Saturday, July 31, 2010

give me a cuke

Suganuma Ryuko, whose family runs the best traditional sweet shop in Tono, sent this wowie postcard of the mischievous water imps known as kappa. Fond of cucumbers, kappa are much associated with Tono and other places in Iwate prefecture. The Legends of Tono, a remarkable collection of down-and-dirty local tales first published 100 years ago, contains several stories about kappa. The book is definitely worth a search.