Hito-gitsune
''Hito-gitsune'' or ''ninko'' () is a type of spirit possession told about in legends of the Chūgoku region of western Japan. Concept They are said to be the spirit of a Japanese marten-like animal, and it is said that those possessed by one would be afflicted with stomach aches and mental abnormalities. In some areas, it is said that a within ponds are ''hito-gitsune''. Though it has ''itachi'' (weasel) in its name, they are said to be much smaller than real weasels and stay in a large willow of the pond, and several of them would all make a bustle at once. In Shimane Prefecture, ''hito-gitsune'' are considered to be smaller than a normal fox. Hito-gitsune would enter people's bodies and make them ill, and when that person dies, they would bite a hole in that person's belly or back to emerge. It is said that the corpse would have a black hole in it somewhere. Families possessed by a ''hito-gitsune'' are called , and it is said that those that are hated by this family would get ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spirit Possession
Spirit Possession is an altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors which are purportedly caused by the control of a human body and its functions by Supernatural#Spirit, spirits, ghosts, demons, angels, or Deity, gods. The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity,Mark 5:9, Luke 8:30 Judaism, Wicca, Haitian Vodou, Dominican Vudú, and Southeast Asian, African, and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American traditions. Depending on the cultural context in which it is found, possession may be thought of as voluntary or involuntary and may be considered to have beneficial or detrimental effects on the host. The experience of spirit possession sometimes serves as evidence in support of belief in the existence of spirits, deities or demons. In a 1969 study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, spirit-possession beliefs were found to exist in 74% of a sample of 488 societies i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tottori Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, least populous prefecture of Japan at 538,525 (2023) and has a geographic area of . Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hiroshima Prefecture to the southwest, Okayama Prefecture to the south, and Hyōgo Prefecture to the east. Tottori, Tottori, Tottori is the capital and largest city of Tottori Prefecture, with other major cities including Yonago, Kurayoshi, and Sakaiminato. Tottori Prefecture is home to the Tottori Sand Dunes, the largest sand dunes system in Japan, and Mount Daisen, the highest peak in the Chūgoku Mountains. Etymology The word "Tottori" in Japanese is formed from two ''kanji'' characters. The first, , means "bird" and the second, means "to get". Early residents in the area made their living catching the region's plentiful waterfowl. The name first appears in the in the 23rd y ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Miyagi Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the northwest, Yamagata Prefecture to the west, and Fukushima Prefecture to the south. Sendai is the capital and largest city of Miyagi Prefecture, and the largest city in the Tōhoku region, with other major cities including Ishinomaki, Ōsaki, Miyagi, Ōsaki, and Tome, Miyagi, Tome. Miyagi Prefecture is located on Japan's eastern Pacific coast and bounded to the west by the Ōu Mountains, the longest mountain range in Japan, with 24% of its total land area being designated as List of national parks of Japan, Natural Parks. Miyagi Prefecture is home to Matsushima, Matsushima Islands, a group of islands ranked as one of the Three Views of Japan, near the town of Matsushima, Miyagi, Matsushima. History Miyagi Prefectur ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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中央公論新社
is a Japanese publisher. It was established in 1886, under the name . In 1999, it was acquired by The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, and its name was subsequently changed to Chūōkōron-shinsha. Profile The company publishes a wide variety of material, including numerous novels, books, manga and several magazines, including the famous literary magazine and . It also organizes a variety of prestigious literary awards and prizes across Japan, such as the renowned Chūōkōron Prize. Among the numerous novels published by the company include Hiroshi Mori's ''The Sky Crawler'' series, which was adapted into a 2008 anime film from director Mamoru Oshii. The company has also published numerous manga, including Keiji Nakazawa's famed ''Barefoot Gen'' series, Monkey Punch's famed ''Lupin III'' series, Keiko Takemiya's ''Hensōkyoku'', Riyoko Ikeda's noted works ''The Rose of Versailles'', ''Jotei Ekaterina'' and '' Ten no Hate Made: Poland Hishi'', Kaoru Kurimoto and Yumiko Igarashi's ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chūgoku Region
The , also known as the region, is the westernmost region of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It consists of the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori and Yamaguchi. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 7,328,339. History ''Chūgoku'' literally means "middle country", but the origin of the name is unclear. Historically, Japan was divided into a number of provinces called ''koku'', which were in turn classified according to both their power and their distances from the administrative center in Kansai. Under the latter classification, most provinces are divided into , , and . Therefore, one explanation is that ''Chūgoku'' was originally used to refer to the collection of "middle countries" to the west of the capital. However, only five (fewer than half) of the provinces normally considered part of Chūgoku region were in fact classified as middle countries, and the term never applied to the many middle countries to the east of Kansai. Therefore, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shimane Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 Square kilometre, km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamaguchi Prefecture to the southwest, Hiroshima Prefecture to the south, and Tottori Prefecture to the east. Matsue is the capital and largest city of Shimane Prefecture, with other major cities including Izumo, Shimane, Izumo, Hamada, Shimane, Hamada, and Masuda, Shimane, Masuda. Shimane Prefecture contains the majority of the Lake Shinji-Nakaumi metropolitan area centered on Matsue, and with a population of approximately 600,000 is Japan's third-largest metropolitan area on the Sea of Japan coast after Niigata (city), Niigata and Greater Kanazawa. Shimane Prefecture is bounded by the Sea of Japan coastline on the north, where two-thirds of the population live, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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国際日本文化研究センター
The , or Nichibunken (日文研), is an inter-university research institute in Kyoto. Along with the National Institute of Japanese Literature, the National Museum of Japanese History, and the National Museum of Ethnology (Japan), National Museum of Ethnology, it is one of the National Institutes for the Humanities. The center is devoted to research related to Japanese culture. History The official origins of the institute are traced to an early study carried out by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture in 1982 on "methods of comprehensive research on Japanese culture". After surveying the field of Japanese studies for several years, the ministry, under the administration of Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro, established the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in 1987 in Kyoto with the prominent philosopher Umehara Takeshi as its first Director-General. Prominent Kyoto academics Umesao Nobuo and Kuwabara Takeo also played key roles in the foundi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |