Japan is filled of local legends and interesting ghost stories and Tokyo, its metropolitan capital, is no exception.
For example, in the otherwise residential Katsushika Ward lies a small pond called Kenashi-ike, a rare strip of unbridled nature in urban capital.
Covered with water lilies and parrot’s feather, it is frequented by ducks and herons, but also with some crucian carps and invasive turtles swimming about.
Moreover, all around the pond are signs warning visitors not to fish, as the site is sacred.
Not by chance, a small shrine stands there, dedicated to the god of water Mikumari-no-kami.
But if that is not enough, Kenashi-ike is said to be haunted by a loyal messenger of Mikumari-no-kami himself, who takes the form of a giant white snake.
It has manifested itself quite a few times, even in recent history.
For example, according to local sources, the pond was once to be landfilled, but it rained on and on until the project was canceled altogether.
Maybe because of the wrath of the water god?
According to another story, when the original shrine was lost in a fire, all that remained was a scroll depicting the snake and, the very same year, a 15-meters-long snake track was found in the neighborhood, shocking the locals.
Though the shrine is best known as a bringer of rain, where people of the area prayed in times of drought, it is also believed to bring pubic hair, among others.
According to the legend, a girl once drowned herself in the pond after despairing that she couldn’t grow pubic hair.
But perhaps this bizarre anecdote is only a poor attempt at explaining the name of the pond, as Kenashi (怪無; literally “strangeness-less”) is synonymous with kenashi (毛無, meaning “hairless”).
In any case, whether the god has such power or not, and whether anyone has ever prayed for pubes here or not, remain a mystery…!
Images from web – Google Research