Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternative names: Jasintori; Jasin Bird
Category: Bird
The Myth
The Jasin Bird is a gigantic bird said to come from across the sea. Resembling an enormous hawk, it terrorized a village by flying in every night and carrying away oxen, horses, and other livestock. A samurai resolved to end the attacks by hiding inside the carcass of a dead horse, allowing the bird to seize him and carry him back to its nest.
At the nest, the samurai found the Jasin Bird feeding its chicks while a great serpent crawled nearby. He emerged from the horse’s body and slew the parent bird before killing all of its hungry young. The serpent escaped unharmed, and the samurai began the long journey home.
Unable to cross a great river, the samurai was met by a beautiful woman who revealed herself to be the serpent transformed into human form. Grateful that he had spared her life, she turned her own body into a bridge so he could cross the river and gave him a bamboo tube containing a miraculous medicine capable of curing every disease. After he reached the opposite bank, the serpent disappeared beneath the water.
The samurai never returned to his original village but settled in another land, marrying the daughter of an old woman who had lost her family to the Jasin Birds. Years later, the old woman accidentally poured out the miraculous medicine into her garden. A new healing herb sprang from the ground where it fell, and from that time onward the village lived in peace, for the Jasin Birds never returned.
Sources
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Kurangaituku. In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurangaituku