KAPPA - kosode no te yokai

http://wkdkigodatabase03.blogspot.jp/2007/03/kimono.html

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. yookai, yōkai 妖怪 Yokai monsters .

kosode no te 小袖の手 Hands of a Kosode


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- quote -
kosode no te 小袖の手
TRANSLATION: kosode (a short sleeved kimono) hands
APPEARANCE:
Kosode no te is a phenomenon appearing in short-sleeved kimonos formerly owned by prostitutes. It is characterized by a pair of ghostly hands emerging from the sleeves and assaulting nearby people.
ORIGIN:
Kosode no te can occur for a number of reasons. One common origin is when a prostitute dies in vain, after working for many years to save up the money to buy her freedom from her owner. Upon death, such women usually had their clothes donated to a temple for prayers to be said over them. However, if the woman was still owed money by her clients when she died, her spirit often reanimated her old clothing, and they leave the temple to find her customers and beg them for the owed money.
Another common origin is
when, instead of being donated to a temple, a dead person's kimono is sold to someone else. If the deceased was unable to properly pass on to nirvana upon death, that person's spirit occasionally comes back and haunts the kimono.
- source : yokai.com/kosodenote -

- reference : "kosode no te" -

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