BAKU 獏 or 貘

Eater of Nightmares

Origin = China & Japan The elephant-like Baku 獏 (also written 貘) is an imaginary and composite creature from Chinese mythology thought to prevent or devour nightmares. It has the trunk and tusks of an elephant, the eyes of a rhinoceros, the tail of a cow, and the paws of a tiger. <source: early 17th-century Japanese text Sankai Ibutsu 山海異物> It is the eater of bad dreams, and helps to ensure that one’s first dream (Hatsu Yume 初夢) during the New-Year holiday is favorable and auspicious.



Images of Baku are frequently placed under the eaves of Japanese temples and shrines to ward off evil spirits, as are images of the magical shishi (lion) and the dragon. All three commonly serve as decorative and protective architectural elements at Buddhist temples and Shintō shrines. Baku effigies rose to popularity in the Edo period (1603 to 1868). The character for Baku (獏 or 貘) is also the Japanese name for a real-life mammal known as the tapir (an animal shaped like a pig but with a long snout).



Baku images and talismans are also frequently placed under one’s pillow to ward off bad dreams and ill omens. The kanji for Baku, for example, is occasionally written on the sail or hull of the Treasure Boat of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods. Children are told to place a picture of this boat (or of Baku) under their pillows on the evening between Jan. 1 and Jan. 2. Local custom says if they have a good dream that night, they will be lucky for the whole year, and the chances of having a good dream are reportedly enhanced by calling upon Baku (details here).



Indeed, pictures of Baku, Baku-shaped pillows, pillowcases with Baku's kanji (獏) written on them, Baku toys, and other Baku talismans are still readily available in Japan. Today the Baku commonly appear in Japanese cartoons, computer games, and comic books.

Ryūtakuji Temple 龍沢寺, Shizuoka

Photo by A-to-Z Dictionary





Photo this E-Site





Baku Makura 獏枕 (Baku Pillow)

Modern pillow of Baku, used to ward

off evil dreams & devour nightmares.

Photo this J-site.

PHOTO: Baku in the Kinmōzui 訓蒙図彙 or 訓蒙圖彙 (Collected Illustrations to Instruct the Unenlightened), a 20-volume Japanese work compiled in 1666 by Nakamura Tekisai 中村惕斎 (1629-1702) and considered Japan's first illustrated encyclopedia. The above image, however, comes from a sequel published in 1789 called 頭書増補訓蒙圖彙大成. See digitized version at Kyūshū Univ. Museum Digital Archive. PHOTO: Baku in the Wakan Sansai-zue 和漢三才図会 (Illustrated Sino-Japanese Compendium of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity), a 105-volume Japanese encyclopedia completed around 1712 - 1715 AD, attributed to Terajima Ryōan 寺島良安. See digitized version at Kyūshū University Museum Digital Archive.



Shishi 獅子 and Baku 獏 adorn many temple & shrine structures in Japan.

Photo taken at Myōhonji Temple 妙本寺, Kamakura. Photo by A to Z Dictionary.



Nikkō Tōshōgū Omotemon

日光東照宮表門 (Tochigi)

Photo courtesy JAANUS





Baku at the Bell Tower,

Nikkō Tōshōgū Shrine 日光東照宮

in Tochigi. Photo = this J-Site

ABOUT BAKU



Netsuke Room of the Japanese Pavilion. Baku Netsuke, Raymond & Frances Bushell Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.Netsuke Room of the Japanese Pavilion. Photograph by Marshall Astor. Baku Netsuke, Standing, Ivory, Unsigned, 18th century. Photo from Bosshard.net.

BAKU, DREAMS, & FIRST DREAM OF NEW YEAR

Sometime in Japan’s Edo period (1603 to 1868), pictures of Baku, or ideograms of the Chinese character for Baku (獏), or drawings of the Treasure Boat of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods with the kanji for Baku written on the sail (see below photos), were placed under one’s pillow to provide protection against bad dreams. Pillowcases with a depiction of Baku were also widely sold.



These beliefs continue in modern times with Japanese traditions surrounding Hatsu Yume 初夢 (lit. “first dream” of the new year). Children are encouraged to stay up late and welcome in the New Year. On the evening between Jan. 1 and Jan. 2, children are likewise encouraged to place an image of the Treasure Boat of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods under their pillow to ensure a good Hatsu Yume. The treasure boat (Takarabune 宝船) is laden with treasure (Takara 宝). Says JAANUS: “The Chinese character for BAKU 獏, a Chinese imaginary animal thought to devour nightmares, is sometimes found written on the sail. Often auspicious cranes and tortoises are depicted in the sky and the sea. Although the origin of treasure-boat paintings is not clear, one Edo-period record indicates they originated in the Muromachi period.” <end quote> If you have a lucky dream that night, you will be lucky for the whole year, but you must not tell anyone about your dream -- if you do, you forfeit its power. If you have a bad dream, you should call upon Baku -- “Oh Baku, devour my bad dream” -- or set your picture adrift in the river or sea to forestall bad luck. <Sources: JAANUS & Seven Lucky Gods of Japan by Chiba Reiko>



Says F. Hadland Davis in Myths and Legends of Japan (pp. 358-359): “When a Japanese peasant awakens from an evil nightmare, he cries ‘Devour, O Baku, devour my evil dream.’ At one time pictures of the Baku were hung up in Japanese houses and its name written upon pillows. It was believed that if the Baku could be induced to eat a horrible dream, the creature had the power to change it into good fortune.”



BAKU 獏 - Eaters of Nightmares. Edo Period. Photo courtesy www.buddhist-statues.com





BAKU 獏 - Eater of Nightmares, Rare Carving. Said to bring good dreams. Piece in collection of James Miller.







BAKU 獏 - Eater of Nightmares

Hōkaiji Temple 宝戒寺 (Kamakura)



Above two photos by A-to-Z Dictionary



BAKU 獏 - Eater of Nightmares

Yagumo Jinja Shrine 八雲神社 (Tokiwa, Kamakura)

Dedicated to Susano Ō no Mikoto 須佐之男命, Hayatama no Ō no Mikoto 速玉之男命, and Izanami no Mikoto 伊弉冉命.





BAKU 獏 - Eater of Nightmares

by Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760 to 1849)

Photo courtesy Evgeny Steiner (SOAS)

BAKU 獏 - Eater of Nightmares

Painting on Door (cedar), by Soga Shōhaku

曽我蕭白 (1730-1781). At Asada-ji Temple 朝田寺, Matsusaka City, Mie Pref. Photo this J-Site.

Mujina 貉 or 貉

Image from the San-ts'ai t'u-hui 三才圖會, a Chinese document dated to 1609 / 1610.

In Japan, the Mujina 貉 is considered equivalent to the Tanuki. But the above image looks strikingly

similar to a Baku, especially the long nose. Indeed, it looks very similar to the prior drawing by

Katsushika Hokusai. San-ts'ai t'u-hui 三才圖會 can also be romanized as Sāncái Tú Huì, or Sansai Zue.



Writes scholar Evgeny Steiner (SOAS): "Mujina is related to the Tanuki, and, as far as I know, has

no relationship to Baku. In Japan, Mujina was mentioned in the Nihon Shoki 日本書紀 (aka Nihongi or

Chronicles of Japan, released around 720 AD). Toriyama Sekien 鳥山石燕 (1712 – 1788) depicted him in his

Konjaku Gazuzoku Haykki 今昔画図続百鬼 (1779), and Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760 to 1849) most

probably used Sekien's iconography (as well as that of the Sansai Zue)." <end quote> Photo courtesy this J-Site.



BAKU 獏 - Eaters of Nightmares

Mitake Jinja 御嶽神社 (also read Ontake Jinja) near Oami City, Chiba.

Photos by A-to-Z Dictionary

Mitake shrines are associated with the beliefs and practices of the Ontake mountain cult at Mt. Ontake in Kiso (Nagano Prefecture), with the deity Zaō Gongen, and with Japan’s Shugendō sects. The shrine here in Chiba is dedicated to Emperor Ankan 安閑天皇 (mid-6th century AD; 27th emperor of Japan) and also to Sukunahiko 少彦名命, a kami who assisted Ōnamuchi 大己貴神 (aka Ōkuninushi 大国主神, the land-forming kami) in the development of the land, and is thus considered an agricultural deity and tutelary of grains. Ōkuninushi is often identified with the Hindu-Buddhist deity Daikokuten 大黒天 (god of agriculture, commerce, and luck). Ōkuni 大国 can also be read "daikoku," which helps to explain the association with Daikokuten. During his reign, Emperor Ankan is credited with the construction of state granaries in large numbers throughout Japan. This small shrine in Chiba is located in a remote rural area devoted to rice growing.



Modern Baku carvings from the Kazushi Nishimoto Workshop 西本彫刻所

Located in Matsuyama City 松山市, Ehime Prefecture. See their J-Site.

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ū ā ō Ō Ū