What is the tenaga-ashinaga?
The tenaga-ashinaga is a pair of giants: “Tenaga,” with extremely long arms, and “Ashinaga,” with extremely long legs. They are said to be husband and wife or brothers, and sometimes the name is given to a single giant. They are often depicted with long-legged Ashinaga carrying long-armed Tenaga on his back into the sea, where Tenaga catches fish with his long arms; they are also called “ashinaga-tenaga.”
Legends of Mount Chokai and Mount Bandai
Mount Chokai, on the border of Akita and Yamagata prefectures, has a legend that the tenaga-ashinaga, with limbs long enough to reach from mountain to mountain, attacked travelers and ships on the Sea of Japan. The god of Mount Chokai (Omonoimi no Kami) is said to have sent a three-legged crow to warn people when the tenaga-ashinaga appeared. On Mount Bandai in Fukushima Prefecture, a story tells that the tenaga-ashinaga covered the sky with clouds so crops would not grow, until a traveling monk (said to be Kobo Daishi) sealed them on the summit.
The tenaga-ashinaga as gods
On the other hand, the tenaga-ashinaga are also worshipped as gods. In Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, there are Tenaga Shrine and Ashinaga Shrine, for gods who served the deity of Suwa. On Iki in Nagasaki Prefecture is Ame-no-Tanagao Shrine.
The tenaga-ashinaga painted at the palace
The Pillow Book and other works record that a screen in the Seiryoden hall of the Heian-period imperial palace was painted with the long-armed and long-legged people living in the rough seas. This subject comes from the countries of long-armed people and long-legged people in the Chinese geography Classic of Mountains and Seas, and is thought to have expressed a wish for long life. Another famous giant yokai is Daidarabotchi, the giant who shaped the land.
