thumb|Depiction of a mujina (from the [[Wakan Sansai Zue, Edo period)]]
is an old Japanese term primarily referring to the Japanese badger, but traditionally to the Japanese raccoon dog (tanuki), causing confusion. In some parts of Japan, they are incorrectly referred to as the tanuki, to whom they are closely related in terms of appearance as well as actions- even though the tanuki are biologically related to the fox and dog. The mujina in specific are known to be able to inflate their bellies, creating music by drumming on it whilst singing. Some tales also describe the badger inflating their scrotum to cover "eight mats", referring to the size of a room. According to the beliefs of the Osaka-Kishû district, these fire-emitting badgers are normally found on rainy nights.
In transformation, it is said that the possibilities of what the mujina could turn into were endless. Sometimes, they are seen as a one-eyed hag, and sometimes a tax-collecting government official. Normally, these creatures take a female model in order to seduce its victims, most of whom are men.
In folklore
thumb|"Mujina" from the [[Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki by Sekien Toriyama]]
In Japanese folklore, like the kitsune (fox) and the tanuki (typically a Japanese raccoon dog), mujina (which could be raccoon dog or badger) are frequently depicted as yōkai that shapeshift and deceive humans. They are first seen in literature in the Nihon Shoki in the part about Empress Suiko's 35th year (627), where it states, "[I]n two months of spring, there are mujina in the country of Mutsu (春2月、陸奥国に狢有り), they turn into humans and sing songs (人となりて歌う)" demonstrating that, in that era, there was the general idea that mujina shapeshift and deceive humans. In the Shimōsa region, they are called , and they would shapeshift into a kozō (little monk) wearing a strangely short kimono with a kappa-like bobbed head, and frequently appear on roads at night without many people and say, "." The story in Lafcadio Hearn's kaidan collections called "Mujina" about the witnessing of a faceless ghost (a noppera-bō) is also well-known.
The faceless ghost from Kwaidan
On May 19, 1959, Honolulu Advertiser reporter Bob Krauss reported a sighting of a mujina at the Waialae Drive-In Theatre in Kahala. Krauss reported the witness watched a woman combing her hair in the women's restroom, and when the witness came close enough, the mujina turned, revealing her featureless face.
The witness was reported to have been admitted to the hospital for a nervous breakdown. Noted Hawaiian historian, folklorist, and author Glen Grant, in a 1981 radio interview, dismissed the story as rumor, only to be called by the witness herself, who gave more details on the event, including the previously unreported detail that the mujina in question had red hair. The drive-in no longer exists, having been torn down to make room for Public Storage.
Grant has also reported on a number of other mujina sightings in Hawaii, from ‘Ewa Beach to Hilo.
Other uses
The term can also refer to the following:
- "Mujina", a short story relating to the above legends, found in Lafcadio Hearn's book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things.
- Mujina-no-yu is an onsen facility in Nasu, Tochigi, Japan.
See also
- Bake-danuki
- Folklore in Hawaii
- Japanese mythology
References
;Notes