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Umibōzu （海坊主）

Origin

The origin of umibozu is unclear as there are no stories specifically referencing what caused its creation or its first appearance. One theory about the origin of umibozu is that they are the spirits of dead priests who were thrown into the ocean by Japanese villagers for some reason or another. Because their bodies have nowhere to be laid to rest, their souls inhabit the oceans and haunt it in the shape of a dark shadow, reaping its revenge upon any souls unlucky enough to come across it.

Physical Attributes

In Bakemonozukushie, umibozu is shown to have a shaved, smooth head and appears to be all black but it also looks like a mix between a dog and possibly a sea serpent and an octopus. Its arms end in what resembles hand made up of 5 tentacle-like appendages constituting a hand. It also has a longer body with fins running down its spine as the lower body disappears underwater, once again obscuring our view of its lower body and continuing the mystery of what its lower body looks like. Similar to most legends, the eyes are opened wide and it is smiling. Oddly enough there are two tentacle-like appendages coming from its face which could be feelers of some sort. According to my research, this is the only occurrence of these feelers and does not appear in any other legends or accounts.

The presence or sighting of an umibozu is widespread  and not an uncommon occurrence. Physically, it is often represented as a large, black humanoid figure which only ever rises from the ocean to about its waist, never revealing its lower half. According to most accounts, no one knows what the lower half of an umibozu looks like and thus this figure is shrouded in mystery. Some posit it has tentacles like an octopus  while others suggest it is purely humanoid and has two legs like the monks and Buddhas it resembles. The humanoid figure generally appears to be up to 10 meters tall, but can come in a variety of sizes. The sheer size of the yokai helps it to drown the sailors and break the ships it comes upon in the seas. Some stories claim an umibozu can break a ship in half with its hands or by swinging its arms. The body is jet black like that of a shadow with a shaved, smooth head like those of the monks and Buddhas of Japan. This is the only tie to Buddhism or any type of religion in most umibozu legends which seems strange. Normally, if a yokai looks a certain way it is to accomplish something specific to the spirit but umibozu seems to have no ties to Buddhism in anything beyond its appearance. Some accounts suggests umibozu appear to be praying and constantly smiling while their two, round eyes are opened wide in a constant stare. One common theme in every account is the eyes which seem to pierce the sailors and stands out in stark contrast with the black void of its skin. Some accounts suggest umibozu has two arms like a human and others suggest they resemble tentacles like that of an octopus.

Manifestations

Umibozu always appear only in the ocean, usually during peaceful waters and fair weather. These fair conditions would normally put the sailors at ease as they are literally “sailing on smooth waters” but the possible presence of a malicious spirit put many sailors on edge in these times of peaceful sailing. Upon its sudden rising from the ocean, causing waves and sometimes flipping ships or breaking them with its emergence, umibozu is accompanied by the winds begin to blow and waves toss the ship about. The appearance of an umibozu alone causes this dramatic shift in weather which puts any ship in immediate peril, not only from being capsized by the waves but also from being crushed by the yokai. This could be a mixing of the funa yurei legends which suggests these yokai appear during storms at sea. With very few first person sightings which are recorded or passed on, umibozu tends to have characteristics with other yokai. Similar to the funa yurei, umibozu either breaks the ship with its arms or it demands a barrel from the sailors which it consequently uses to drown the sailors by scooping up water and dumping it into the ships deck. Funa yurei use ladles to drown sailors in some Japanese legends while some accounts of umibozu claim it appears with a ladle for the same purpose. The only way to escape from an umibozu safely is to give it a bottomless barrel, such that it cannot scoop up water, thereby giving the sailors a chance to escape. While it is confused and attempting to scoop up the water in a futile effort, the sailors have just enough time to sail away to safety. The yokai seems to be foolish in the way it does not understand why it cannot scoop water with the bottomless barrel, possibly showing the superiority of humans over yokai in general. Normally, a chance encounter with umibozu is deadly for all and as such there are very few instances of first-person accounts of an umibozu encounter. Any survivors of such an encounter are due to their giving a bottomless barrel or if there were a shipwreck survivor adrift in the ocean who washed ashore.

Usually called the sea monk due to its kanji, umibozu has no ties to religion in any of its actions or sightings. Victims of this bakemono are random and have no ties to any action or belief. Sailors who were attacked were of no specific sect or religion as they are only ever described as pitiable sailors, the victims of an attack.