Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Giant Centipede; Ōmukade
Category: Insect
The Myth
The Mukade is a monstrous centipede appearing in Japanese folklore, often described as growing to an enormous size. Some traditions speak of giant centipedes more than ten jō long, large enough to attack and devour cattle. Their tough hides were reportedly used to make drums, while their flesh served as food for local people. In other accounts, centipedes longer than one shaku could fly through the air and threaten dragons, which retaliated by striking them down with lightning.
Giant centipedes are frequently portrayed as enemies of dragons and great serpents. In Konjaku Monogatari-shū, seven fishermen from Kaga Province are swept away by a storm and stranded on an island. There they meet a well-dressed young man who reveals that he caused the storm to bring them there. He asks for their help in defeating the ruler of another island, who threatens his domain. The fishermen agree, bringing their bows and arrows into battle.
Near dawn, two strange lights appear offshore as powerful winds rise and the waves churn. The fishermen discover that the lights belong to a gigantic centipede and an enormous serpent locked in combat. The battle is so fierce that clouds scatter and the sea becomes turbulent. The centipede’s many legs give it the advantage, and the serpent begins to lose. The fishermen shoot arrows into the centipede and then attack it with their swords, eventually killing the monster. The wounded young man appears afterward to thank them, revealing that he is a dragon who had taken human form. At the dragon deity’s request, the fishermen bring their families to the island, where they live peacefully.
Another famous tale concerns Tawara Tōta, also known as Fujiwara no Hidesato, who defeats a giant centipede living on Mount Mikami in Ōmi Province. A great serpent or dragon, impressed by Tōta’s courage, asks him to destroy the monster. The story reinforces the traditional enmity between giant centipedes and dragons.
Giant centipedes also appear in legends surrounding Mount Akagi in Gunma Prefecture. The mountain’s deity, or one of its attendants, is said to take the form of a centipede. People living on the southeastern slopes traditionally avoided killing ordinary centipedes, instead releasing them with the words, “Go to Akagi.”
According to another legend, the deity of Mount Akagi once fought the serpent deity of Mount Nikkō over possession of Lake Chūzenji. The battle took place at Senjōgahara in present-day Tochigi Prefecture. In a version preserved in Akita tradition, Nikkō Gongen enlisted the help of Mantsu Saburō, a renowned archer from the foothills of Mount Nikkō. Akagi Myōjin appeared as a giant centipede so immense that it could cross mountain peaks. Armed with a white wooden bow and sacred arrows, Mantsu Saburō shot out both of the creature’s eyes and defeated it. In gratitude, Nikkō Gongen secured permission from the imperial court for him to hunt in the mountains. Mantsu Saburō later travelled to the mountains of Ani in Dewa Province, where he became regarded as an ancestor of the matagi, traditional Japanese mountain hunters.
Sources
“Mukade.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654236.html