Nayami no mushi – [Yokai|KanNoMushi]

Description

Nayami no mushi – 悩みの虫, なやみのむし – “Worry worm”

• About this Mushi: A dreary, lugubrious worm which resides inside of the infected hosts lungs & chest area, it is shaped like a spring with evenly spaced black dots speckled along its coiled gray body; it has sad, melancholic, weary, drooping eyes… Those that are infected become extremely pessimistic, gloomy & weary of the world. (As though they have a heavy sense of grief, or regret on their minds constantly.) The smallest thing will make them extremely depressed. However; The worm also enjoys Sour foods and causes the host to have extreme cravings for pickles and other sour things like that [..Perhaps its their only relief?]

• Treatment: Bitter herbs such as Mokkō (Saussurea costus, aka “Medicinal Thistle Roots”) & Funabarasō (Vincetoxicum atratum, aka “Dogbane.”) are said to be effective cures to eliminate this dismal Mushi!

• 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.

[The original from 1568 via Kyoto museum. image source]

•My Observations: A worm which weighs in your chest and plunges you into a depression which is only relieved by sour foods, eh? very relatable. – By the way: I said “pickles” mainly because i couldn’t think of many other obviously ”Sour foods” (other than maybe plumbs?) that would have been readily available back in 1568? – (also i think a depressed worm that loves pickles specifically is a cute/funny mental image.) – Incidentally, its a bit funny how often pickles come up when it comes to yokai, but thats probably a testament to how old the art of pickling (called ‘Tsukemono’) is, it dates back in japan a very very long time! – [For a rundown about the History of that and a nifty ‘how to’ about Japanese pickling techniques (which there are a lot of!) – I’d reccomend this video!]

[art sticker by @samkalensky, part of my hyakki yagyo night parade of 100 demons sticker collection follow and support for many more!]