Bakeneko
The Bakeneko ( Japanese 化 け 猫 'monster cat', 'cat monster'), more rarely called Kaibyō (Japanese 怪 猫 'ghost cat'), is a creature of Japanese folk beliefs. She is a cat demon from the group of Yōkai and is considered a relative of the Nekomata ("forked cat"). Bakenekos are described as malicious and, like the Nekomata, are considered the counterpart to the lucky Maneki-neko ("beckoning cat").
description
The Japanese folklore According to Bakenekos develop from simple domestic cats when they reach an unusually old age (usually older than thirteen years) or become obese. Bakenekos should also be able to arise when they lick the blood of their just murdered owner. In any case, they will grow larger than a domestic dog and will soon hunt down the residents as they now prefer human flesh. According to legend , a Bakeneko has strong, black magic powers, especially in the area of necromancy : A Bakeneko can control the corpse of a recently deceased like a puppet and then commit crimes for them. But it can also imitate the figure of the deceased if it jumps over the dying person exactly at the moment of passing. It is also said that some nekomata can summon Hitodama .
Lore
A very well-known story tells of a young man named Tasaku Genbei , whose elderly mother begins to behave strangely one day: Contrary to all previous habits, she withdraws completely, avoids all company and only eats alone and in closed rooms. At the same time, the domestic cat loved by everyone disappears without a trace. One evening Tasaku manages to peek through a crack in the door of his mother's room when she is supposedly eating her meal. But it's not the mother sitting on her bed, but a huge cat monster that had thrown on its mother's clothes and is now chewing on putrid animal carcasses . In horror, Tasaku draws his sword and beheads the monster. It instantly transforms itself back into the - now dead - missing house cat. The family and servants search the house and finally find the neatly gnawed bones of their beloved mother under loose floorboards .
Bakeneko in modern entertainment culture
Bakenekos are a popular motif in modern horror films , for example in "The Ghost Cat of Otama Pond" and "Kuroneko" . There they correspond to the modern type of the “vengeful cat woman” and go back to the old popular belief that young kittens' tails must be docked because otherwise they would eventually become Bakenekos or Nekomatas. In the films, Bakenekos are described as beautiful and provocative women who reveal their demonic cat form as soon as a male victim falls on them.
Similar to nekomatas and tanuki , bakenekos are a common motif in Japanese kabuki and bunraku theater . There they are traditionally depicted in female form and represent the spiritual link between feminism , form change and death .
See also
literature
- Patrick Drazen: A Gathering of Spirits: Japan's Ghost Story Tradition: from Folklore and Kabuki to Anime and Manga . iUniverse, New York 2011, ISBN 1-4620-2942-6 .
- Michaela Haustein: Mythologies of the World: Japan, Ainu, Korea . epubli, Berlin 2011, ISBN 3-8442-1407-0 .
- Colette Balmain: Introduction to Japanese Horror Film . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh (UK) 2008, ISBN 0-7486-2475-9 .
- Jeremy Roberts: Japanese Mythology A to Z . Infobase Publishing, New York 2009 (2nd Edition), ISBN 1-4381-2802-9 .
Web links
- Internet article about Nekomata at obakemono.com (English)
- Lexicon of the Yōkai, section "Bakeneko" (Japanese)