KAPPA - hanzaki salamander

LINK
http://haikuandhappiness.blogspot.jp/2007/06/lizard.html
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source :　library666.seesaa.net

sanshoouo, sanshoo uo
山椒魚 さんしょううお salamander
..... hanzaki はんざき "cut in half"
(referring to the tail that might come off in danger, but the animal is not killed by this)

..... hashigami uo 椒魚（はしがみうお）"mountain pepper fish"
aburame 油魚（あぶらめ）"oil fish"
hatake dojoo はたけどじょう "loach of the field"
Hakone sanshoo uo 箱根山椒魚（はこねさんしょううお）
"salamander from Hakone"
Fuji sanshoo uo 富士山椒魚（ふじさんしょううお）
"salamander from Mount Fuji"


The hanzaki
is an aggressive salamander that grabs its prey with its powerful jaws.

- quote -
the Hanzaki is harmless... but others seem to disagree, as it does possess a good bite and has bitten humans prying too near its underwater home. Granted, the salamander in the River Monsters video is pretty pissed off at being unceremoniously ripped from its hiding hole.

. . . Anyhow ... here's some facts:
also known as the giant pepper fish (Ōsanshōuo
(オオサンショウウオ/大山椒魚)
lives to about 80 years of age - a captive one live for 52 years;
5-feet (1.524 meters) long;
50 pounds (22.7 kilograms);
long muscular body;
has hands and fingers;
has rows of hidden teeth inside its mouth;
eats fish, but will swallow it whole, where the fish is alive inside it until its gastric juices kill it;
nocturnal;
lives in cool, clear streams;
when threatened it releases a milky substance that smells like pepper;
poor eyesight;
has sensory cells along body that help it hunt and sense prey;
lays eggs under water - two eggs sacs each containing about 70 eggs at a time;
2nd-largest salamander in world after Chinese Giant Salamander at 1.8 meters (6-feet);
survivor from the Upper Jurassic age of 140 million years ago.

According to a story from Japan, about 400 years ago in Asahigawa Asahi River at a placed called Ryuto-ga-fuchi (Dragon's Head Abyss) locals say there was a giant Giant Salamander that was 11 meters (36 feet) in length with a body diameter of about 5.5 meters (18 feet).
... So... do the legends of the Japanese Kappa water spirit owes it origins to the Hanzaki Japanese giant salamander?
We'll never know, of course, unless someone invents a WayBack Machine... but it seems as good a place to start as any.
source : Andrew Joseph



. Kappa names - hanzaki はんざき . 　
- The Kappapedia Blog -


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