Kokkuri

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Kokkuri (こっくり, 狐狗狸) or Kokkuri-san (こっくりさん) is a Japanese game popular during the Meiji era that is also a form of divination, based partially on Western table-turning and is very similar to the Ouija board. The name kokkuri is an onomatopoeia meaning "to nod up and down", and refers to the movement of the actual kokkuri mechanism. The kanji used to write the word is an ateji, although its characters reflect the popular belief that the movement of the mechanism is caused by supernatural agents (ko 狐, kitsune; ku 狗, dog; ri 狸, tanuki).

The word kokkuri refers to the game, the actual physical apparatus, and kokkuri-san refers to the being that is summoned that is considered by the Japanese to be some sort of animal spirit that is a mix between a fox, dog, and raccoon. These three animals are meant to reflect the dual nature of the being that is believed to be summoned as it is considered to have different personalities at times. Such as the fox being a trickster or teacher, and the raccoon being a bearer of mischief and also a bearer of fortune. Kokkuri-san is believed to possess the apparatus in order to communicate with humans. The physical mechanism is composed of three bamboo rods arranged to make a tripod, upon which is placed a small pot, which is covered by a cloth. Three or more people will place their hands upon the kokkuri and ask the spirits a question, which that spirit will in theory answer by moving the pot or remaining still.

In Japan, this game is usually popular amongst school children which due to many things happening resulting from the games that were played, was eventually the spark for many mass nationwide media hysterias and enventually led Japanese schools to ban the game from being played at schools.

Japanese folklorist Inoue Enryō wrote about the kokkuri phenomenon, denouncing it as mere superstition, yet his efforts did not succeed in depopularizing the game. Some scientific figures of the age attempted to explain the phenomena with the more scientific sounding yet ultimately equally mysterious term "human electricity".

In popular culture[]

• In Gugure! Kokkuri-san, the three main yokai characters are a fox spirit (kitsune), dog spirit (inugami), and tanuki spirit (bake-danuki).
• In episode 5 of Nichijou, the character Yuuko Aioi goes to great lengths to explain the game to her classmate, Mio Naganohara, who then declines to play the game.

See also[]

• Ouija

References[]

• Smyers, Karen (1999). The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-2102-9.
• Foster, Michael Dylan (2008). Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yōkai. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25361-2.