"Kappa" is a legendary water monster, also known as the water tiger in Chinese folklore, the earliest record originated from the Yellow River Basin, and Chinese has always appeared in the form of ghosts. In the Compendium of Materia Medica, the kappa looks like a three- or four-year-old child with a bald head and a small, sunken hole with a blister in it at all times. Legend has it that this is the most dangerous place of this monster, and the industrious and intelligent people of the ancients worked to subdue the kappa in order to induce him to bend down, and as soon as the water on his head fell, the kappa became weak and powerless.
In China, kappa always appear with a terrible and murderous face, and while they drink water by the river, children playing in the water catch it and hollow out their internal organs, leaving only an empty shell.
The little kappa has scaly, hard skin all over his body, and the bow cannot pierce. Carrying a carapace like a turtle shell, it is said to be able to drag people and animals directly to the bottom of the river to eat. During the Edo period, legends about kappa were widely circulated in Japan, and novels and stories about kappa have been around ever since. Until modern times, Japanese people have also created a large number of manga, children's books, animations, etc., which are also well known in Japan.
However, the island version of the kappa has changed drastically and become particularly flavorful. According to Japanese legend, the kappa has three anuses, and when it is going to swim, it will squirt backwards at the same time, like a hovercraft, all the way forward at high speed. After arriving in Japan, they learned a bad taste, that is, to suck the soul through the human anus. According to legend, in the Edo period, when people built bridges and buildings on the water, they often wrote down their names on paper and stuffed them with firewood or straw people, which is called "calling the gods" in Japanese culture, which is equivalent to martyrdom. It is said to make bridges and buildings on the water strong.
When the spell is over, the notes and dolls used will be thrown into the water, and the spirits of these cursed spirits will become kappa. Usually, turtles shrink in caves near the riverbank, prefer humid environments, and often attack livestock and children in the water. According to the Japanese, kappa like to eat gherkins the most, so they use gherkins as bait to trap kappa. Therefore, some places in Japan also call cucumbers greens.
In the Kyushu area of Japan, there have also been many mummies of children who are fake and real, and each backstory has a nose and an eye. They are displayed in glass cabinets for people to see. There are also some companies that in order to promote kappa culture, they also take the image of kappa as their trademark, which is to turn kappa into an IP rhythm.