This time, I'll tell you about the Japanese folklore which is hidden in the names of Sushi. Do you know Kappa-maki and Inari-zushi ?

Kappa-maki is cucumber rolled sushi and Inari-zushi is brown squared sac-shaped sushi which is made of a "fried bean curd" (Japanese name is aburage). So what is Kappa ? What is Inari ?

I'll introduce you our lovely and wicked monster Kappa (see the illustration left). This is him. He is a spirit of water. His name in kanji means big river and a child. He has a green body and looks like a child. He has a plate on the top of his head. This plate is the source of his power, so if the plate becomes dry, he dies. He lives in a pond or a river. He sometimes plays tricks on people, so he is loved as a comical folk character, but he sometimes pulls a child down into the water, so he is also feard as a bad spirit. His favorite food is cucumber. People offer cucumbers to him at a festival to avoid a water disasters. For this reason, we call cucumber rolled sushi "Kappa maki" .

Next is Inari. Inari is a kind of shrine where the spirit of a rice field is enshrined. We always see red "Torii", red flags and dolls of vixens in an Inari shrine. Vixens are messengers of the spirit and they love "aburage" very much. So we offer aburage to pray for a good harvest. The origin of Inari-zushi is that it was sold in a big and famous Inari shrine.

When we eat these two sushi, we remember this green monster and spiritual vixens subconsciously.