INTRO:

Hello and welcome to Myth Monsters, my name is Erin and I’ll be your host for these little snack bite size podcasts on folklore and mythical monsters from around the world. 

These podcasts focus on the actual cryptids, folklore and mythic monsters from global mythology, rather than focusing on full stories of heroes and their big adventures.

I’ll also be dropping in some references that they have to recent culture and where you can see these represented in modern day content so you can learn more, and get as obsessed as I am about these absolute legends of the mythological world.

Happy August! It’s been a wild summer here in the UK so far, and we’ve only just started! We hit 1000 twitter followers and 22k downloads this week, so I can’t thank everyone enough for the support and love I get through this, honestly - it’s so so heartwarming. 

I’ve also done two guest spots that have gone live in the last week - you can check out episode 666 of the Bunker daily podcast for me chatting about Satan from the middle ages to the modern age, or on the Friend Zone podcast talking about the real monsters in relationships. There are links on twitter if you fancy giving them a listen!

DESCRIPTION:

This week’s monster, however, is not as appealing as my wonderful sultry tones through your headphones - it’s one that is generally feared, but respected and we’re heading back over to Japanese mythology for this one - it’s the Tengu this week.

It’s been a while since we’ve covered a member of the yokai family, I think the last one was the Oni back in December last year - and I love covering these legendary Japanese monsters. 

The Tengu is described as a yokai or demon if you don’t remember the definition for this, and are traditionally described as a humanoid demon, with a bright red face, and a very large protruding nose. They are usually followers of Shugendo, which is a syncretic religion within Japan, dating back to the 7th century - the followers of which are called yamabushi. They wear very specific clothing, which is best described by author Frederik L Schodt; 

These positively medieval-looking nature worshipers carry metal staves and conch shells and wear straw sandals and sometimes a hemp cloth over-robe with the Heart Sutra written on it. They follow a mixture of esoteric or tantric Buddhism mixed with Shinto, the native animistic religion of Japan.

These monsters have developed over time though, originally having been described as kite-like monsters, kites being the bird of prey, not the piece of plastic you fly around on a windy day. They would usually retain their wings, beaks or heads whilst in their human form, as they could shapeshift between the two. They also had the power to conjure up huge fires known as Tengubi, avalanches affecting areas as big as cities called Tengu tsubute and lastly create the sound of falling trees by manipulating the air, known as Tengu daoshi. 

They are mostly seen as guardians of the Buddhist faith and temples of this, however, throughout their history their reputation and alliances have changed, especially within Buddhism - but we’ll talk about that later. 

They were also considered the patron of martial arts, and were skilled warriors with their staves and fans as their main weapons. However, they’re also known as mischief makers and almost vigilantes of the Buddhist faith. They were known to trick on arrogant and gloating Buddhist priests, and would punish those who misuse knowledge and authority to gain fame or reputation. In the middle ages, they were also known to punish vain and arrogant samurais, as they would punish anyone known to try and corrupt Dharma, which is Buddhist law.

The last job they do is that of occasionally being divine messengers, and even sometimes becoming deities themselves - they also had a king called Sojobo who ruled over them and assigned them these tasks, so there was also a weird hierarchy too within the Tengu ranks.

ORIGIN:

Onto etymology, the word Tengu means Heavenly sentinel or actually Heavenly Dog, which you might think sounds a little bit weird in regards to this bird-like creature. 

This is because there is apparently a link back to a Chinese myth monster known as the tianguo, which was a canine based monster that created loud thunderous lightning when emerging from the heavens. This monster will obviously be covered in another episode, but it’s a really interesting how this monster is linked to this one, as it’s just through an entry in the book ‘A Collection of Bizarre Stories from 1791 which describes the tianguo as a dog like monster with a bird’s beak - usually Japanese and Chinese monsters are quite different, although very very occasionally, they borrow from each other’s mythologies and folklore.

But the actual history of the Tengu goes back to the first mention in text from the Nihon Shoki, this is the second oldest Japanese text and roughly translates to The Chronicles of Japan, which was written in 720 AD, this references again to a heavenly dog and actually has Tengu written in Chinese characters throughout the text, but in Japanese characters, reads as heavenly fox. 

There are also links to the Tengu within the Hindu faith, as Garuda, the eagle deity is often cited as the inspiration for the Tengu, as the garada are depicted as shapeshifting into winged animals and keeping their bird-like features in their appearance when humanoid. During the Edo period, between 1603 and 1868 in Japan, there were debates on how these monsters derive from these Hindu deities, as the Garuda were friendly towards Buddhism after Tengu helped the Garuda fight off the Naga within a story in the Hindu faith. The Naga, again, legendary monster, that I’ll cover in another episode and am actually very excited to cover them as they’re in sooo many modern media bits!

You might be thinking hey, this all sounds good, but you said there are debates on whether Tengu are good or bad - that’s true and it's massively linked to their history. 

Originally, within Japanese folklore, came a book called the  Kon jaku Mono gata rishū,  which was a collection of stories published in the late Heian period, which was between 794 and 1185 AD, and in this book - it described Tengu as enemies of Buddhism, who mislead the pious with false images of the Buddha, carry off monks and drop them in remote places, possess women in an attempt to seduce holy men, rob temples, and endow those who worship them with unholy power. They often disguise themselves as priests or nuns, but their true form is a kite.

They were villianised from here on out, and actually there is still a saying in Japan to this day which is tengu ni naru, meaning becoming a Tengu - which is used to describe a vain or arrogant person. There’s even apparently a realm in which these monsters live, the tengu road, where people are stuck between heaven and hell - a kind of purgatory, where the prideful are cursed to live.

However, by the 17th century the image of the Tengu had started to change, with stories emerging of Tengu fiercely protecting forests or Buddhist temples and shrines - becoming the protectors and guardian spirits that we think of today. They can be tempted to assist with rice cakes, and apparently despise mackerel, so this is used to dissuade them from their mischievous side. It’s said that once fielty is sworn to a temple, the Tengu will guard this for the rest of its days as long as it is respected. 

Lastly, I do have to mention that these monsters are pretty much the Japanese equivalent of Greek harpies - which I really love, and only recently found out - however, only because of their looks and powers rather than what they stand for - Harpies are very much creatures of violence and don’t really seem to have much thought behind their actions. Whereas Tengu are all to do with the Buddhist faith, and their actions are purely driven by faith and worship, rather than blind bloodshed and anger.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: 

Now onto modern media, we mostly have them in video games this week, as with most Japanese monsters, however, these monsters are quite popular so have made it into our other categories too. 

For art, Japan always has us covered with illustrations and art - which I’m always super grateful for, however, as usual with Japanese and Asian scrollwork, we really don’t know when these were painted, so they do not have dates, and you can search them by their names. 

First we have Kobaya kawa Taka kage debating with the tengu of Mount Hiko by Yoshitoshi, Tengu as a kite-like monster by Toriyama Sekien, Iga no Tsubone confronts the tormented spirit of Sasaki no Kiyotaka, by Yoshitoshi, Tengu and a Buddhist monk, by Kawa nabe Kyōsai, An elephant and a flying tengu, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi and lastly Ushiwaka-maru training with the tengu of Mount Kurama, by Kuni tsuna Uta gawa. 

I will say, I tried my best with the names here, but I do not speak Japanese and my sister, who does speak some struggles with these too - so please forgive my shoddy accent and pronunciation work, I speak English and German, and both of those pretty badly too so allow it this time please.

In movies, we have just the one, and that’s 47 Ronin - which was a samurai movie featuring the legendary Keanu Reeves, who I will say - I trust more than my own family, and I don’t believe a single person on the Earth dislikes him. 

For TV, we have; Legend of the Three Caballeros, Randy Cunningham: Ninth Grade Ninja, Metal Heroes, Super Sentai Power Rangers & Pleasant Goat and the Big Bad Wolf. 

In video games, we have ones such as; Pokemon, Shin Megami Tensei, Touhou Project, Megaman 8, Nioh & Nioh 2, Dead or Alive 2, 4 & 5, Genshin Impact, Achaea, Champion Island Games, Angbad, Dungeon Crawl, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3, Chulip, Art of Fighting, Ayakashi: Romance Reborn, Guild Wars, Fate/Grand Order, Ganbare Goemon, Metroid, Nefarious, Nethack, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Mini Ninjas, Monster Rancher, Okami, Shadow Force, River King, Samurai Shodown, Yokai Watch, Zeno Clash & Yume Nikki.

There are quite a few video games with these in, so once again, I’ve picked the most popular out of these to not overwhelm you all with me listing millions of games.

My book recommendation this week is as always with Japanese monsters, especially yokai or yurei is Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide & Yurei Attack!: The Japanese Ghost Survival Guide by Hiroka Yoda. Honestly, these books are amazing, they’re really well illustrated and informative, and also really pretty cheap on Amazon for what you’re getting - I can’t recommend these more, they’re a great addition to any mythology based bookcase.

DO I THINK THEY EXISTED? 

Now it’s time for, do I think they existed? 14:17

I mean, I love the idea of this monster - that they protect these shrines and temples from arrogance and greed, which is totally what most religions stand for, so I like the idea of an integrated guardian against this. Does this stop priests and monks from becoming arrogant and greedy? Probably not, but I don’t know anyone to ask I suppose. 

The idea that there are spiritual guardians hanging around Japanese temples doesn’t really surprise me that it’s written into their folklore, as a lot of their monsters are to do with religion or at least societal concepts of wrong-doings, so I kind of can believe as to why these monsters exist. 

However, do I think one is going to come and show up at my door if I was in Japan? I don’t think so, but maybe that’s because I’m not a jealous or vengeful Buddhist priest and they’re practically reserved for them? Who knows - either way, I’m going to go with maybe on this one, just based on the placement and religious factors here, as it’s pretty normal for me to have this same mentality with other Japanese monsters.

But what do you think? Did the Tengu roam the Earth? Let me know on Twitter!

OUTRO: 

I love covering yokai and especially anything within Japanese mythology just as they’re usually really spiritual and interesting in comparison to these monstrous creatures from ancient mythologies here in the West. 

But we’re leaving Japan this week to head West and over to the US next week for another beloved cryptid, this one is known for its subtle and mischievous nature - so get ready to hop along with the Jackalope next Thursday for some not so Easter fun.

For now, thank you so much for listening, it’s been an absolute pleasure. If you enjoyed this podcast, please give it a rating on the service you’re listening on - I’ve got the twitter for any questions, or suggestions on what monsters to cover next and I’d love to hear from you. The social media handles for Tiktok, Youtube and Instagram are mythmonsterspodcast, and twitter is mythmonsterspod. But all of our content can be found at mythmonsters.co.uk - you can also find us on Goodpods and Patreon if you want to help me fund the podcast too.

Come join the fun though and share this with your pals, they might love me as much as you do.

But for now, stay spooky and I’ll see you later babes.