Japanese dragons (, ''Nihon no ryū'') are diverse legendary creatures in

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 ...

and

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

s from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. The style and appearance of the dragon was heavily influenced by the

Chinese dragon The Chinese dragon or loong is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture generally. Chinese dragons have many animal-like forms, such as Bixi (mythology), turtles and Chiwen, fish, but are most commonly ...

, especially the three-clawed ''long'' (龍) dragons which were introduced in Japan from China in ancient times. Like these other

East Asian East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

dragons, most Japanese ones are

water deities A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a great river was more important. Anoth ...

or ''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'' associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are typically depicted as large, wingless, serpentine creatures with clawed feet.

Indigenous Japanese dragons

The c. 680 AD ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' and the c. 720 AD ''

Nihongi The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

'' mytho-histories have the first Japanese textual references to dragons. "In the oldest annals the dragons are mentioned in various ways," explains de Visser, "but mostly as water-gods, serpent- or dragon-shaped." The ''Kojiki'' and ''Nihongi'' mention several ancient dragons: * was an eight-headed and eight-tailed dragon slain by the god of wind Susanoo, who discovered the '' Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi'' (legendary sword of the

Imperial Regalia of Japan The are the imperial regalia of Japan and consist of the sword , the mirror , and the jewel . They represent the three primary virtues: valour (the sword), wisdom (the mirror), and benevolence (the jewel).

) in one of its tails. * or was the ruler of seas and oceans, and described as a dragon capable of changing into human form. He lived in the undersea , where he kept the magical tide jewels. * was Ryūjin's daughter. She purportedly was an ancestress of Emperor Jimmu, Japan's legendary first emperor. * was a

sea monster Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and are often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are of ...

that is translated as both "shark" and "crocodile". are mentioned in two ancient legends. One says the sea god Kotoshiro-nushi-no-kami transformed into an "8-fathom ''kuma-wani''" and fathered Toyotama-hime, the other says a ''kuma-wani'' piloted the ships of Emperor Chūai and his Empress Jingū. * was a river dragon and water deity. The ''Nihongi'' records legendary Emperor Nintoku offering human sacrifices to ''mizuchi'' angered by his

river engineering River engineering is a discipline of civil engineering which studies human intervention in the course, characteristics, or flow of a river with the intention of producing some defined benefit. People have intervened in the natural course and b ...

projects. * '' Raijū'' is Raijin's animal companion and messenger that commonly take form of a dragon, qilin or komainu. * was a teahouse waitress who fell in love with a young Buddhist priest. After he spurned her, she studied magic, transformed into a dragon, and killed him. * was a dragon with a woman's head and a snake's body. She was typically seen while washing her hair on a riverbank and would sometimes kill humans when angered. * was a rain-god depicted either as a dragon with a snake on its head or as a human with a snake's tail. * In the fairy tale " My Lord Bag of Rice", the Ryūō "dragon king" of

Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan. It is located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13 ...

asks the hero Tawara Tōda () to kill a giant centipede. * ''

Urashima Tarō is the protagonist of a Japanese fairy tale (''otogi banashi''), who, in a typical modern version, is a fishermen, fisherman rewarded for rescuing a sea turtle, and carried on its back to the Dragon Palace (Ryūgū-jō) beneath the sea. There, ...

'' rescued a

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

which took him to Ryūgū-jō and turned into the attractive daughter of the ocean god Ryūjin.

Sino-Japanese dragons

mythology is the source of Japanese dragon mythology. Japanese words for "dragon" are written with ''

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

'' ("Chinese characters"), either simplified ''

shinjitai are the simplified forms of kanji used in Japan since the promulgation of the Tōyō Kanji List in 1946. Some of the new forms found in ''shinjitai'' are also found in simplified Chinese characters, but ''shinjitai'' is generally not as exten ...

'' 竜 or traditional ''

kyūjitai ''Kyūjitai'' () are the traditional forms of kanji (Chinese written characters used in Japanese writing). Their simplified counterparts are '' shinjitai'' (). Some of the simplified characters arose centuries ago and were in everyday use in bot ...

'' 龍 from Chinese ''long'' 龍. These ''kanji'' can be read ''tatsu'' in native Japanese ''

kun'yomi is the way of reading kanji characters using the native Japanese word that matches the meaning of the Chinese character when it was introduced. This pronunciation is contrasted with ''on'yomi'', which is the reading based on the original Chi ...

'', and ''ryū'' or ''ryō'' in Sino-Japanese ''

on'yomi , or the Sino-Japanese vocabulary, Sino-Japanese reading, is the reading of a kanji based on the historical Chinese pronunciation of the character. A single kanji might have multiple ''on'yomi'' pronunciations, reflecting the Chinese pronuncia ...

''. Many Japanese dragon names are

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

s from Chinese. For instance, the Japanese counterparts of the astrological Four Symbols are: * ''Seiryū'' < ''Qinglong'' 青龍 "

Azure Dragon The Azure Dragon ( zh, c=青龍, p=Qīnglóng) is one of the Dragon King, Dragon Gods who represent the mount or Chthonic deities, chthonic forces of the Wufang Shangdi, Five Regions' Highest Deities (). It is also one of the Four Symbols o ...

" * ''Suzaku'' < ''Zhuque'' 朱雀 "

Vermilion Bird The Vermilion Bird ( zh, c=朱雀, p=Zhūquè) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. According to Wuxing (Chinese philosophy), Wu Xing, the Taoism, Taoist five elemental system, it represents the Fire (Wu Xing), Fire element, ...

" * ''Byakko'' < ''Baihu'' 白虎 " White Tiger" * ''Genbu'' < ''Xuanwu'' 玄武 " Black Tortoise" Japanese ''Shiryū'' 四竜 "4 dragon ings are the legendary Chinese ''Longwang'' 龍王 " Dragon Kings" who rule the four seas. * ''Gōkō'' < ''Aoguang'' 敖廣 " Dragon King of the East Sea" * ''Gōkin'' < ''Aoqin'' 敖欽 " Dragon King of the South Sea" * ''Gōjin'' < ''Aorun'' 敖閏 " Dragon King of the West Sea" * ''Gōjun'' < ''Aoshun'' 敖順 " Dragon King of the North Sea" Some authors attempt to differentiate Japanese ''ryū'' and Chinese ''long'' dragons by the number of claws on their feet. In 1886 Charles Gould wrote that in Japan the dragon is "invariably figured as possessing three claws, whereas in China it has four or five, according to whether it is an ordinary or an Imperial emblem". A common belief in Japan is that the Japanese dragon was native to Japan and was fond of travelling, gaining claws as it walked further from Japan; e.g. when it arrived in Korea, it gained 4-claws; and when it finally arrived to China, it gained five-claws. However, contrary to the Japanese belief that the three-clawed dragons also originated in China and were introduced to Japan. Three-clawed dragons were depicted in China earlier in history and were the principal form of dragons which were used on the robes of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. When the Chinese dragons were introduced in Japan, they still had three claws. Three-clawed dragons were seldom used after the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

and were later depicted with four or five claws in China. Three-clawed dragons were briefly revived during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the Japanese military named many armaments after Chinese dragons. The '' Kōryū'' 蛟竜 < '' jiaolong'' 蛟龍 "flood dragon" was a

midget submarine A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, from which they are launched an ...

and the '' Shinryū'' 神竜 < '' shenlong'' 神龍 "spirit dragon" was a rocket

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

aircraft. An Imperial Japanese Army division, the 56th Division, was codenamed the Dragon Division. Coincidentally, the Dragon Division was annihilated in the Chinese town of Longling (龍陵), whose name means "Dragon's Tomb".

Indo-Japanese dragons

When

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monks from other parts of Asia brought their faith to

they transmitted dragon and snake legends from

and

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology refers to the collection of myths associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Itihasas (the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Ramayan ...

. The most notable examples are the ''nāga'' ナーガ or 龍 "

Nāga In various Asian religious traditions, the Nāgas () are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...

; rain deity; protector of Buddhism" and the ''nāgarāja'' ナーガラージャ or 龍王 " Nāgarāja; snake king; dragon king". de Visser (1913:179) notes that many Japanese

nāga In various Asian religious traditions, the Nāgas () are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...

legends have Chinese features. "This is quite clear, for it was via

that all the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n tales came to

. Moreover, many originally Japanese dragons, to which Chinese legends were applied, were afterwards identified with

, so that a blending of ideas was the result. Some additional examples of Buddhistic Japanese dragons are: * ''Hachidai ryūō'' 八大龍王 "8 great naga kings" assembled to hear the Buddha expound on the ''

Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' (Sanskrit: ''Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram'', ''Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma'', zh, p=Fǎhuá jīng, l=Dharma Flower Sutra) is one of the most influential and venerated Buddhist Mahāyāna sūtras. ...

'', and are a common artistic motif. * ''Mucharinda'' ムチャリンダ " Mucalinda" was the Nāga king who protected the Buddha when he achieved

bodhi The English term ''enlightenment'' is the Western translation of various Buddhist terms, most notably ''bodhi'' and ''vimutti''. The abstract noun ''bodhi'' (; Sanskrit: बोधि; Pali: ''bodhi'') means the knowledge or wisdom, or awakene ...

, and is frequently represented as a giant cobra. *

Benzaiten is an East Asian Buddhism, East Asian Buddhist Dharmapala, goddess who originated from the Hindu Saraswati, the patroness of speech, the arts, and learning. Worship of Benzaiten arrived in Japan during the sixth through eighth centuries, mai ...

弁才天 is the Japanese name of the goddess

Saraswati Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal Devi, goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the godde ...

, who killed a 3-headed

Vritra Vritra (, , ) is a danava in Hinduism. He serves as the personification of drought, and is an adversary of the king of the devas, Indra. As a danava, he belongs to the race of the asuras. Vritra is also known in the Vedas as Ahi ( ). He appe ...

serpent or dragon in the ''

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...

''. According to the '' Enoshima Engi'', Benzaiten created

Enoshima is a small offshore island, about in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River which flows into the Sagami Bay of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Administratively, Enoshima is part of the mainland city of Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Fujisawa, and is ...

Island in 552 CE in order to thwart a 5-headed dragon that had been harassing people. * Kuzuryū 九頭龍 "9-headed dragon", deriving from the multi-headed Naga king シェーシャ or 舍沙 " Shesha", is worshipped at Togakushi Shrine in

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

. * Gozuryū 五頭龍 "5-headed dragon" is worshipped at Ryuko Myojin Shrine in

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

Dragon temples

Dragon lore is traditionally associated with Buddhist temples. Myths about dragons living in ponds and lakes near temples are widespread. De Visser lists accounts for Shitennō-ji in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Gogen Temple in Hakone, Kanagawa, and the shrine on

Mount Haku , or Mount Hakusan (commonly referred to as simply Hakusan), is a dormant stratovolcano in Japan. It is located on the borders of Gifu and Ishikawa, on the island of Honshu. Mount Haku is thought to have first been active 300,000 to 400,000 y ...

where the '' Genpei Jōsuiki'' records that a Zen priest saw a nine-headed dragon transform into the goddess

Kannon Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

. In the present day, the Lake Saiko Dragon Shrine at Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi has an annual festival and fireworks show. Temple names, like Japanese toponyms, frequently involve dragons. For instance, the

Rinzai The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of ...

sect has Tenryū-ji 天龍寺 "Heavenly Dragon Temple", Ryūtaku-ji 龍沢寺 "Dragon Swamp Temple", Ryōan-ji 竜安寺 "Dragon Peace Temple". According to legend, when the Hōkō-ji 法興寺 or Asuka-dera 飛鳥寺 Buddhist temple was dedicated at

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

in 596, "a purple cloud descended from the sky and covered the pagoda as well as the Buddha hall; then the cloud became five-coloured and assumed the shape of a dragon or phoenix". The ''Kinryū-no-Mai'' "Golden Dragon Dance" is an annual Japanese

dragon dance Dragon dance () is a form of traditional dance and performance in China, Chinese culture of China, culture. Like the lion dance, it is most often seen during festive celebrations. The dance is performed by a team of experienced dancers who man ...

performed at

Sensō-ji , is an ancient Buddhist temple in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. It is Tokyo's oldest-established temple, and one of its most significant. It is dedicated to Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion. Structures in the temple complex include the main hall, ...

, a Buddhist temple in

Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known for Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as . History The development of Asaku ...

. The dragon dancers twist and turn within the temple grounds and outside on the streets. According to legend, the Sensō Temple was founded in 628 after two fishermen found a gold statuette of

in the Sumida River, at which time golden dragons purportedly ascended into heaven. The Golden Dragon Dance was produced to celebrate the reconstruction of the Main Hall of the temple in 1958 and is performed twice yearly.

Images

Image:Yoshitsuya The Fiery Dragon.jpg, Emperor Antoku's grandmother rescuing him from a dragon, by Yoshitsuya Ichieisai File:Ogata Gekko - Ryu sho ten edit.jpg, A dragon ascends towards the heavens with

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 ...

in the background in this 1897

ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...

print from Ogata Gekkō's ''Views of Mount Fuji''. Image:Kiyohime-Serpent-1890-Tsukioka-Yoshitoshi.png, ''Kiyohime Changes from a Dragon'' into a human woman, by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka Image:One of the daughters of the dragon king who lives in then bottom of the sea.jpg, The Dragon King's daughter, whose father the Dragon King lives at the bottom of the sea. By

Utagawa Kuniyoshi Utagawa Kuniyoshi (, ; 1 January 1798 – 14 April 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al'' (2005). "Kuniyoshi" in He was a member of the Utaga ...

File:2hoox07jieh31.jpg, Takenouchi no Sukune Meets the Dragon King of the Sea Image:Kuniteru Gozu dragon.jpg, Susanoo slaying the Yamata no Orochi, by Kuniteru Image:Kunisada II The Dragon.jpg, The Buddha riding a sea-dragon, by

Kunisada Utagawa Kunisada (; 1786 – 12 January 1865), also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III (, ), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist. He is considered the most popular, prolific and commercially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock printing in Japa ...

. Image:Earthquake_Map_of_Great_Japan_1624_(Dragon).jpg, Earthquake map with a dragon surrounds Japan, 1624 File:Miyata Nobukiyo - Dragon Teapot - Walters 571162 - Profile.jpg, Dragon

teapot A teapot is a vessel used for steeping tea leaves or a herbal mix in boiling or near-boiling water and serving the resulting infusion called tea; usually put in a teacup. It is one of the core components of teaware. Teapots usually have an ...

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...

Dragon shrines

Japanese dragons are mostly associated with

Shinto shrines A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

as well as some Buddhist temples. Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima or

Itsukushima is an island in the western part of the Inland Sea of Japan, located in the northwest of Hiroshima Bay. It is popularly known as , which in Japanese means "Shrine Island". The island is one of Hayashi Gahō's Three Views of Japan specifie ...

Island in Japan's Inland Sea was believed to be the abode of the sea-god Ryūjin's daughter. According to the '' Gukanshō'' and '' The Tale of Heike'' (Heinrich 1997:74–75), the sea-dragon empowered Emperor Antoku to ascend the throne because his father Taira no Kiyomori offered prayers at Itsukushima and declared it his ancestral shrine. When Antoku drowned himself after being defeated in the 1185 Battle of Dan-no-ura, he lost the imperial Kusanagi sword (which legendarily came from the tail of the ''Yamata no Orochi]'' dragon) back into the sea. In another version, divers found the sword, and it is said to be preserved at Atsuta Shrine. The great earthquake of 1185 was attributed to vengeful Heike spirits, specifically the dragon powers of Antoku. ''Ryūjin shinkō'' 竜神信仰 "dragon god faith" is a form of Shinto religious belief that worships dragons as water ''

''. It is connected with agricultural rituals, rain prayers, and the success of fisherman.

Dragons in modern Japanese culture

* The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force gave some of their aircraft dragon-related names, for example the Kawasaki Ki-45 twin-engine fighter was called ''Toryu'' (''Dragon Slayer''), the Mitsubishi Ki-67 bomber was called ''Hiryu'' (''Flying Dragon'') and the Nakajima Ki-49 bomber was called ''Donryu'' (''Storm Dragon''). * The

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

and later the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force named some of their ships after dragons. Notable examples are the

-era

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

s '' Hiryu'' and '' Sōryū'' and the modern

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s of the ''Sōryū'' class. * The dragon is a popular figure in

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

art. * Manda, the kaiju film character appearing in films produced by

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

, is depicted as a Japanese dragon. * ''

Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was Serial (literature), serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 indi ...

'', a popular

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

and

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

franchise. * In the popular anime and manga series ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, as he explores the Grand Line in search of the myt ...

'', The antagonist Kaidou has the ability to transform into a Japanese Dragon because of the power he gained from eating the devil fruit known as the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu (Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon)

Explanatory notes

Citations

General and cited references

* Aston, William George, tr. 1896
''Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697''
2 vols. Kegan Paul. 1972 * Chamberlain, Basil H., tr. 1919

* Gould, Charles. 1896
''Mythical Monsters''
W. H. Allen & Co. * Heinrich, Amy Vladeck. 1997. ''Currents in Japanese Culture: Translations and Transformations''. Columbia University Press. * Ingersoll, Ernest. 1928.

, in ''Dragons and Dragon Lore'', Payson & Clarke. Also: Ingersoll, Ernest, et al., (2013). ''The Illustrated Book of Dragons and Dragon Lore''. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN B00D959PJ0 * Smith, G. Elliot. 1919.
The Evolution of the Dragon
'; . Longmans, Green & Co. *

External links

The Circle of the Dragon

Dragonorama
"Ryūjin shinkō"
Encyclopedia of Shinto

Steve Renshaw and Saori Ihara

Japanese Architecture & Art Net User System

, The Japanese dragon in tattoo art
Dragon Festival for rainmaking in Nio, Japan

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

(video) {{Japanese folklore long Buddhist folklore Japanese folklore Onmyōdō deities National symbols of Japan Superstitions of Japan fr:Dragon japonais