Cameosa
The Kameosa ( Japanese 瓶 長 , to dt. "Long Jug") is a fictional being that was invented by Toriyama Sekien in his work Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro and has found its way into the Japanese popular belief . He belongs to the group of yōkai and is usually considered to be well-disposed towards humans.
description
The cameosa is shaped like a jug that is constantly filled with sake . Its size can vary, it depends on the object owned. A grumpy, often sullen-looking face appears on the front of the jug, on the sides in some depictions there are hairy arms and hands. The cameosa can walk on two legs.
background
The being Kameosa belongs to a special group of yōkai, the tsukumogami ( 付 喪 神 , dt. "Artifact spirits"): According to Japanese popular belief, household appliances and musical instruments of all kinds can turn into yōkai after 100 years because they too are one Own soul. Kameosa also develop a life of their own when they make their “100. Birthday ”. However, unlike other tsukumogami, they only wake up if they have been used for a long time and extensively and are treated with respect and carefully cared for even after they have become yōkai. They thank their owner for this with a literally inexhaustible supply: No matter how often the owner drinks or scoops from it, the cameosa never goes empty. However, if the cameosa is neglected, it becomes a lifeless, simple jug again.
literature
- Richard Freeman: The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia: The AZ of Japanese Monsters. CFZ Press, Myrtle Cottage / Bideford 2010, ISBN 978-1-905723-54-6 , p. 149.
- Michaela Haustein: Mythologies of the World: Japan, Ainu, Korea . ePubli, Berlin 2011, ISBN 3844214070 , pp. 34 & 53.