Giant Legend

Japanese: 巨人伝説 - きょじんでんせつ

This is a legend about an abnormally large man with a humorous quality. Most of the stories are about ponds and depressions being his footprints, or about soil spilling over during transportation and forming a mountain. This legend is scattered all over the country, and many of them have the name Daitarabochi (Daitahoshi) in eastern Japan, or Oohitoyagoro (Otona no Yagoro) in Kyushu. Other names that can be seen include Daitarabo, Dirabocha, Dirabo, Dendenbome, and Tadabo. Yanagita Kunio claims that "tara" was a title given to nobles. There is also a theory that it is related to tatara and is a spread of blacksmiths.

The name Daita in Setagaya, Tokyo, comes from the legend of Daitarabochi. Until recently, there was a long, narrow depression of about 2 tanbo near Daita Yakushi, which was said to be Daitarabochi's footprint and that he built Daita Bridge. In the grounds of Tenaga Shrine in Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture, there are several puddles of about 1 tanbo each, which are said to be Daitarabochi's footprints. In Yamanashi Prefecture, a monk named Reirabochi tried to carry two mountains with a hemp husk pole, but the pole broke and Ishimoriyama was formed. Because of this, planting hemp in Higashiyamanashi County is still considered bad luck. Mount Haguro, located north of Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture, is the mountain that was dropped by a giant named Dendenbome, who sat here and washed his feet in the Kinu River. Akanuma in Tano District, Gunma Prefecture, is the footprint of Daitarabocchi when he sat down on Mount Akagi and pushed himself hard. In the Obama area of Unzen City, Nagasaki Prefecture, it is said that a large man named Misogoro sat on Mount Unzen, placed his right foot on Mount Tara and his left foot on Amakusa, and washed his face in the Ariake Sea, and when he did so, the soil from his hoe fell and formed Yushima. According to the Matsuya Hikki, Oonuma in Sagami Plain is the footprint of Daitarabocchi when he pushed himself hard to carry Mount Fuji on his back, and the reason there are no wisteria in the vicinity is because he picked too many to make a rope for carrying it. According to a Shiga Prefecture legend recorded in "Kidan Issho," long ago, Daitai-hoshi dug up the entire Yoshitsumi district, put it in a pit, and walked three and a half steps eastward, throwing out the soil inside. The pit became Lake Biwa, and the dumped soil became Mount Fuji. There is a legendary old tale called "Hitomokkoyama." This is also a legend that tells of a Tengu or a giant who was working in the middle of the night when the rooster crowed, meaning time was up, and the work he left behind became a mountain.

There are many legends about giants in Japanese mythology. The story of the birth of the two gods Izanagi and Izanami on the eight islands of Oyashima, which appears in the Kojiki, and the myth of Oonamuchi no Kami (Okuninushi no Kami) pulling the land of Izumo, are of this type. The great ancestor god, Amanchu (meaning a heavenly being), of Okinawa, carried the sun and the moon on a pole. In addition, various giants appear in the Hitachi no Kuni Fudoki, the Harima no Kuni Fudoki, and the Izumo no Kuni Fudoki, and as can be seen from these examples, gods were considered to be very large in ancient times. It was because gods were large that the creation of the heavens and the earth and the surrounding topography could have been established. As faith in the gods declined, this reverence for the gods gradually became a laughing matter and was transformed into demons, tengu, or daitarabocchi.

In addition, the Buddha's Foot Stone in Buddhist faith is also a kind of giant legend, and in Sri Lanka it is called Sri (shining) Pata (Buddha's foot) and is the object of passionate worship. It is not surprising that Amida Tathagata and Shaka Tathagata, who lead those who have passed away to paradise, have been perceived as enormous giants compared to small humans.

[Shogo Watanabe]

foreign country

Like in Japan, there are also Korean legends about giants secondary processing of the earth. It is said that a giant ate soil and had diarrhea, which accumulated to become Mt. Paektu, and his urine became the Yalu River and the Tumen River. In China, in the ancient creation myth, there is a legend about Pangu, a giant born from the primordial universe shaped like a chicken egg. As Pangu grew taller, the heavens and the earth were separated, and from his corpse, everything was born, including wind, clouds, thunder, rain, sun, moon, mountains, rivers, plants, and rocks. The Bulan people living in Yunnan also have a story about Gumeya, a giant god who created the heavens and the earth. Like Pangu, there are also stories of primordial giants in Europe. In the ancient creation myth of Iceland, there is Ymir, the first being to appear in human form. Ymir was killed by Odin, the grandson of Puri, the ancestor of the gods, who appeared later, and from his corpse the seas, lakes, earth, mountains, rocks, sky, clouds, and so on were born. The early man Purusha, who appears in the ancient Indian Rig Veda, also took the form of a giant, from whose body the heavens, earth, sun, moon, livestock, and all classes of human beings were born. In ancient Greek mythology, the giant Atlas, who was said to hold up the sky, was turned into stone, and the Atlas Mountains are probably a transformation of a similar myth. In modern times, Atlas is depicted as carrying the earth on his back, but the idea of giants holding up the earth can be found in stories such as the story of Uperil, a giant of the Hattians of the ancient Orient, as well as in Asia, North and South America.

[Yo Kojima]

"The Footprints of Daitarabo" (included in "The Complete Collection of Yanagita Kunio Vol. 5", 1964, Chikuma Shobo)

[Reference] | Adult Yagoro

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

滑稽(こっけい)味を備えた異常なほどの巨漢にかかわる伝説。池や窪(くぼ)みはその足跡であるとしたり、運ぶ途中の土がこぼれて山となったなどのたぐいがほとんどである。この伝説は全国的に散在し、東日本のダイタラボッチ（大太法師）や、九州地方のオオヒトヤゴロウ（大人弥五郎）の名をもつものが多い。このほかには、ダイタラボー、ディラボッチャ、ディラボー、デンデンボメ、タダ坊などの名がみられる。柳田国男(やなぎたくにお)は「タラ」を貴人の呼称と主張。また、タタラと関連させて鍛冶(かじ)屋の伝播(でんぱ)とする説もある。

　東京都世田谷区代田(だいた)の地名はダイタラボッチの伝説に由来する。つい最近まで代田薬師の付近に2反歩ほどの細長い窪地があったが、それはダイタラボッチの足跡であり、代田橋は彼が架けたと言い伝えられてきた。長野県諏訪(すわ)市の手長神社境内には1反歩ほどの水溜(たま)りが数か所あり、ディラボッチの足跡と伝えられる。山梨県では、レイラボッチなる坊主が麻殻(おがら)の棒で二つの山を運ぼうとしたが、棒が折れて石森山ができた。そのために、東山梨郡ではいまでも麻を植えると縁起が悪いとされている。栃木県宇都宮市の北方にある羽黒山は、デンデンボメという巨人の落としていった山で、彼はここに腰かけて鬼怒(きぬ)川で足を洗った。群馬県多野(たの)郡の赤沼は、ダイタラボッチが赤城(あかぎ)山に腰をおろしてふんばったための足跡。長崎県雲仙(うんぜん)市小浜地方では、味噌(みそ)五郎という大男が雲仙岳に腰かけて、右足を多良(たら)岳に、左足を天草に置いて有明海で顔を洗ったが、そのとき鍬(くわ)の土が落ちて湯島ができたと伝える。『松屋筆記(まつやひっき)』によれば、相模野(さがみの)の大沼は、その昔にダイタラボッチが富士山を背負おうとふんばった足跡であり、この近辺に藤(ふじ)がないのは、彼が背負い縄にするためとりすぎたからである。『奇談一笑』に記される滋賀県の伝承では、その昔大太法師が善積(よしつみ)郡をことごとく掘ってもっこに入れ東へ3歩半歩いて中の土をほうり出した。それで、掘り跡が琵琶(びわ)湖に、ほうり出した土が富士山になった。伝説的な昔話に「一畚(ひともっこ)山」というのがある。これも、天狗(てんぐ)とか大男が夜中に作業をしているうち鶏が鳴いて時間切れとなり、残した仕事が山となったという伝承である。

　神話にも巨人伝説は多い。『古事記』に登場する伊邪那岐(いざなぎ)・伊邪那美(いざなみ)二神の大八洲(おおやしま)誕生譚(たん)や、大己貴神(おおなむちのかみ)（大国主(おおくにぬし)神）出雲(いずも)の国引き神話はこの類である。大始祖神である沖縄のアマンチュウ（天人の意）は日月を天秤棒(てんびんぼう)で担ぎ回った。このほか『常陸国風土記(ひたちのくにふどき)』『播磨(はりま)国風土記』『出雲国風土記』などにさまざまの巨人が登場するが、これらの例でも理解できるように、古く神は非常に大きな姿と考えられていたのである。神が大きな存在であったからこそ、天地創造または近郊の地勢も成立しえた。その神々への尊畏(そんい)観が、信仰の零落とともに、しだいに笑話化し、鬼や天狗、またはダイタラボッチへと変質したのであろう。

　なお、仏教信仰における仏足石も巨人伝説の一種であり、スリランカではスリ（光り輝く）パタ（仏の足）といい熱い信仰の対象となっている。小さな人間に比べて、往生人(おうじょうびと)を極楽へ導く阿弥陀如来(あみだにょらい)や釈迦(しゃか)如来が途方もない巨人としてとらえられてきたとしても、少しも不思議はあるまい。

［渡邊昭五］

外国

日本のように、大地の二次的加工を巨人がしたという伝説は、朝鮮にもある。巨人が土を食べて下痢をし、それが積もって白頭山になり、小便が鴨緑江(おうりょくこう)と豆満江(とまんこう)になったなどという。中国には、古代の天地創造神話に、鶏の卵のような形をした原初の宇宙の中から生まれた巨人の盤古(ばんこ)の伝説がある。盤古の背丈が伸びるにしたがって天と地が分かれ、盤古の死体から、風、雲、雷、雨、太陽、月、山、川、草木、岩石など、すべてのものが生じたという。雲南省に住むプーラン族にも、天地の創造をする巨人の神グメイヤの物語がある。盤古と同じく、原初の巨人の伝えはヨーロッパにもある。アイスランドの古伝の創世神話には、人間の姿をした最初のものとして現れるイミルがある。イミルはのちに出現した神々の祖プーリの孫のオーディンたちによって殺され、その死体から、海と湖、大地、山、岩石、天空、雲などが生じたという。古代インドの『リグ・ベーダ』にみえる原人プルシャも巨人の姿をとっており、その体から、天地、日月をはじめ、家畜や各階層の人間が生まれている。古代ギリシアの神話で、天空を支えているという巨人のアトラスが石に変えられたのがアトラス山脈であるというのも、同類の神話が転化したものであろう。近世、アトラスは地球を背負った姿で描かれているが、巨人が大地を支えているという伝えは、古代オリエントのハッティ人の巨人ウペリルの話をはじめ、アジア、南北アメリカなどにもある。

［小島瓔］

『「ダイタラ坊の足跡」（『定本柳田国男集5』所収・1964・筑摩書房）』

[参照項目] | 大人弥五郎

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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