Real Fairies

I do happen to have something to share from when I was in Japan with some of my relatives. I'm not entirely sure how relevant this is to faerie experiences…whatever it was, it certainly was interesting and I figured that I would share with everyone :] (Warning: another long post!)

We stayed in a ryokan (traditional-style Japanese inn) during the few days we spent in Tokyo. It was in a nice, quiet little neighborhood within walking distance of Ueno Zoo as well as several shrines, including the Nezu-jinja Shinto shrine. Well, one morning we decided to explore the area and walk over to the shrines before finding our way to Mitaka…the main Nezu-jinja shrine was interesting, definitely. But it was one of the shrines off to the side that caught our attention.

There were two Inari shrines across the street, set on a hill to the side of the main shrine. It was really neat, with the corridors of torii gates on the paths leading to them…the first shrine seemed newer, or perhaps it had been repainted recently. But the second shrine was very old, the kitsune/fox statues were crumbling, and the main stone torii gate was weathered. But despite its tiny size and its age, there was definitely a presence there. Even my aunt, who is a bit of a skeptic, could feel it. Whatever was there was very powerful and its presence was one of the strongest we felt throughout the trip, and it seemed patient and gentle. When we left my aunt noticed that her bad knee no longer bothered her, and it didn't hurt again until we left Japan. But as our day went on my thoughts would not let go of the shrine. It was as if something as tugging on the back of my mind the entire day (and, as it turned out, for a few days after that as well).

That night in the ryokan, I made sure that my door was shut and locked like I did every night before going to sleep. We were in Japan at the end of the rainy season, and there was a heavy storm that night that kept me from actually falling asleep…lots of wind and thunder rattling the windows. So I kind of dozed…I thought I heard someone walk down the hall and briefly (accidentally?) knock on my door. I was too tired to get up, so I pretended I was already asleep. But then an image popped into my head of a tiny child-sized figure sitting cross-legged in the corner of my room. Pictures pop into my head before I fall asleep very often, so I didn't think too much of it and I went to sleep, although it seemed this being was still there. About an hour later my aunt woke me up, saying that she was on her way to finish a load of laundry down the hall and my door was unlocked and wide open. I thanked her and closed and locked it again, and by now I was kind of shaken. But none of my belongings had been moved or taken; everything was still there…including this little figure still diligently sitting in the corner. It was silent, but from what I could tell, almost cute despite its dignified posture. It didn't feel dangerous or threatening at all, so I was finally able to fall asleep. It seemed to follow me for a few days after that, fading away somewhere in Kyoto…and all that time it never said a word, even when I asked it questions in broken Japanese. I just wish I'd been able to learn more about this little spirit…or whatever it was :] I'm not certain if it was a Kitsune or something else entirely since it didn't seem interested in playing tricks or interacting very much at all, but any sort of research I've done hasn't gotten very far. I'll have to scan a sketch I made of it and see what others think.

And if you'd like I'll upload a couple of pictures from the shrine itself once I'm able to dig them up :]

Wow, Hatter, What an honor for that spirit to have visited you! I think he is who helped ease your aunt's arthriits on the trip.

I would love to see the scanned image  as well as the photographs of the shrine!

He sounds like such a beautiful Being!   I said a prayer for him

hugs

Lisa

That's really interesting! It very well may have been connected to the ryokan where we stayed…the place had been run by the same family for years, and since the shrine was very close by…I wonder :]

I can't seem to find the sketch I made (I'll have to look for tomorrow or something), but from what I remember, it looked kind of like a kokeshi doll, and its hair was long (the bangs were long enough to cover its eyes, so I couldn't see them). Its clothing looked like it was dark red…it wore ballooned hakama pants (I remember that because its feet looked so small in comparison) under a simple long-sleeved kimono-style top that went down to around its knees. Its obi was black and tied in a large bow on its back, it was very cute. No shoes though. I do seem to remember it having some sort of pointed animal ears, but thinking back now, those could have easily been hair bows or something~

It did seem very curious, even if there were a lot of other foreigners staying at the same ryokan. Do you know if they usually live alone, or could there be more than one zashiki-warashi in a household?

Hatter said:

It did seem very curious, even if there were a lot of other foreigners staying at the same ryokan. Do you know if they usually live alone, or could there be more than one zashiki-warashi in a household?

It may have sensed your sensitivity to otherworldly phenomena and sought you out. In my limited experience, the Japanese tend to be much more superstitious than your average American (or Westerner, for that matter); so despite having so many foreign guests, you probably stood out.

In a busy place like a ryoukan, I wouldn't think it unusual to have more than one zashiki-warashi running about (lots to help out with there!). I can ask my boyfriend's mother about it, if you'd like? She's secretly into all sorts of spooky, semi-occult stuff lol XD

Also, there is a sort of folk-legend entity called “Kodomo-sama” (honorable child, for lack of a better translation. A teacher of mine translated a story by this name, and called it “Holy Terror,” because of the nature of the being). Kodomo-sama is a mischievous child-like spirit, usually no older than 7 in appearance, who joins groups of kids and causes mayhem (mayhem for adults anyway). Kodomo-sama has been described as the strange child on the playground, the extra voice in a group of children, the extra shuffling of feet after everyone is lined up/seated in class, the extra force behind the antics children get themselves into. Usually they're found in school settings, or similar places with a large group of children, so I don't know how relevant that is to your encounter, but I thought you'd find the trivia interesting at least.

It could have even been a ghost. The reason I guess this is mainly because you say it appeared to be wearing hakama, and hakama make me think of Meiji-era schoolgirls lol. But the otherworldly touches, like its hair and what seemed like ears, also suggest something a bit more otherworldly to me.

Aww what a fun experience! Maybe if you return the yokai/zashiki-warashi will be waiting for you n_n

Ah, I'm so sorry I've been away from here for so long! But I finally was able to find the pictures I'd promised~

But I've done some additional reserch (and still wasn't able to find much xD) and I've come up with an another guess–I found a bit of information on something called an ato-oi-kozo, does anyone know anything about that? All I could glean was that it was a spirit (possibly of a deceased child) that followed people. I never got any sort of feeling from this little spirit, except for that it was vaguely curious and followed me around…

Anyway, here's the pictures:

^The stairs leading to the shrine itself, at the top. The path with the red torii gates was to the side, through the trees.

^The statues that were behind each of the stone lamps in front of the shrine. They are foxes/kitsune, aren't they? Like I said, we couldn't really tell because they were so worn, so correct me if I'm wrong.

^A very poor, quick sketch of what I saw of the spirit in my mind's eye, edited so that the lines would be clearer. It was about three feet tall and its hair was dark…And like I said, the ears may or may not have been ears at all and it may or may not have had a tail, but it was dark in my room, so it was very hard to tell. I also don't remember how its kimono-top was folded over, but I just drew it with the right side over the left. I know that it would probably make a difference in identifying it if I could actually remember ^-^'

If anyone would like bigger pictures, please let me know ^-^ And Cocoa, I would not be surprised in the least if the presence at the shrine did turn out to be a kami. It certainly felt powerful enough. I just thought it was interesting how this all happened in the same day :]

We did go to Kyoto, but we were staying in Tokyo (in the Nezu/Ueno area) when this all took place. And thanks for the information; it doesn't really seem to fit with the ato-oi-kozo. Zashiki-warashi seems to be much closer to what this could have been…still, I'm not too sure. And as for its clothes, its outfit seemed to be a dark red, almost maroon, with no pattern that I could see.

And I was wondering about spirits and their kimonos as well! That is, the ones that do wear such clothing…Although I did hear while we were in Kyoto (if I'm correct) that Shinto gods typically don't associate themselves with the dead, but would that apply to spirits/yokai as well? I mean, obviously not all of them, since there are some that, like you said, are a “spirit of a deceased such-and-such,” or even a human or object that had been cursed or enchanted or animated. Hmm. It's fascinating to think about.

And I told another friend this story and showed her the sketch and pictures, and her immediate thought was that it was something that had been attached to one of the statues at the shrine. Dunno how probable that would be, but I thought it was a fun little idea to play around with :]