Kijimuna

Kijimuna is a tree spirit said to dwell in old gajumaru (banyan) trees of Okinawa, in the form of a red-haired, red-faced child. The figure unites the roles of a benevolent ally who teaches the sea-fishing grounds and a mischievous spirit who brings harm if angered. The figure is particular to the Ryukyu cultural sphere of the Okinawan main island and nearby outlying islands. The canonical narrative places the figure on a beach or at the foot of a gajumaru at night, granting plentiful fishing to those who become friendly with it. Kijimuna is said to eat only the left eye of fish, so fish washed up on the shore with the left eye removed are taken as its work. Anger-triggers (cutting down the tree, breaking wind in front of it, or showing it an octopus) cause it to attach to a person and bring misfortune. Cognate cases are recorded across the northern Yanbaru of the main island, Miyako, and the Yaeyama islands. The Ryukyu folk-studies and classical-studies tradition records the figure, including Yamada Minoru's Okinawa no Minzoku to Saishi, Miyagi Shinji's Okinawa no Minzoku, and Iha Fuyu's Ko-Ryukyu. Yanagita Kunio's Kaijo no Michi also discusses the figure as a Ryukyuan tree spirit. The Okinawa Prefectural University of the Arts and Okinawa Prefectural Museum folklore archives, and the Nichibunken Strange Phenomena and Yokai Folklore Database compile cases; Murakami Kenji's Nihon Yokai Daijiten (Kadokawa, 2005) treats it as an independent entry. Regional names include Kijimun (north of the main island), Bunagaya (Miyako), and Se / Yamangarasa (Yaeyama).