Kodama Mouse（koh-DAH-mah NEH-zoo-mee）

A curated version of a mountain anomaly told among matagi hunters in northern Akita, framed within hunting rites and taboos. It looks like a dormouse or tiny field mouse, round, small, and quick. When it faces a person, it suddenly swells and unleashes a single blast like a gunshot. In many accounts it bursts apart, scattering flesh and viscera, while other tellings say it only bounces about and booms without exploding. Either way, an encounter is a dire sign of the mountain god’s anger or warning, and hunts were to be halted after a sighting. To continue was feared to bring empty bags, bad weather, or avalanches. To avert the curse one should descend the mountain and purify oneself at home by chanting “Namu Aburaunken Sowaka.” As for origins, one tale says seven matagi of the Kodama school were punished and became Kodamanezumi, while another reads the legend as a taboo memory arising from digging up hibernating dormice. Dates and sources are uncertain, with most accounts preserved orally.