Have you ever heard about Japanese mythology? It would be interesting to imagine what people in the past handed down from generation to generation. Let’s imagine the mythical world!
天狗[tengu] is one kind of supernatural creature which is often found in traditional Japanese folklore. Like 河童[kappa], Tengu is also fabled or said to be an unidentified mysterious creature which lives on mount or valley of Japan.
Many people in old times living in the countryside believed in mountain worship from ancient times and Tengu which was said to inhabit in the mountains as their sacred mountains. The folklore about Tengu tells us how deeply people used to worship the god of mountains.
One of the well-known folklore would be 鞍馬天狗 [Kurama tengu] living at Mt. Kuramayama in Kyoto which was said to have taught Kenjutsu, the arts of swordsmanship to Ushiwakamaru. Ushiwakamaru is Minamoto no Yoshitsune’s childhood name. The tengu had a red face and a high nose and was called 大天狗 [Ootengu or Daitengu] which posessed strong divine powers. The similar type of Ootengu (or Daitengu) also appeared in Gifu Prefecture for example.
In Aichi Prefecture, the folklore says that the Tengu changed in various sizes and finally children stepped on it. The similar folklore also exists in Yamagata, Yamanashi, Nara, Gunma Prefectures and so on.
In Fukushima Prefecture, at night, sound of an ax echoed from the forest, and then sound of fall of large tree echoed. It was called 天狗の木倒し, Tengu no Ki Taoshi or Tengudaoshi. (木 [ki] means tree.) The similar folklore about this strange phenomenon also exists in at least Yamanashi Prefecture and Shikoku region, such as Kouchi and Tokushima Prefectures. In Niigata Prefecture, at midnight, sound of loud laughter of Tengu echoed from the remote mountains. This strange phenomenon is called 天狗の高笑い, Tengu no Taka warai. (笑い [warai] means laughter.)
In Kagawa, Shizuoka Prefecture and so on, whenever the children were missing, people said that the god of the mountains or the Tengu took them away and people made every effort to find them beating gongs or drums. In northern Akita Prefecture, for example, people feared when they played hide‐and‐seek until dusk, they might be spirited away.
Tengu varies in type and appearance because of a variety of their history and folklore. However, Tengu was historically the embodiment of conceit and was considered a devil to the interference of Buddhist practice. It was assumed that Tengu would have their own realm away from the six realms of Buddhist practice and could not reach the land of Perfect Bliss. Tengu was assumed to have learned Buddhism so that they would not fall into the hell. So, the situation was interpreted as 無間地獄 [Mugen jigoku], Avici Hell or Infinitive Hell.
If you say “天狗になる” [Tengu ni naru], then it means to get a bighead or to be conceited. Literally it means to become Tengu. In addition, if you say “鼻が高い” [Hana ga takai], then it implies you are proud of something/someone. It is because Tengu’s nose is high. (鼻 [hana] means nose and 高い [takai] means high.)
Mingle Internationally Japanese Communication (MIJC) 