Baku (mythology)

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A baku by Katsushika Hokusai.
For other uses, see Baku (disambiguation).

Baku (獏 or 貘) are Japanese supernatural beings that devour dreams and nightmares. They have a long history in Japanese folklore and art, and more recently have appeared in Japanese anime and manga (see examples cited below).

The Japanese term baku has two current meanings, referring to both the traditional dream-devouring creature and to the zoological tapir (e.g., the Malaysian tapir).[1] In recent years, there have been changes in how the baku is depicted.

History and Description

The traditional Japanese nightmare-devouring baku originates in Chinese folklore and was familiar in Japan as early as the Muromachi period (14th-15th century).[2] Hori Tadao (2005) has described the dream-eating abilities attributed to the traditional baku and relates them to other preventatives against nightmare like the use of amulets. Kaii-Yōkai Denshō Database, citing a 1957 paper, and Mizuki (2004) also describe the dream-devouring capacities of the traditional baku.

An early 17th century Japanese manuscript, the Sankai Ibutsu (山海異物), describes the baku as a Chinese mythical chimera with an elephant’s trunk, rhinoceros eyes, an ox tail, and tiger paws, which in belief protected against pestilence and evil, although eating nightmares was not included among its abilities.[1] However, in a 1791 Japanese wood-block illustration, a specifically dream-destroying baku is depicted with an elephant’s head, tusks, and trunk, with horns and tiger’s claws.[3] The elephant’s head, trunk, and tusks are characteristic of baku portrayed in classical era (pre-Meiji) Japanese wood-block prints (see illustration) and in shrine, temple, and netsuke carvings.[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Writing in the Meiji era, Lafcadio Hearn (1902) described a baku with very similar attributes that was also able to devour nightmares.[9]

Since the 1980s in manga, anime, and other forms of popular culture, the baku appears not as a chimera of an elephant and tiger but as a zoologically recognizable tapir. Examples include Takahashi Rumiko's manga Urusei Yatsura (1995)[10] and Mikimoto Haruhiko's manga Marionette Generation (2001, original 1990),[11] and in anime, Oshii Mamoru’s 1984 film about Lum, Beautiful Dreamer.[12]. Such baku also appear in Pokémon and Digimon (Drowzee is a baku-like Pokémon, and Digimon features a character called Bakumon) [citation needed]. It also appears in Masashi Kishimoto's manga series Naruto, in the 479th chapter, however designed in the traditional mythological form. "Baku" is a main character in the PlayStation 2 game Dual Hearts, characterized as a "pig" that eats small bugs called esamons that live in the dreamworld.[citation needed] However, not all modern baku/yumekui are tapirs ("yumekui" means "dream-eater"). In Satoshi Kon’s 2007 animated film “Paprika,” Paprika, a young woman who is kami of the Dreamtime, is a baku/yumekui who devours a dream-villain at the film’s climax.[13] Hakase Mizuki's 2007 manga Ba_ku (sic) and Shin Mashiba's 2008 manga Nightmare Inspector: Yumekui Kenbun are also about baku/yumekui who are not tapirs.[14][15] Merry Nightmare from the manga-series Yumekui Merry also appears as a human.[16] The Playstation game FFIX features a character named Baku who resembles a pig.[citation needed] In April 2009, San-X, a character merchandise company, released a tapir baku character who looks like a pillow, called Oyasumi Bakura.[17]

Dream-eating, tapir-shaped baku have also entered non-Japanese popular culture. The picture book "The Dream Eater" by Christian Garrison tells the story of a young boy, Yukio, who meets a baku and brings it to his village [citation needed]. Neil Gaiman’s "The Dream Hunters,” which is based on Japanese mythology, features baku. A video game featuring a dream-eating tapir also exists (see external link). The Pokémon Drowzee is based on the Baku and shares the ability to consume dreams. Some creatures’ cards in the game Magic: The Gathering have the word "baku" in their names, however they do not have any feature similar to those already mentioned. They are quadrupeds spirits, without head and their torso are made of some objects such as petals, blades, bones, among others.

References

  1. ^ a b Nakagawa Masako 1999 Sankai ibutsu: An early seventeenth-century Japanese illustrated manuscript. Sino-Japanese Studies, 11:24-38. pages 33-34.
  2. ^ Hori Tadao 2005 "Cultural note on dreaming and dream study in the future: Release from nightmare and development of dream control technique," Sleep and Biological Rhythms 3 (2), 49–55.
  3. ^ Kern, Adam L. 2007 Manga from the Floating World: Comicbook culture and the kibyoshi of Edo Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Asian Center. page 236, figure 4.26.
  4. ^ http://www.sirasaki.co.jp/baku/baku.html. (Accessed September 5, 2007.)
  5. ^ http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fv20070216a1.html. (Accessed September 8, 2007.)
  6. ^ http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shrine-guide-2.shtml. (Accessed September 8, 2007.)
  7. ^ http://www.tokugawaantiques.com/product.php?productid=579. (Accessed September 8, 2007.)
  8. ^ http://www.lacma.org/programs/ArtWorkMonth0306.aspx. (Accessed September 8, 2007.)
  9. ^ Hearn, Lafcadio 1902 Kottō: Being Japanese Curios, with Sundry Cobwebs. Macmillan & Co., Ltd. pages 245-248. ISBN 4-8613-3027-0.
  10. ^ Takahashi Rumiko 1995 Waking to a nightmare. In: The Return of Lum: Urusei Yatsura. San Francisco: Viz. Pp. 141-156.
  11. ^ Mikimoto Haruhiko 2001 (original 1990) A Profile of the Heart. In: Marionette Generation, Volume 1, San Francisco: Viz Communications. pages 159-178.
  12. ^ Oshii Mamoru 1984 Beautiful Dreamer. New York:US Manga Corp. ASIN: B0001Y4MRW.
  13. ^ Kon Satoshi 2007 Paprika. Tokyo: Sony Pictures. ASIN B000O58V8O.
  14. ^ Hakase Mizuki 2007 Ba_ku. Los Angeles, CA: TokyoPop. (The underscore is correct; it's in the original title.)
  15. ^ Mashiba, Shin 2008 Nightmare Inspector: Yumekui Kenbun. San Francisco: Viz Media. ISBN 978-1-4215-1758-2.
  16. ^ Yoshitaka Ushiki 2008
  17. ^ http://blog.san-x.co.jp/toretate/2009/04/post_198.html


  • Kaii-Yōkai Denshō Database. International Research Center for Japanese Studies. Retrieved on 2007-05-12. (summary of excerpt from Warui Yume o Mita Toki ( 悪い夢をみたとき, When You've Had a Bad Dream?) by Keidō Matsushita, published in volume 5 of the journal Shōnai Minzoku (庄内民俗, Shōnai Folk Customs) on June 15, 1957).
  • Mizuki, Shigeru 2004 Mujara 5: Tōhoku, Kyūshū-hen (in Japanese). Japan: Soft Garage. page 137. ISBN 4-8613-3027-0.


External links

See also

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