Echo - Kodama

Spirits that reside in trees. Also refers to the reverberation of mountains. The belief that spirits reside in trees was widely held by many peoples. The same is true in Japan, where the Engishiki contains an article about worshiping the spirits of trees and mountain gods when trees were cut down to build ships for Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty. In the Tale of Genji and Tsurezuregusa, they are described as being like monsters. The monster called Kijimono in Okinawa also means a tree spirit, a child-like demon that makes its home in an old tree, and there are many stories about people who became close to it being blessed with good fishing luck and becoming wealthy. Even the spirits of trees in the mountains are related to fishing in the sea to make materials for ships, and we can see the process by which spiritual things become monsters. The echo of the mountain's reverberation is thought to be the sound of the sound hitting the mountain and returning, and the spirit of the mountain responding. They are called yamabiko (echoes of the mountains), yamabiki (echoes of the mountains), yamanaki (rumbles of the mountains), and it is said that mountain gods, mountain men, tengu (long-nosed goblins), and contrarian demons imitate humans. Physical phenomena were perceived as supernatural phenomena.

[Shoji Inoguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

樹木に宿る精霊。また転じて山の反響をいう。樹木に精霊の宿ることは、広く諸民族に信じられていた。日本でも同様で、『延喜式(えんぎしき)』には、遣唐使船をつくるための樹木を伐採するとき、木霊ならびに山の神を祭ったという記事がある。『源氏物語』や『徒然草(つれづれぐさ)』では妖怪(ようかい)ふうのもののように記されている。沖縄でキジモノといわれる妖怪も木の精の意で、古木をすみかにした童形の魔物で、これと親しくなると漁運に恵まれ、富み栄えたという話が多い。山の樹木の霊であっても、船材にするため海の漁と関連するのであり、また霊的なものが妖怪化する過程をみることができる。山の反響の谺(こだま)は、音声が山に当たって返ってくるのを、山の霊がこたえるのだと考えたものである。山彦(やまびこ)、山響き、山鳴りなどといい、山の神、山男、天狗(てんぐ)、天邪鬼(あまのじゃく)などが人まねをするともいう。物理現象を怪異現象のように受け止めていたのである。

［井之口章次］

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