Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Ja-tai, Snake Sash, 蛇帯
Category: Object
The Myth
Jatai is a supernatural apparition depicted in Toriyama Sekien’s 今昔百鬼拾遺 (Konjaku Hyakki Shūi). It appears as a sash draped over a folding screen, its shape resembling a snake extending its tongue. A pillow and a comb lie beneath the screen, completing the eerie scene. Rather than describing a creature with a clearly established body or behaviour, the image presents an ordinary clothing accessory taking on the threatening form of a serpent.
The accompanying text connects the Jatai with jealousy and a traditional belief that sleeping with a sash across the body causes dreams of snakes. It suggests that the three-layered sash of a jealous woman may become a venomous serpent winding around her seven times. The image plays on the similarity between the Japanese words for a snake’s body and a sash, linking the ideas of jealousy, serpentine transformation, and poisonous resentment.
The Jatai is generally understood as an artistic creation inspired by this wordplay and by older imagery of snakes emerging from clothing or accessories. Similar motifs appear in depictions of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, including a snake-like sash hanging from a clothing rack. The Jatai therefore transforms an everyday object into a symbol of jealousy and the dangerous emotions associated with it.
Sources
“Jatai.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654355.html