BBtv: Hunting for the Kappa Monster in Tokyo, part 2
Today on Boing Boing tv we continue a series of transmissions from Tokyo by our monster-hunting comrade Sean Bonner, who vanished mysteriously while seeking a legendary shrine devoted to the Kappa, a water-dwelling, ninja-turtle-like, child-sized creature who is fond of cucumbers and human colon meat, which it may access by grabbing up your butt.
In yesterday's installment, Sean hooked up with Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda, authors of the previosly-boinged book Yokai Attack: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide, and the quest began. But the team vanished mysteriously, and we haven't been able to reach Sean for a week.
Today, he reappears, with proof that he has touched the mummified hand of the cucumber-loving amphibious prankster. He also brings us irrefutable proof that some of Japan's greatest manga artists found a source of inspiration in Kappa art. Also on the streets of Tokyo, just outside the shrine, BBtv's yokai squad discovered MONSTER KITTEH.
Link to Boing Boing tv post with instructions on how to subscribe to our daily video podcast. Here's the direct MP4 link in case you can't deal with Flash video. Here are some photos from Sean.
Previously: Hunting for the Kappa Monster in Tokyo, part 1
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...You know, they'd have an easier time going in search of the Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka.
I have no doubt that the kappa lost its hand because some moron was swinging it around for a YouTube video.
Oh squee! It's the self-same shrine as CaseyD visited.
Actually, the kappa lost it's hand because he was walking down the street eating angel hair lo mein with drum sticks.
Grendel?
i just realised that i've got a picture of a cute kappa monster shrine in jozankei, hokkaido.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/indigofan/2200886243/in/set-72157603749895190
the creature in front is my wife, not a kappa.
you use the ladle to pour onsen water into the kappa's heads, and it pours out of their mouth... we washed our hands with the water coming out of the mouth. not sure if that was the correct procedure, but we didn't get attacked.
Oh dear, my daughter just started attending a Japanese immersion elementary school and the Kappa is their mascot! I can never tell her about this, she'll never use the bathroom there again!
I've a got a kappa pic here, from a fertility shrine in the south of Tokyo.
Sandy from Monkey was one, too.
There is a sake mill in Saga Prefecture, Kyushu, that has the most prolific collection of kappa goods I've ever seen, including an allegedly authentic kappa mummy! It is (or was) famous throughout Japan, famous enough to have it's kappa mummy made into a collectible toy for a series of Japanese monsters. I have some pictures from a tour my wife and I took there, but I haven't gotten them online yet, sadly.
There was a recent (animated) movie in Japan about a
Kappa titled "Kappa no Coo Natsuyasumi" ("Summer Days With Coo" in English.
Youtube trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU5x9Zf5jfA
Google searches:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Kappa+no+Coo+to+Natsuyasumi+%22&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22summer+days+with+coo%22+american+dvd&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=
Even features the severed Kappa hand shown in the Boingboing story. I haven't been able to find any mention of it coming out on DVD in region 1 with English subs or dubs any time, though.
Don't know if I'll be allowed to mention that there is a torrent for it (with English subs) at The Bay of Pirates (moderator: if I can't mention it, please just edit this part out and leave the first part):
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4291357/Summer_Days_with_Coo___Kappa_no_ku_to_natsu_yasumi