What is a kijimuna?
The kijimuna is a tree spirit or yokai of Okinawa Prefecture. It lives in old great trees such as banyans (gajumaru), and appears as a child-sized figure that is red all over or has red hair. Its name differs by region: in Ogimi Village in the north of the main island it is called bunagaya, and elsewhere kijimun or sema.
As a tree spirit it is compared to the mainland kodama, and as a child-like figure that brings luck to a house it is compared to the zashiki-warashi; it is sometimes introduced as “Okinawa’s zashiki-warashi.”
What the kijimuna likes and dislikes
The kijimuna is good at fishing in the sea, and if it becomes friends with a human, it takes them night fishing and helps them catch plenty of fish. But it eats only the left eye (or the eyes) of the fish, so the fish of a house that fishes with a kijimuna all have one eye missing, it is said.
It is said to hate octopus, chickens and farts; showing it these, cutting down its home tree or driving nails into it makes the kijimuna angry and it leaves. Stories also tell of houses that fell into ruin after it broke off ties, or of people being pinned down at night in a “kijimuna sleep paralysis.”
Kijimuna fire and the kijimuna today
Mysterious lights that appear at night on beaches and fields are called kijimuna-bi (kijimuna fire) and were said to be the lights of the kijimuna fishing. On the night of “Yokabi” around the 10th day of the 8th lunar month, seeing such lights was said to bring misfortune to the family, and in many places people kept watch for them.
Today the kijimuna is loved less as a fearsome yokai than as a symbol of Okinawa, and it appears in folk crafts, souvenirs and local mascots. Ogimi Village has declared itself “the home of the bunagaya.”
