Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Divine Insect
Category: Insect
The Myth
Shinchu is a gigantic divine insect that protects the world by devouring evil spirits and plague demons. It is depicted in the Hekija-e, a Japanese painting created in the latter half of the twelfth century to ward off evil. The painting, now held by the Nara National Museum, portrays Shinchu as an enormous insect with eight legs and wings, towering over the demons it hunts.
The divine insect is immensely powerful. Its body is far larger than that of the demons, and its strong hands can seize one of them in a single grasp. Shinchu devours its captives, covering the surrounding area with blood as it feeds. The demons appear terrified of the creature, and some are shown fleeing at full speed in desperate attempts to escape its grasp.
According to the accompanying text, Shinchu lives in the mountains south of Jambudvipa, the continent inhabited by humans in Buddhist cosmology. There, it feeds on various kinds of demons. Its appetite is extraordinary: it is said to devour three thousand demons in the morning and another three hundred in the evening.
Despite its frightening appearance and gruesome feeding habits, Shinchu is a benevolent protective deity. Its violence is directed against malevolent supernatural beings, making it a formidable defender against evil spirits and the forces responsible for plague and misfortune.
Sources
“Shinchū.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010655148.html