Legend of the Bowl Loan

Japanese: 椀貸伝説 - わんかしでんせつ

This legend is widespread throughout Japan, and it is said that if you ask for a bowl at a pond, swamp, mound, cave, etc., they will lend you one. It is said that the bowls are lent by the owners of the pond, swamp, cave, etc., such as a mountain witch, a giant snake, a fox, or a kappa. There is also a story that there was a misguided person who borrowed a bowl and did not return it, and was no longer able to borrow bowls from that time on. There are two theories about the origin of this legend: one is that it is a tale based on the history of silent trade with bowl-making craftsmen called kijiya, and the other is that it was born from an attempt to explain the mystery of the excavation of earthenware.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

池，沼，塚，洞穴などで膳椀を頼めば貸してくれるとする伝説。全国に広く分布している。椀を貸してくれるのは池か沼，洞穴などの主である山姥 (やまうば) ，大蛇，きつね，河童 (かっぱ) などといわれており，また，不心得者がいて，借りた椀を返さなかったため，以後貸してもらえなくなったという話がついている。この伝説の由来については，木地屋 (きじや) と呼ばれた椀作りの工人との沈黙交易の歴史が説話化されたとする説と，土器の出土の謎を説明しようとするところから生れたとする説の2つがある。

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