An eight-day monk

Once upon a time, Konandai was still called "Miyagaya Village."
In Shimobane, there was a shrine of Sanno Shrine.
Mr. Sanno was feared as a god of fever in this village.
The fever is smallpox, which is now called smallpox. In the past, many children died of such diseases. Adults were making stories of youkai so that their children would not approach or mischief the god.
The youkai is a small, very weak youkai, but before dawn on December 8th, you come to the village out of nowhere and look into each house.
"I wonder if there are any bad children?"
It was said that he walked in search of the house with the children and brought various waffles.
The villagers were afraid of the youkai. Because the child in the house where the youkai came came became feverish or got sick.
Therefore, the villagers shared their wisdom together, and on the evening of December 7, the day before the youkai passed in front of the house, on the evening of December 7, the day before the youkai passed in front of the house, "Zaru" and "back squid" with more eyes larger than the youkai. I decided to put it on the eaves of the house.
Rather than youkai, it seemed that there was a youkai with more eyes than youkai, and tried to be frightened.
However, the monster who came to Noba had a book, and looked into the house that had no "zaru" or "square" on the book.
Then, on February 8, when the year was over, I came back to the village again and looked around the house on the book I looked up at, and if there were no "zaru" or "back squidgo" came out, this time I really went out of trouble and illness.
Therefore, the adults in the village called the monster "eight days" so as not to forget "eight days".
This custom is still handed down and left throughout the Konan Ward.

This is a story recorded in "Hometown Konan's Old Story".
Each folk tale is free to use in principle only for non-commercial purposes.
For more information, please contact the Konan History Council.
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