Tsuchigumo- Japanese CreatureCreature · Monster"Earth Spiders"

Earth Spiders

The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki use the term tsuchigumo, "earth spider," for indigenous peoples who lived in caves and resisted Yamato imperial expansion. Over centuries, the name shifted from a designation for rebellious humans to a word for monstrous spider creatures that lurked underground and preyed on the living.

The Illness of Raikō

The most celebrated tsuchigumo tale centers on Minamoto no Yorimitsu (Raikō), the warrior hero of numerous Heian-era demon-slaying legends. Raikō fell mysteriously ill with a wasting sickness no physician could diagnose. Each night, a figure appeared at his sickbed in the guise of a Buddhist monk, ostensibly to tend to him. His condition worsened with each visit.

Raikō eventually perceived the visitor's true nature and struck the disguised creature with his sword. The being fled, leaving a trail of blood. Raikō dispatched his retainers, the legendary Shitennō, to follow the trail. It led to a cave where they discovered a spider of enormous size. They killed it. Raikō's illness lifted immediately.

The Silk Threads

The Noh play Tsuchigumo stages the same legend. The spider first appears as a wandering monk who attempts to ensnare the ailing Raikō with magical threads. After Raikō wounds the creature, warriors track it to its lair and destroy it. The play's most memorable moment is the actor casting long threads of silk or paper across the stage to represent the spider's web, each strand catching the light as it arcs through the air.