Nebutori – [yokai]

Description

Nebutori  – [Yokai | Kibyo.] – 寝肥 (ねぶとり)

• About this Yokai: Nebutori is a “Strange-Illness, Curse, or Disease” (which only ever effects conventionally attractive, slim women.) It manifests in those who eat too soon before laying down to nap or sleep; causing them to suddenly gain massive amounts of weight and expand to a scary-large, gigantic size overnight! They become so massive that they can no longer fit on a single mattress (often taking up 7 or more.) They suddenly develop insatiable appetites and eventually they grow so massive that they cannot leave their rooms on their own! … As they snooze, they snore so loudly & obnoxiously that it reverberates like a thunder clap, with such force that it shakes carts out on the street and can be heard for miles around… Their personalities change; often becoming lazy, snobbish, fussy and overall uncharming, incredibly demanding gluttons who lose all sex appeal. Their spouses become fed up with their attitudes and soon leave them…

Occasionally; rather than necessarily being an illness, Nebutori is alternatively said to be the results of a Kitsune possession or a Tanukis cruel prank!

• History & Early Appearances: Nebutori are a yokai-illnesses which personify the superstition that “Sleeping after eating will make you gain weight.”  Stories of Nebutori satirize the stereotype of women who ‘let themselves go’ after they attain a husband; it is believed to have originated as something of a disparaging, cautionary tale to warn women about eating/sleeping excessively. Thus, this Yokai is essentially a personification of unsolicited advice (& body shaming. unfortunately.) In olden times; Women where expected to be the picture of elegance at all times; quiet, slim, fashionable, well behaved & “demure” no matter what. Rather than as people with their own sets of circumstances & preferences. Anyone that didn’t fit into that ideal box was admonished, disparaged, shamed or otherwise ostracized. (Unfortunately in some circles, such misogynistic beliefs still hold strong to this day.) Even though this ‘curse’ mainly effects woman, they where presented mostly as punishments for their husbands. (A couple of similar yokai are those such as Futakuchi-onna & Rokurokubi.)

The earliest illustration of “Nebutori” appears in “Ehon Hyaku Monogatari.” 絵本百物語 – [by Takehara Shunsen, 1841] – The short, accompanying legend goes something a little like this:

“Long ago, there was a woman of striking beauty; yet when she fell fast asleep, her body would swell to fill the entire room, and her snoring was as loud as the rumbling of a cart. This, indeed, is what the world calls a ‘sleeping giant.’ ”

“Ehon Hyaku Monogatari.” – 絵本百物語 –  [Takehara Shunsen 1841]

Another story which mentions Nebutori, goes a bit like this:

“In Ōshū (Where today is present-day Aomori and Iwate Prefectures.) there was a young couple, the wife was slim and beautiful. But one day she caught Nebutori, and suddenly gained a massive amount of weight. The couple owned a large home with ten futons, the woman hogged seven to herself at a time; while her husband used only three. Such Nebutori are said to lack charm and are constantly noisy, so eventually, her husband’s patience ran out and he left her…” – [Katsumi Tada “竹原春泉 絵本百物語―桃山人夜話 “, 2007]

Other similar Stories to Nebutori are usually related to Tanuki-Tsuki. – [Note: Tsuki are types of Animal Possession; of which there are many kinds! back then it was how people would explain away mental illnesses & behaviours such as eating disorders, mania, etc. in this case, Tanuki are said to possess people causing them to have insatiable appetites.] A story; according to Shigeru Mizukis “Encyclopedia of Yokai” (2007) (which I’ve done my best to translate roughly from the french version below) goes something a bit like this:

“Once there was a frail, seventy year old woman with a bad back and weak legs, she lived alone and was seemingly on her deathbed. One night, while she was asleep, (though, we dont know exactly how this happened) she was possessed by a Tanuki. She awoke full of energy her legs worked and her back was strong, she had an insatiable, voracious appetite! She ate enough for 10 people, drank, and loudly sang a strange song (which nobody had heard before) and then quickly fell back to sleep! The sudden ruckus and odd behaviour concerned her neighbour who called a doctor, when he arrived, the old woman couldn’t move again, and was once again bedridden, but her pulse was OK; so, the doctor chalked it up to simply the ‘quirks of old age’ and left her there. The neighbour kept a closer eye on her, and apparently every night something like a will-o-wisp would visit her room, and she would get up. eat, drink, dance and sing very loudly, the sound of Drums, a Flute and a Shamisen could be heard, it was like there was a big party going on. The neighbour testified as having seen Tanuki hair and fur scattered all over her room…”

This is a retelling; it seems that either Mizuki or (perhaps the french translator?) embellished a little? – In an earlier version of this story from 1828’s Shichuso, “視聴草” ‘Tales of Looking and Listening’ – The story instead has a somewhat gory ending with the Old lady dying and the Tanuki springing forth from her mouth! – [You can read the full translation of that over on Zach Davissons blog, Hyakkumonogatari.]

— In another tangentially related ‘possession’ story, that which involves a particular scene from a storybook from 1805 画本玉藻譚 “Gahon Tamamo-tan“on page 168: Tomamonomae, The evil 9 tailed kitsune, is being hunted in the Nasano plains by government hired monks; she uses a spell which fattens up an old lady (innocent-by-stander) as a distraction while she escapes. [More about tamamonomae, & her hunt/execution in my kitsune section.] Occasionally this is cited as something similar to Nebutori (though, i’d suppose it is often omitted or considered different, because it doesn’t happen over-night, but rather immediately? After all in the story it is blamed on “a magical spell.”) … (To be quite honest; inflating someone as a distraction for escaping, feels a bit more akin to something ‘bugs bunny’ would do.)

[画本玉藻譚 “Gahon Tamamo-tan” Image source – page 168]

Somewhat Conversely to what I’ve mentioned thus far, in the modern day, Nebutori is quite often mistakenly cited as an example of one of the earliest cases of Fat Fetish/Inflation/BBW art. — (Just google “Nebutori” & scroll through images a little, You’ll see what I mean.) — However; I’d say because of its negative origin, it was likely intended to be the exact opposite (disparaging to fat women rather than an expression of something to be desired?) I mention this as i feel it’s somewhat important to be careful not to overly conflate the two, during my research I found that many people (including a wiki page or two) seemingly have. (Just saying, historically, nebutori has a mean spirited/misogynistic origin.) — But! that said, lm not gonna yuck anyone’s yum! – I also feel its important to end this with the note; Big girls rock, live on your own terms and love the skin your in. 💁‍♀️

its a bit difficult to show her size without a good background (Note to self find a dollhouse and take better pics later.) its a bit difficult to show her size without a good background… (Note to self find a dollhouse and take better pics later.) – Here she is compared to an avarage 5″ sized futakuchi-onna sticker, she prints at about 8″ by default! (i can only get 2 stickers per page! so this one will indeed be rare!)

[ Art by @samkalensky.com (yo thats me!) part of my Hyakki Yagyo collection of Yokai stickers, follow and support for many more ]