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No.032

Tsuchigumo

THE EARTH SPIDER

Tsuchigumo
Pixel artOriginal art by Pixel Yokai
"Minamoto no Yorimitsu Slashing at the Earth Spider" from New Forms of Thirty-six Ghosts
For reference: old artTsukioka Yoshitoshi（1892）
"Minamoto no Yorimitsu Slashing at the Earth Spider" from New Forms of Thirty-six Ghosts
Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
Japanese name
土蜘蛛（TSUCHIGUMO）
Type
Spider spirit
Found in
Mountain caves and old burial mounds

◆ The legend

A yokai born from a huge spider grown old. It is said to live in mountain caves and old burial mounds, taking human form to get close to people, then throwing white threads to tangle them up. Interestingly, the word "tsuchigumo" (earth spider) was first used in old records such as the Nihon Shoki and the regional Fudoki as a name for local people who refused to obey the imperial court. In later times, it came to be told as the name of a giant spider monster.

The best-known story is how the Heian-period warrior Minamoto no Raiko (also read Yorimitsu) defeated the tsuchigumo. While Raiko lay sick in bed, a strange monk appeared and cast threads over him. Raiko slashed at it with the sword by his pillow, and the monk vanished. Following the trail of blood, his men found a giant spider. The tale was retold in picture scrolls, Noh, and kabuki, and the tsuchigumo became the classic example of a monster defeated by a samurai.

◆ Stories about this yokai

Raiko on His Sickbed and a Thousand Threads — The Tale of the Earth SpiderMinamoto no Raiko's battle with the tsuchigumo is an unusual monster-slaying tale: a sick hero fighting a mysterious monk who throws threads. From the sword renamed "Spider Cutter" to a haunted-house picture scroll and the famous threads of the Noh stage.