Whale Gods of Asia and Oceana: Japan

[neptunesdolphins]

 Like Vietnam, Japan has whale shrines (Kujira Jinjya) and “Whale Gates” (Kujira Torii). These shrines are mounds of buried bones from whales. Each mound is marked with memorial stones. Towns, along the Japanese coasts, maintain whale graveyards (Kujira Haka) and whale monuments (Kujira Ishibumi). These shrines feature plaques with Buddhist prayers for the whale. Each prayer asks the Buddha to allow the Whale achieve sainthood. Later, the Japanese hold Buddhist services for the spirit of the Whale.

 

In Japan, a beached whale is an emissary of Ebisu, the God of Abundance. As One of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, Ebisu sends bountiful catches to the fishermen. Sometimes Ebisu is represented by the living Whale. However, the Whale God (Kujira Gami) is the Whale Himself.

 

In Seiyo City, which lies in the mountains of Japan, a massive whale “beached” there during the Great Tenpo Famine of 1837. This whale saved the people of the area from starving. In gratitude, the local villagers buried the whale, giving Him the posthumous Buddhist name of “The Great Whale Scholar of the Universe Who Brings Health.” (This particular custom is usually done only for great lords.)

 

For people who have harmed or hunted whales, the Bake-Kujira (the Ghost Whale) curses them. Also known as Hone Kujira (Bone Whale), the Bake-Kujira is a skeleton whale, who travels with an entourage of strange fish and birds. The Bake-Kujira, who is a baleen whale, brings fires and plagues to the areas harming the whales.