Great CatfishTraditional Version: The Great Catfish Subdued by the Keystone

An image based on the early modern belief that a great catfish causes earthquakes and is held down by the keystones of Kashima and Katori Shrines. The ancient notion of an underworld dragon-serpent was reworked in early modern urban society into imagery for interpreting disasters and critiquing the times. After the Ansei Earthquake, many namazu-e prints were published, adding allegories of recovery and debt relief. Here the great catfish lies in the subterranean mud, at times shuddering to cause quakes, yet is pacified when pressed by the keystone. Regional lore links it to origin tales of stones, landforms, and river courses, serving as markers of shrine-temple origins and local spiritual power. It appears in early modern documents, broadsides, and origin tales without fixed personal names or lineage, told as a symbolic personification of earthquakes rather than an observed creature, with a yokai framework for interpreting calamities at its core.

This yokai is included in the following collections:

Colossal Yokai

A curated look at Japan’s colossal yokai—Gashadokuro, Umibozu, Daidarabocchi—and their overwhelming, mythic scale.

テーマ別

巨大な妖怪大きい妖怪

Yokai with similar personality and characteristics to Traditional Version: The Great Catfish Subdued by the Keystone

Ryōmen Sukuna

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Iso-onna

Shore-Shadow Devouring Iso-onna (Hamahime Lineage)

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Yokai with opposite personality and characteristics to Traditional Version: The Great Catfish Subdued by the Keystone

Hotei

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Kannon

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Chochin-obake (Lantern Ghost)

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