Gyukan – [yokai|KanNoMushi]

Description

Gyūkan – 牛癇, ぎゅうかん – “cow infection” – [Yokai|KanNoMushi]

• About this Mushi: an infectious white, cow-shaped germ with a red lolling tongue, underbelly and tail, it has incredibly sharp hooves and horns. It infests the lungs…Whenever the host eats or drinks something, The rumbling of food being swallowed/ falling through the esophagus triggers it!! The Gyukan excitedly lunges towards the meal, becomes upset and then stampedes around the lungs, causing the host to suddenly faint!

• Cure: There are many ways to treat it with acupuncture. (Unfortunately, as with most of the mushi, the various way to treat it where written about vaguely and only passed along orally from teachers to students.) – According to the Harikikigaki: as this infection spreads & ages, its horns become sharper & recovery through acupuncture becomes quite difficult. The Kyushu national museum’s book also notes that its important to try and strengthen the lungs!

• History: Another One out of 63 ‘KanNoMushi’ ‘疳の虫’ (germ/parasitic Yokai) from the “Harikikigaki” 針聞書 (“The book of needles.”) – A mysterious book about acupuncture & medical knowledge written in 1568 by a resident of Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.

•My Observations: The Kyushu national museum’s guide book labels these 3 (umakan, gyukan, jinshaku and two others) as “beast-type” infections! They certainly feel like they belong in a set. 🤔 I still can’t help but wonder if they’re shaped like the animal (or meat) that you might catch it from. (Though there’s nothing written that points towards that, But eating meat from these 3 animals would have also still been a big taboo at the time!!! In Japan, eating meat only became normalized past the end of the Meiji period (1868-1912) So it might make sense? 💁‍♀️) …Also in this Mushi’s credit: I’d be upset if the person i was stuck inside of wasn’t sharing food too…

[Art sticker by Samkalensky (yo thats me!) part of my Night parade of 100 yokai sticker collection, follow and support for many more!]