was a gigantic type of

yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and Spirit (supernatural entity) , spirits in Japanese folklore. The kanji representation of the word comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply ...

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...

, sometimes said to pose as a mountain range when sleeping.

Mythology

The size of a Daidarabotchi was so great that his footprints were said to have created innumerable lakes and ponds. In one legend, a Daidarabotchi weighed

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

and

Mount Tsukuba is an mountain located at the northern-end of Tsukuba, Japan. It is one of the most famous mountains in Japan, particularly well known for its double peaks, and . Many people climb the so-called "purple mountain" every year for the panorami ...

to see which was heavier, but he accidentally split Tsukuba's peak after he was finished with it. The ''Hitachi no Kuni

Fudoki are ancient reports on provincial culture, geography, and oral tradition presented to the reigning monarchs of Japan, also known as local gazetteers. They contain agricultural, geographical, and historical records as well as mythology and ...

'', a recording of the imperial customs in the

Hitachi Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of Ibaraki Prefecture.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Hitachi fudoki''" in . It was sometimes called . Hitachi Province bordered on Shimōsa Province, S ...

compiled in the 8th century, also told of a Daidarabotchi living on a hill west of a post office of Hiratsu Ogushi who fed on giant clams from the beach, piling the shells on top of a hill. In the larger

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,828,086 (1 July 2023) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

, Daidarabotchi was considered a benevolent giant, moving mountains to aid the people of Ibaraki. In

Mito, Ibaraki is the capital city of Ibaraki Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 268,036 in 126,055 households and a population density of 1,233 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged ...

, a 15-meter statue was erected in Ogushi Kaizuka Park to commemorate the yōkai and its myths. ''Izumo no Kuni Fudoki'' also mentions a legendary king of Izumo, Ōmitsunu, who was the grandson of

Susanoo __FORCETOC__ Susanoo (, ; historical orthography: , ), often referred to by the honorific title Susanoo-no-Mikoto (), is a in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese im ...

and a demi-god. Having the strength of a giant, he performed Kuni-biki, pulling land from

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

with ropes, to increase the size of his territory. The Daidarabotchi was also said to reside at

Mount Togakushi Mount Togakushi () is located in the former village of Togakushi, now located within the city of Nagano, Nagano, Japan. The mountain is 1904 meters (6247 ft) high. Mount Togakushi has traditionally been included in the Five Mountains of Nor ...

, where there exists a pond on its south side bearing its name.

References

Japanese folklore Japanese giants Yōkai {{japan-myth-stub pt:Anexo:Lista de artigos mínimos de Youkais#Daidara-bocchi

Mythology

See also

References