Japanese Fish Mythology

Tenchishindousai

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Tenshin Dōsai; Shindōsai
Category: Catfish, Fish, Yokai

The Myth

One night, during the Ansei era, a wandering rōnin arrived at a guardhouse in Edo and begged for shelter and food. He was tall, powerfully built, and strange in appearance, like a man hardened by severe training. The guards refused him, saying the guardhouse was not a place for lodging, and told him to seek an inn elsewhere.

At this, the man’s face grew pale.

He declared, “I am Tenchishindousai. There is none who does not know my name. Yet because the land has been calm for many years, people have grown contemptuous. They catch my kin, roast them, stew them, and kill them without cause. I have come to avenge them.”

He spoke of his journey: how he had shaken people to death at temple gatherings, how he had passed through province after province—mountains, capitals, and ports—causing the earth to tremble beneath his feet. Now, he said, he had arrived in Edo.

When the guards realized he claimed to be the Earthquake itself, they tried to seize him. Enraged, Tenchishindousai vanished on the spot.

At once, heaven and earth roared. The ground convulsed violently. Houses collapsed, storehouses fell, fires erupted across the city, and countless people were crushed or burned. Amid the devastation, Tenchishindousai spoke again, saying that the gods were absent from the land—and that if the deity who pins the earth were to arrive, the destruction would grow even greater.

With that, he fled north.

Those who saw his true form said his face was that of a giant catfish, the ancient creature that writhes beneath the land and shakes the world when angered. Thus the people believed the great earthquake was not chance, but revenge—carried out by Tenchishindousai, the living will of the trembling earth.

Gallery

Sources

TYZ-Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). 添地震大歳 (Tenchishindōsai). In TYZ-Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1069000650.html

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Hyakutou

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Tradition / Region: Buddhist Lore, Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Hyaku-headed Fish
Category: Fish

The Myth

Long ago, Shakyamuni Buddha traveled with his monks along the banks of a great river. There, fishermen hauled up an enormous fish from the water. It was so vast that hundreds of people were needed to drag it ashore. When the crowd gathered, they saw that the fish bore the heads of one hundred beasts—camel, cow, horse, boar, sheep, dog, and many more—each head crying out in suffering.

The Buddha approached the fish and spoke to it. He asked where the one who had guided it now resided. The fish answered that she had fallen into the hell of unending torment. Those who heard this trembled, and Ananda asked the Buddha what sin could have brought such a fate.

The Buddha then told of the fish’s former life.

In an earlier age, there lived a brilliant youth born into a learned family. Though gifted with wisdom, he followed his mother’s urging to deceive his teacher. When he failed to complete his studies, he returned to the monk who had taught him and repaid kindness with cruel words, mocking and humiliating the one who had guided him, likening his teacher’s head to that of an animal.

For these words, heavy karma was formed.

After death, the mother fell into hell, and the son was reborn as a monstrous fish, bearing upon his body the animal heads he had spoken in insult. Each head was the echo of a word once uttered in contempt.

When asked whether the fish could escape this form, the Buddha answered that even across vast ages and countless rebirths, such punishment was not easily shed. Words spoken in cruelty return in kind, and speech, like action and thought, shapes destiny.

Thus the Hyakutou is remembered—a living sermon of flesh and scale, drifting through the waters, bearing one hundred faces of suffering as the weight of its past words.

Gallery

Sources

TYZ-Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). ヒャクトウ (Hyakutou). In TYZ-Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1022878715.html

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Osaba

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Myhtology
Alternate Names: Big mackerel
Category: Yokai, Fish, Mackerel

The Myth

Long ago, in the seas near Irabu Island, there lived a monstrous fish known as the Osaba. Vast and terrifying, it rose from the deep whenever a boat passed, overturning vessels and devouring the people who fell into the water. So great was the fear it inspired that no one dared to sail from Irabu, and the island was left cut off by the sea.

At that time, the village head was a man named Tomomi Ujichika. Seeing his people trapped by terror and loss, he resolved to face the Osaba himself.

After offering prayers to the gods, Ujichika armed himself with a dagger and set out alone in a small boat, sailing far into the open sea. The waters were calm until, without warning, the great Osaba appeared, parting the waves as it opened its enormous mouth and rushed toward him.

Ujichika leapt into the sea and was swallowed whole.

Inside the belly of the beast, he fought desperately, slashing and stabbing until he tore through its entrails. Unable to endure the wounds, the Osaba died, and its blood spread through the surrounding waters.

Ujichika returned to shore victorious and was honored by the villagers, who praised him as their savior. Yet the struggle had drained his life. Not long after, he died from exhaustion, and the people wept for him.

The place where he was buried, Hiyaji, was later revered as a sacred mountain, for there rested the hero who gave his life to free his people from the terror of the Osaba.

Gallery

Sources

TYZ-Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). Osaba. In TYZ-Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1059767734.html

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Akugyo

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Tradition / Region: Japanese mythology
Alternate Names: Daigyo; Raichōgyo
Category: Fish, Yokai

The Myth

In the seas near Kibi Province, sailors spoke in fear of the Akugyo, the Evil Fish. Vast beyond measure, it rose from the depths to overturn ships as easily as toys, devouring the sailors who fell screaming into the water.

Some Akugyo breathed fire from their mouths, scorching ships before dragging them under. Others resembled enormous ningyo, their bodies covered in gold and silver scales that gleamed beneath the waves. There were also Akugyo shaped like colossal mermaids, bearing two white horns like those of an oni sprouting from their heads. Fishermen dreaded these monsters, for a boat could become trapped between the creature’s massive fins, leaving the crew helpless as the Akugyo fed.

In the sixth month of 1805, an Akugyo appeared off the coast of Echigo Province. Its body stretched more than eleven meters in length, and its horns were longer than a man’s arm. The terror it caused was so great that the Lord of Kaga dispatched a vast force—fifteen hundred men and four hundred fifty cannons—to hunt it down. After a great battle at sea, the monster was finally slain.

Another tale tells of Izutsuya Kanroku, a famed taiko drummer from Kaga. While crossing the Sea of Japan, his boat suddenly came to a halt. Beneath it lay the back of an Akugyo, and the vessel had become lodged upon the monster’s body. Believing death inevitable, Kanroku took up his drum and played with all the strength he had left. His drumming thundered across the sea and sky, echoing like a storm.

Moved—or perhaps startled—by the sound, the Akugyo shifted. The boat slipped free, and Kanroku escaped unharmed.

Thus the Akugyo remains a creature of terror and wonder: a destroyer of ships, yet sometimes driven away by courage, sound, and human resolve.

Gallery

Sources

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Akugyō. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akugyo

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Saba-i-gusa

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Fish, Yokai, Mackerel

The Myth

Among the sayings of the townspeople there was one about mackerel: that it rots while still alive. From this saying arose the strange creature known as Saba-i-gusa.

Saba-i-gusa has the head of a fish, the body of a man, and three legs. Thanks to these three legs, it is said to be a fast runner. One illustration shows it sprinting down the road, sweat pouring from its body, muttering to itself as it runs toward Osaka.

It complains bitterly of its fate. People praised it for being quick, urging it to hurry without rest, so it has been running day and night on all three legs. In its haste, its insides have turned inside out and begun to rot, even though it is still alive. Exhausted and foul-smelling, it worries that no one will hire it if they see its condition, yet it forces itself onward, trying to look lively and useful.

Despite its speed, Saba-i-gusa never reaches its destination in good condition. Its body decays as it runs, proving the truth of the saying that mackerel spoil even before their journey is done.

Thus Saba-i-gusa became a living joke: a creature born from words, embodying haste, overwork, and the misfortune of being praised for speed when speed itself leads to ruin.

Gallery

Sources

TYZ-Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). サバイグサ (Saba-i-gusa). In TYZ-Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1071801435.html

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Tomoe

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Fish, Carp, Yokai

The Myth

In Kawachi Province there lies a deep pool known as Uchisuke-ga-fuchi, whose waters were said never to dry. On its bank lived a fisherman named Uchisuke, a solitary man who made his living by catching carp.

One day, Uchisuke caught a female carp of uncommon dignity, marked by patterns unlike any he had seen before. Instead of selling it, he kept the fish. As years passed, a tomoe crest appeared upon its scales, and the carp grew strangely attached to him. It began to respond when called by name, lingered near him like a companion, and in time even left the water to sleep in his house and share his meals.

For eighteen years Uchisuke kept the carp in a tank. By then it had grown to the size of a young girl of fourteen or fifteen.

At last, Uchisuke married. One night, while he was away fishing, a beautiful woman wearing a pale blue kimono patterned with rising waves burst into the house. She spoke to the new wife with fury, saying that she had known Uchisuke for many years and was even carrying his child. Burning with resentment at being cast aside, she ordered the wife to return to her parents’ home at once, warning that if she did not, a great wave would rise within three days and drag the house into the pond.

Terrified, the wife fled and told Uchisuke what she had seen. He laughed it off, saying that such a woman could never have desired him, and that it must have been an illusion. As dusk fell, he returned to the pond in his boat.

Suddenly the water surged. Seaweed parted, and a massive carp leapt into the boat. From its mouth it spat out a small being shaped like a human child, with hair upon its head, yet with scales upon its body. Then the carp plunged back into the depths and vanished.

Uchisuke fled in terror. When he returned home and looked into the fish tank, Tomoe was gone.

After this, the villagers spoke among themselves and said, “In all things, it is not good for humans to keep living creatures too close to them.”

Gallery

Sources

TYZ-Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). 巴御前 (Tomoe). In TYZ-Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010655112.html

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Kingyo-Yūrei

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Goldfish Ghost
Category: Yōkai, Ghost, Fish, Goldfish

The Myth

In an age when grudges were believed to stain the world itself, there lived a woman named Monohana whose life ended in cruelty and betrayal. Bound with rope and murdered unjustly, her resentment did not fade with death. Instead, it clung to what lay closest to her final suffering.

In the water where goldfish swam, her hatred took hold.

The fish, once harmless and beautiful, became vessels for her spirit. Their eyes gleamed with an unnatural light, and their movements grew violent and erratic. From within their small bodies, Monohana’s fury watched and waited.

When the man who had wronged her and the woman who shared his crime drew near, the goldfish surged from their container, water spilling as if driven by invisible hands. The possessed fish attacked without mercy, striking at the guilty as though guided by human will. In their thrashing bodies lived the scream Monohana was denied in death.

Thus the goldfish ghost was born—a yōkai formed not from flesh, but from resentment itself. It is said that wherever goldfish are kept, the memory of betrayed women lingers in the water, and that even the most delicate creatures may carry the weight of unresolved hatred.

Gallery

Sources

TYZ-Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). 金魚幽霊 (Kingyo-Yūrei). In TYZ-Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1037178954.html

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Mohana

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Monohana
Category: Fish, Goldfish

The Myth

During the reign of Emperor Go-Kōgon, there lived a loyal samurai named Karakoto Uraemon, a retainer of the Shinano guardian Ogushi Jirozaemon. He dwelled with his lawful wife, San, beside the banks of the Chikuma River. Though their life was peaceful, sorrow lingered in the household, for San bore no children despite many years of marriage. Uraemon prayed daily to gods and Buddhas, begging for an heir.

Around this time, goldfish newly arrived from Ming China were admired as rare wonders. Uraemon purchased a pair at great cost for his lord, who rewarded him with a fine sword. The goldfish multiplied, and some were given back to Uraemon, who raised them with devotion until their colors shone red, white, and gold.

Still childless, Uraemon took a concubine, seeking only kindness of heart. He chose a young woman of seventeen, raised in the capital, modest in appearance yet naturally beautiful. He named her Mohana—Weed Flower—and gave her a room in the house. There was no jealousy between San and Mohana, and when Mohana soon became pregnant, joy filled the household.

Soon after, Uraemon was summoned to Kamakura on duty. Before leaving, he told the two women only this: to care well for the goldfish until his return.

While Uraemon was away, San encountered a man named Furutori Minobunta, a handsome but violent youth living nearby. He whispered poison into her ears, claiming that Mohana and Uraemon had long been lovers and were plotting to murder San. At first she doubted him, but forged letters bearing her husband’s hand shattered her trust. Consumed by jealousy and rage, San fell into a secret relationship with Minobunta, who fed her lies and guided her thoughts toward murder.

One day, San lured Mohana—eight months pregnant—into the storehouse. There she abused her, gagged her, stripped her, bound her with rough rope, and beat her with bamboo. Mohana’s face swelled and her body bled, yet she could not scream. For three days she hung there, starving and weak, like a hungry ghost.

At last she escaped and crawled to the goldfish tank, pressing her mouth to the water in desperate thirst. Her cry drew San and Minobunta. Minobunta kicked her, tearing open her womb, and from it a living boy crawled out. Driven mad with jealousy, San strangled the child at once.

Mohana screamed in agony, spat blood, and died.

Her blood flowed into the tank. A fierce wind arose, and the water churned. The goldfish absorbed the blood, their bodies turning the deep crimson of human flesh. Their eyes burned with fury, their bellies swelled, and they thrashed wildly, spitting water as if crying out in wrath.

Minobunta hid the bodies beneath the floor and fled with San into the night. Only a young maid witnessed the truth. Mohana and her child were later buried in secret by Uraemon’s brother.

Unaware, Uraemon labored faithfully in Kamakura. One night, passing a Jizō hall, he saw a woman in white cradling a child. Though gaunt, the face was unmistakably Mohana’s. Shaken, he soon learned the truth by letter and rushed home.

The goldfish swam strangely around him, as if bearing Mohana’s resentment. Uraemon prayed for her soul and released the fish into a temple pond. Through Buddhist teaching, Mohana’s spirit found enlightenment, but the goldfish remained as a warning of cause and effect.

Uraemon became a wandering avenger, seeking Minobunta and San. He eventually met Minobunta on a rainy night, and after a fierce clash, was trampled to death amid pursuing men and horses.

Long after, it is said, the blood-marked goldfish spread through the land, their lineage preserved as living reminders of grief, jealousy, and karmic retribution.

Gallery

Sources

TYZ-Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). 毛羽毛現 (Mōhana). In TYZ-Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1037132429.html

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Furukawa Namazu

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Furukawa Catfish
Category: Yōkai, Well dweller, Fish, Catfish

The Myth

In the Furukawa River area of Iguchi, there were many ancient wells whose origins were long forgotten. Each of these wells was said to be home to a great catfish, known as the master of the well.

One day, the young men of the village gathered together and spoke of a plan to catch these catfish. Among them sat a single young man no one recognized, who listened quietly as they talked.

That night, carrying torches, the young men went to the old wells to carry out their plan. Yet when they arrived, something was wrong. Though every well was known to have its master, not a single catfish could be found.

As they searched in confusion, one young man leaned over a large old well. Suddenly, he screamed. Startled, the others rushed to look inside, and there they saw many masters of the wells gathered together in one place.

The strangers’ secret had been revealed. One of the catfish had disguised itself as a human, slipped into the village, and overheard their discussion. The masters of the Furukawa wells had assembled to speak of the danger.

From that time on, it is said that the people of this region never again tried to catch catfish from wells.

Gallery

Sources

TYZ-Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). 一つ目小僧 (Hitotsume-kozo). In TYZ-Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010655102.html

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Oarfish

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Dragon Palace Guard Sword, Sea Messenger
Category: Fish, Spirit

The Myth

In the deep and distant seas lives an immense, slender fish known as the Oarfish, sometimes called the Messenger of the Dragon Palace. Its body is long and pale like polished silver, marked with strange circular patterns, and crowned with vivid red fins that trail behind it like a flowing mane. When it rises from the depths, it moves with slow, solemn grace, as though carrying a message from another world.

The oarfish is rarely seen. It normally dwells far below the surface, beyond the reach of ordinary fishermen. When it does appear near the shore, people believe it is not by chance. Its emergence is taken as a sign—a warning from the sea itself. The sight of its red crest cutting through the water is said to foretell great disturbances: earthquakes, storms, or upheavals hidden beneath the waves.

Because of its size and otherworldly appearance, the oarfish has long been regarded as a strange being rather than a mere fish. Those who encounter it often describe it as unfamiliar and unsettling, a creature that does not belong to the human world. Some say it glides just above the water’s surface, its fins spreading wide like wings, as though it could lift itself into the air.

The oarfish is also linked to tales of beings from the sea depths—palace guardians, messengers, and even merfolk. Its flowing red fins and pale body resemble the descriptions of sea spirits and mysterious women of the ocean, and it is sometimes said that the oarfish travels between the Dragon Palace beneath the sea and the world above, carrying omens rather than words.

Though it does not attack humans, its presence inspires unease. To see an oarfish is to be reminded that the sea has its own will, its own hidden realms, and its own warnings. When it appears, people watch the water closely, knowing that something unseen is stirring in the depths.

Gallery

Sources

TYZ-Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). 山姥 (Yama-uba). In TYZ-Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1077741626.html

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