![]() Mizugumo literally means water spider, and that’s just what they are. At other times, she will appear to be holding a baby, which upon looking closer turns out to be a spider egg sack. Again, she will take the form of a woman, sometimes to seduce a handsome young samurai into marrying her. Sometimes the origin of the jorōgumo is said to be a spider that gained magical powers when it turned 400 years old (not bad for a spider). While he is distracted, she will bind him in her spider silk, and by the time the victim realizes what is happening it is already too late. She will lure a young man to her secluded home and perhaps entertain him by playing the biwa. She usually appears as a beautiful woman, but in truth she is a giant spider. There are a number of Edo period (1603-1867) stories about the jorōgumo. Like the tsuchigumo, it seems the name jorōgumo was used for a yōkai before it was applied to a real animal. Jorōgumo means “whore spider,” which may seem like a strange name until you hear the stories that go with the name. In Japan, the name jorōgumo is commonly used to refer to various species of the genera Nephila and Agriope, but Japanese entomologists use the name to refer specifically to the species Nephila clavata. ![]() Still, it’s not known if the behavior of the human tsuchigumo inspired the monster, or if the Yamato felt the name of the monster was fitting for those who defied their rule. There are no large, burrowing spiders native to Japan, but they may have known of such a species from the continent’s tales of the Chinese bird spider. There is a lot of ambiguity in the sources and it’s unclear if tsuchigumo was first used to refer to people or the monster. ![]() Many of these groups lived in hollow earthen mounds and may have used caves as hideouts. This also applied to indigenous leaders or clans who resisted the Yamato court as it spread and consolidated its control over Japan. Tsuchigumo has also been used to refer to groups or individuals in ancient Japan, such as bandits, who used guerrilla tactics. That story became the basis of one of the earliest Noh plays, appropriately titled “Tsuchigumo.” They caught it, pierced it with an iron skewer, and exposed it to a riverbed, whereupon Yorimitsu’s sickness was cured. The next day Yorimitsu and his four closest men followed the blood trail left by the monk to a mound behind Kitano Shrine, where they found a spider 1.2 meters wide. Ill though he was, Yorimitsu drew his sword and cut the monk, who fled. In one of these stories Yorimitsu was bedridden with malaria, when a tall, strange monk appeared to him and tried to capture him with rope. There are a couple of different stories about the warrior, Minamoto no Yorimitsu (948-1021) and his slaying of a tsuchigumo. The creature tsuchigumo is basically a giant spider, though it is sometimes described as having the face of a demon and the body of a tiger. ![]() Tsuchigumo means “earth spider,” and has been applied to both a yōkai and to certain people in ancient Japan. Grab your flashlights, and let’s see what we can find in Japan’s nooks and crannies. Meanwhile, a Japanese company has developed a spider-derived technology for the future. Japan is also currently dealing with the problem of a spider species from abroad. Spiders, and monsters inspired by them, have held a place in Japanese culture for centuries. Today’s article is all about our little eight-legged friends.
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