“Ôkami is the Japanese name for the creature commonly called the Japanese wolf (Canus lupus hodophylax), which became extinct in 1905, though there have been many sightings since, mostly concentrating around the Kii Peninsula. “Wolves traditionally appeared in Japanese folklore as Shinto gods ( ookami) and divine messengers who occupied a world where sacred nature hadn’t been tamed by civilization. The Ainu people believed that they were born from the union of a wolf like creature and a goddess.” - from this wiki Talismans and charms adorned with images of wolves were thought to protect against fire, disease, and other calamities and brought fertility to agrarian communities and to couples hoping to have children. “In Japanese mythology, grain farmers once worshiped wolves at shrines and left food offerings near their dens, beseeching them to protect their crops from wild boars and deer. There are wolves in Japanese folklore! As mentioned above, in ancient Japan, wolves were once revered as gods. This may have an impact on the current popularity of wolves in literature, but there are still wolves Japanese pop culture and shows like Inuyasha and Princess Mononoke. The Hokkaido wolf is another sub-species of Grey wolf that was hunted and made extinct during the Meiji restoration period. By 1905 they had disappeared from the country.” Quoted from this article.
“Many Japanese once revered the wolf as Oguchi no Magami, or Large-Mouthed Pure God, but as Japan began its modern transformation wolves lost their otherworldly status and became noxious animals that needed to be killed. These wolves experienced a long fall from its status as a divine entity, to become hunted fugitives slaughtered by the hundreds only to turn into a forgotten footnote of Japanese natural history and a sought after cryptid said to still exist in the wilds.” The Honshuu wolf, also known as the Japanese wolf, is, quoted in this article, “the smallest species in the world and one which is relatively unknown even among the Japanese. I noticed this as well when I first got interested in Japanese folklore- so why? Real Wolves in Japan:įirstly, the Honshuu wolf has been supposedly extinct in Japan since 1905- they were hunted and killed since 1732. Omg I am so freaking happy you asked me about Japanese folklore, it is a big interest of mine!
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