Fern Flower
Published on November 9, 2018

Adzuki-arai

  • Adzuki-age
  • Adzuki-gosyagosya
  • Adzuki-sarasara
  • Adzuki-sogi
  • Adzuki-togi
  • Adzuki-yaroo
  • Fasolemoyka

Regions of expansion

Japan 1
Japan

Description

Azuki-arai (あずきあらい - the spelling of the name Adzuki-arai in Japanese and Latin) or Fasolemoyka (小豆洗い - the original Japanese spelling of the name Adzuki-arai and its literal translation).

In Japanese folklore, a demon washing red beans in the river and thereby creating a characteristic rustling knock (the sound comes from the void and can be heard even at a dried-up reservoir).

The spirit can also be entertained also by singing the phrase: "azuki togou ka, hito totte kuou ka? Seki-seki!". ("Am I going to grind Adzuki, or take and devour a person's flesh? Seki-seki!")

According to legend, anyone who gets too close to the place where the song sounds will inevitably fall into the water.

Although adzuki-araya has rarely been seen, since, despite his terrible song, he is a timid and harmless creature, he is often described as a short man with a grotesque appearance: a large balding head, crooked teeth, thin mustache and large bulging yellow eyes. Sometimes it has the appearance of a child, an old man or an old woman of small stature. The spirit wears torn clothes and forever bends over his vessel in which he washes adzuki beans.

According to one version, it may be the restless spirit of the boy.

Adzuki-arai in popular culture