Kappa (folklore)

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Kappa

Drawing of a kappa copied from Koga Tōan's Suiko Kōryaku (1820)
Grouping	Kami and yōkai
Other name(s)	Gatarō, Kawako
Country	Japan

In traditional Japanese folklore a kappa (河童, "river-child")—also known as kawatarō (川太郎, "river-boy"), komahiki (駒引, "horse-puller"), with a boss called kawatora (川虎, "river-tiger") or suiko (水虎, "water-tiger")—is a reptiloid kami with similarities to yōkai. Kappa can become harmful when not respected as gods. Accounts typically depict them as green, human-like beings with webbed hands and feet and turtle-like carapaces on their backs. A depression on the head, called a "dish" (Japanese: sara), retains water, and if this is damaged or its liquid is lost (either through spilling or drying up), a kappa becomes severely weakened.

The kappa favor cucumbers and love to engage in sumo-wrestling.^[1] They are often accused of assaulting humans in water and removing a mythical organ called the shirikodama from their victim's anus.^[2]