聞かないように、酒盛りをして騒いだり、「耳ふさぎもち」をついたりしました。
また、その夜は、簗（やな）や張り縄（はりなわ）の片方をあけて、サケの遡上（そじょう）を助けてやり、サケ漁はいっさいしないことになっています。
山形県：最上郡真室川町安楽城（あらぎ）の言い伝え
旧暦の10月15日の大日様（だいにちさま）の祭りには、首に注連縄（しめなわ）をつけたサケがのぼってくるので、村人たちは10日ごろから河辺に行かないようにしています。この祭りがすまないうちは、サケをとってはならないと決められています。
山形県：寒河江川（さがえがわ）の言い伝え
旧暦の10月20日の夜、サケの大助が、川魚の数を数えながら出羽包丁をかざして、地蔵様参りに寒河江川（さがえがわ）をのぼってきます。「鮭の大助、今通る」という叫び声を聞いたり、あるいは姿を見たりすると急死するので、その夜は早く寝るように言われています。またサケ漁はその夜以後にするようにいましめられています。
山形県：最上川下流の庄内平野や新庄盆地において
この地方では旧暦11月15日（現在では12月15日）にはサケ漁を休むことになっています。なぜなら、その日は今まで捕獲されたサケの精霊が「鮭の大助、今のぼる」といって川をのぼるからです。その声を聞いたものは3日以内に死んでしまうという。その声を聞かぬようにと耳ふさぎもちを食べ、太鼓をたたいて酒を飲むなどにぎやかに騒いだものだそうです。
- source : maruha-nichiro.co.jp/salmon/kids -
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鮭の大助（さけのおおすけ）Sake no Oosuke, Osuke
は、東北地方を中心とする東日本に伝わる怪魚。鮭の大介とも表記する（読みは同じ）。
His wife is Kosuke 妻の小助（こすけ）.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !
yokai database 妖怪データベース － reference
- source : www.nichibun.ac.jp -
source : North_Western_Pacific.htm
- reference : salmon osuke japan -
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. Japanese legends and tales 伝説 民話 昔話 - Introduction .
- Yookai 妖怪 Yokai Monsters of Japan -
- Introduction -
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