Japanese Folk Tale

118 The Yanagita Guide to the Japanese Folk Tale
Ishikawa: Ishikawa 949. No title. At Donokawa there is a ghost story
about "Chikkin Kaburi." It is not a detailed story.
Nomi-gun: MK II 6 34, "Nekomata of Tanitoge" (Tanitoge no Nekomata).
Fukui, Fukui City: MK II 3 44, "Destroying the ghost cat" (Bake neko
taiji). A cat in the tree-tops ate people at night. A samurai
destroyed it with more arrows than the cat could see. It does not
say how the cat protected itself. This is a fragment.
Nagano, Shimoina-gun: Mukashibanashi 49, "The mountain cat and the
hunter" (Yamaneko to ryoshi). The mountain cat was disguised as
an old woman. It is close to the story on Kikaijima.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 299, "The cat and the hunter"
(Neko to karyudo).
Aichi, Minamishidara-gun: Inoshishi 42, "The hunter long ago" (Mukashi
no karyudo). In one story the cat curled up on the teakettle lid,
counting the bullets. It carried the lid when it went into the
mountains.
Fukuoka, Chikujo-gun: Buzen, * "The badger with a bell on his head"
(Kane 0 kabutta tanuki).
Bungo (Oita): Sangaku XIX 3 79, "A legend about Kurogatake" (Kurogatake
no densetsu). It says an old monkey on Kokonoe Yama
Kurogatake wore a temple bell on its head.
Kitaamabe-gun: MK I 4 35, "Old Lady Shobe" (Shobe baba). A
hunter saw cats wrestling when he set out to hunt in the morning.
He shot Old Lady Shobe. He followed the trail of her blood to the
village and called at her house because of her injuries. He shot her
through the quilts and destroyed her.
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: Shima I 2 27, "The iron bullets" (Kurogane no
tama). Some parts are close to the Ina story. It is about shooting
wild boar and a pet cat. The hunter's wife came to meet him in
the mountains. He thought it was strange and shot her, but she
ran away. He traced the blood and found she was the pet cat. It
was dead at the altar of Hi-no-kami [Fire God] in the kitchen. It
does not say it counted the bullets.
112. Cat Mountain
or Nekomata
A certain man planned to cross the mountain on his way home
from Osarisawa to Kemanai, but when he got as far as Shinden, he
became confused and went back into the mountains. Farther on, he
saw a big, brightly lighted house and went to ask to stay there for the
night. The kitchen was crowded with women and children. When he
asked to stay, they agreed willingly. Presently a sliding door was
drawn back and an aged woman came in. She greeted him and said, "I
am the three colored cat which your grandfather kept for many years.
This place is called Nekomata where the unwanted cats of the village
gather. They have gone for your bedding for tonight, but if you stay,
they will kill you. Please hurry away. There is a small hole in the