Umibōzu

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Umibōzu (Japanese: 海坊主 sea bonze) is a spirit in Japanese mythology. The Umibōzu is said to live in the ocean and capsize the ship of anyone who dares speak to it. This spirit's name, which combines the character for "sea" with the character of "Buddhist monk," is possibly related to the fact that the Umibōzu is said to have a large, round head, resembling the shaven heads of Buddhist monks. Alternatively they are enormous Yokai (spectres) that appear to shipwreck victims and fishermen. They are believed to be drowned priests, and exhibit the shaven head and typically appears to be praying. It is usually reported as having a grey, cloud-like torso and serpentine limbs.

According to one legend, if angered, they ask that the crews provide a barrel that it proceeds to fill with sea water to drown them. To avoid this disastrous fate, it is necessary to give him a bottomless barrel.

This Umibōzu myth is likely related to another Japanese myth, which says that the souls of people who have no one to look after their graves take refuge at sea.

[edit] Umibōzu in literature and media

The umibōzu is a very well know youkai as it is also recognized in modern Japanese culture. Examples:

Shigeru Mizuki's popular manga series Gegege no Kitaro features an umibōzu in its cast.
A character in the manga/anime City Hunter is nicknamed Umibōzu. He is a large muscle-bound hitman and his bald head is what earned him the nickname of Umibōzu.
In a filler arc of the anime Naruto a man who is an accomplice of Orochimaru named Amachi summoned a creature known as Umibozu which is a monster made up of water, with a grey outline as a body, sometimes used to help sink ships traveling from the Sea Country to the Water Country.
Umi Bōzu is Monster in My Pocket #118.
Umibozu is the name of an elite special forces in the anime Ghost in the Shell.

[edit] See also

Sea monk

[edit] References

Allardice, Pamela. Myths, Gods, and Fantasy: A Sourcebook. Dorset: Prism Press, 1991. p. 209.
Suzuki, Setsuko (Ed.) (1996). 英語で話す「日本の心」Keys to the Japanese Heart and Soul. Kodansha International. ISBN 4-7700-2082-1.
The Obakemono Project

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