Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Thousand Mountain Carp
Category: Fish, Mountain dweller, Carp
The Myth
The Senzanri is a strange and transformative carp, said to be capable of leaving the water and becoming a creature of the mountains.
According to the story, a boy named Torakichi spoke of this being from his own experience. He said that when certain substances were mixed into water or shaped like fish and placed in old ponds, crucian carp would appear in great numbers. These carp were not ordinary fish. Among them were those that would later become Senzanri, carp that transform and give birth after leaving the water.
It is commonly said that carp climb waterfalls and become dragons, but Torakichi explained that this belief misunderstands what truly happens. The carp do not become dragons. Instead, using the force they gather while leaping up waterfalls, they launch themselves into the mountains. There, far from rivers and ponds, the transformation begins.
Once on land, the carp rolls about in grassy places. As time passes, its body becomes rounder and harder, forming a shell. Hair grows between its scales. Its fins change into four limbs, and the creature begins to crawl like a land animal. Though its shape changes, its inner body remains that of a carp.
In this form, the Senzanri lives in mountain pools, where it gives birth to offspring known as mountain-burrowing carp. These young inherit the strange nature of their parent, belonging neither fully to water nor to land.
The Senzanri is thus a creature that bridges worlds: born as a fish, transformed by the mountains, and living a life hidden from ordinary human sight.
Gallery
Sources
TYZ-Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). 雪女 (Yuki-onna). In TYZ-Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654386.html
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
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Philosophical Readings
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Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
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Political / Social Readings
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Other
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