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No.11

Daidarabotchi

THE LAND-MAKING GIANT

Daidarabotchi
Pixel artArt by @yokaipixel
Japanese name
ダイダラボッチ（DAIDARABOTCHI）
Type
Giant
Found in
Mountains and lakes all over Japan (before they existed)
Where the legend lives
  • Ibaraki — Ogushi Shell Mound in Mito, tied to a shell-eating giant in the Hitachi Fudoki

◆ The legend

An unimaginably huge giant said to have shaped the land of Japan. It piled up Mt. Fuji in a single night, and the hole left where it dug the earth became Lake Biwa. Its footprints became ponds and lakes; the spots where it sat down became basins — legends like these remain all over Japan, especially from Kanto to Chubu.

It goes by many names, like Daitaroboshi or Otaboshi. Lake Hamana, Mt. Haruna, this mountain, that hollow — all were said to be the work of Daidarabotchi. More than a yokai, it's the grand imagination of people long ago, taking on the job of explaining every landform around them.