What is the omukade?
The omukade is a centipede yokai so huge it could wrap itself around a mountain. Especially famous is the giant centipede that coiled seven and a half times around Mount Mikami in Omi Province (today’s Shiga Prefecture), tormenting the family of the dragon god who lived in Lake Biwa.
Tawara Toda slays the giant centipede
When the Heian-period warrior Fujiwara no Hidesato (Tawara Toda) tried to cross the Seta Bridge over Lake Biwa, a great serpent was lying across it. Hidesato fearlessly stepped on its back and crossed. That night, a beautiful woman, the serpent in human form, appeared and asked him to slay the giant centipede of Mount Mikami. Hidesato shot at it with his bow, but the arrows bounced off. Then he wet the tip of his last arrow with saliva and loosed it, finally bringing the centipede down. In thanks, the dragon god gave him treasures such as a bale of rice that never ran out, which is why he came to be called “Tawara Toda” (Toda of the rice bale), it is said.
The legend and the region
The story is recorded in the Taiheiki and the otogizoshi tale Tawara Toda Monogatari, among others, and has long been loved. Mount Mikami is called “the Fuji of Omi” for its beautiful shape, and places linked to the legend remain at its foot. Centipedes were also closely associated with mining and metalworking, and one theory says the legend reflects disputes over mines.
