According to legend, Kamaitachi are the most terrible yokai in Japan. They usually live in a cold mountainous area. They are 3 ferrets with sharp claws and always go together. Sometimes, they are depicted as triplets, but there is also a legend that they are a family consisting of: father, mother and child. Kamaitachi became the terror of the people when often cutting people's feet. The trio of Kamaitachi are described as having the ability to move at lightning speed, ride on winds, and move so fast that the human eye cannot see them coming and going. They cut the victim's leg without them even knowing it.
When the victim is detected, each Kamaitachi will be assigned a separate task. Specifically, the first weasel is responsible for falling victim. The first one is responsible for pushing down the victim, the second one with extremely sharp claws (or carries a sickle) is responsible for causing cuts on the victim's legs. The other one is responsible for applying medicine to heal the cuts for the victim. Because Kamaitachi moves so quickly and cuts off human legs in the blink of an eye, it is often difficult for victims to detect them. They were shocked when they suddenly discovered that their leg was painful and the wound was not bleeding. In the end, the victim was shocked to discover that she had lost her leg at any time, and she needed the help of others.
Legends by area
Devilish winds that would cut people are told about in the Chūbu, Kinki, and other regions. There are many legends passed down in snowy regions and there are some regions that call whirlwinds themselves "kamaitachi". On occasions of cold wind and other times, they are also a strange event of where one would fall and get a leg injury.
In the Shin'etsu region, a kamaitachi is said to be the work of an evil god and there is a folk belief that one would encounter calamity by stepping on a calendar. It is counted among the seven mysteries of Echigo.
In the Tōhoku region, when one receives an injury from a kamaitachi, it is said that by burning an old calendar black and putting it on the wound, it would heal
In Hida, in the Niu River basin, they are said in legends to be a company of 3 evil gods and the first god would knock down the person, the next god would cut with a blade and the third god would put some medicine on it which is why there is no bleeding or pain. There are also regions that think of these three gods as a parent, child and brother.
In the Yoshio District area of the Nara Prefecture, it is said that when one gets bit by a kamaitachi invisible to the human eye, one would tumble over, even though no blood comes out, there is a big opening in the flesh.
In the eastern part of the Aichi Prefecture, they are also called idzuna and it is said that since an izuna-user once forgot to tell his disciple about how to seal an izuna, the runaway izuna would ride on whirlwinds and attack people in order to suck their living blood It is said that the reason why no blood comes from the wounds from a kamaitachi is because the blood is being sucked away.
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