Kunekune (Yōkai)
The Kunekune ( Japanese く ね く ね ) is a fictional being from modern Japanese internet culture , similar to the Slender Man and Hanako, the Klogeist . The Kunekune was created as an urban legend on several websites in 2003 , where it is sometimes referred to as the “modern yōkai ”.
description
The Kunekune is described as a tall and slim creature that resembles a cut-out paper man or a long, frayed piece of cloth. He should mainly stay in a certain place on hot summer days around noon, preferably on extensive rice and grain fields , but sometimes also on the open sea. The Kunekune's limbs should flutter incessantly, as if a strong breeze is blowing, even when there is actually complete calm. This peculiarity brought the creature the name “Kunekune” (from Japanese く ね く ね ; to German “to squirm, flutter, flap with the arms”).
Interestingly, you should only be able to see the Kunekune from a great distance. In the open, it should appear pure white, in cities, however, pitch black. Rumor has it that anyone who tries to get a close look at the Kunekune will go insane. If you ignore him, however, you shouldn't be bothered by him. If you come too close to the Kunekune, or if you try to touch it, it will kill its victim.
background
The first mentions of the Kunekune appeared simultaneously on several Japanese websites in 2003 , which are devoted to collected and mostly made-up spooky and horror stories. Kunekune believers soon began collecting stories and writing them themselves. The stories tell of (alleged) encounters with the Kunekune and are written in the first person so that they appear like eyewitness accounts . A similar phenomenon is known from the Slender Man and from Hanako, the cloister .
The Kunekune probably goes back to confusion with traditional scarecrows , as they can still be found in large numbers today on extensive rice and grain fields. Scarecrows are considered scary in Japan and many local ghost stories claim they come to life at night. An alternative attempt to explain this is that in the midday heat, small, dense clouds or clouds of vapor can form over rice fields. As a third possibility, hallucinations are assumed, which can be triggered by heat stroke and / or dehydration in the summer heat .
literature
- Richard Freeman: The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia: The AZ of Japanese Monsters . CFZ Press, Myrtle Cottage, Bideford 2010, ISBN 978-1-905723-54-6 .
- Yamaguchi Satoshi Taro: 本 当 に い る 日本 の 「現代 妖怪」 図 鑑 . Ryukura Verlag, Tokyo 2007, ISBN 4773003650 .
- Ito Ryuhei: 「ネ ッ ト 怪 談「 く ね く ね. In: 世間 話 研究 , 18th edition. Smalltalk Study Group, Kyoto 2008.
Web links
- Background to Kunekune on blog.livedoor.jp (Japanese)
- Information about Kunekune in kwaidanjapanese (English)
- Collected stories about Kunekune on totalmatomedia.com (Japanese)