Baku

In this week's episode, we're heading over to the gorgeous Japan for a dream-eating hybrid, the Baku! How and why would you summon this monster? How can you make sure they've had enough? Find out this week!

Transcript

INTRO:
Hello and welcome to Myth Monsters, my name is Erin and I’ll be your host for these little snack bite size podcasts on folklore and mythical monsters from around the world. 

These podcasts focus on the actual cryptids, folklore and mythic monsters from global mythology, rather than focusing on full stories of heroes and their big adventures.

I’ll also be dropping in some references that they have to recent culture and where you can see these represented in modern day content so you can learn more, and get as obsessed as I am about these absolute legends of the mythological world.

It’s the second episode of the new year and new season, and I’m preparing for a big holiday! It’s a horrible time to go, but I’m off to the US for two weeks next week, but don’t worry, I’ve pre-recorded two episodes to cover you whilst I’m away! 

If you’re in Orlando and spot me, please feel free to say hi because I am truly a glutton for punishment and love walking marathons around Disney World apparently.

DESCRIPTION:

Anyway, moving onto this week’s episode, which is actually a new year based monster, we’re heading over to beautiful Japan to look at a beast known for inspiring some of the grossest Pokemon, a massive hybrid dream eater, the Baku from Japanese mythology.

The Baku is typically described as a Chimaera-type beast, if you’re not sure what that means, it means a hybrid mash-up of many different creatures to make up one, like the Chimaera from Greek mythology, which I’ve covered in another episode by the way. This monster is made up of the body of a bear, the head of an elephant, the eyes of a rhinoceros, the tail of an ox and the legs of a tiger. 

They are usually described as being as big as elephants, however, they are spirits, so don’t take up any physical space in reality.

Despite their monstrous appearance, Baku are revered as powerful forces of good, and as one of the holy protectors of mankind. Baku watch over humans and act as guardian spirits where they feed on the dreams of humans, specifically bad dreams and nightmares. Evil spirits and Yokai, which are Japanese demons, fear Baku and flee from them, avoiding areas inhabited by them and so health and good luck follow a Baku wherever it goes.

However, this creature wasn’t all great - if you summoned it to help you with your bad dreams, if it was still hungry afterwards, it would consume your good dreams and ambitions and would leave you hollow and empty with an unfulfilled life ahead of you, so it would be a risk whenever they were summoned.

The Baku came about through a legend that said the gods had a bunch of spare animal parts left from when the gods were finished creating the world’s animals. So they threw them all together to create this beast, and so it is considered in the favour of the gods because they all had a hand in making it. 

You could also ask the Baku for preemptive protection against bad dreams, and it was common for Japanese and Chinese children to have protective talismans next to their beds in the shape of the Baku to protect them against nightmares, much like the dream catchers from the Native American tribal culture. 

I’ve gone over their powers already a little bit, but they were known as dream eaters, be that good or bad, and as spirits who were not tangible. So you wouldn’t bump into a Baku on a night out, they would only appear when summoned and would generally wander at night, listening and waiting to be called upon for a fresh feast of nightmares. You could do this by repeating “Baku-san, come eat my dream” after a nightmare, but again, run that risk of having your ambitions eaten too. 

Because they are all spirits, we’re not sure how they die or if they die or if they have a method of reproducing - although we know they are a mythical creature species, rather than a singular being, so we don’t know if they are brought into existence or born from two Baku already.

ORIGIN:

Moving onto etymology, the word Baku is Japanese and very literally means tapir. You might be wondering huh, that sounds like the weird four-legged creature I see in zoos, and you’d be correct, that’s the exact tapir I’m talking about. There is a reason for this, and I’ll get into it later. 

For their history, it is a little bit more interesting than this, mainly because they were originally a Chinese mythical creature before they were Japanese. Originally this was seen in 9th century China, known as the Mo or Giant Panda which we know now of course, where they were believed to ward off evil spirits and sickness from families and it was used as a decorative protection in architecture and home furnishings, including talismans and folding screens in bedrooms. When the legend got over to Japan in the 14th and 15th centuries where it was adapted.

An early 17th-century Japanese manuscript, the Sankai Ibutsu describes the Baku as a shy, Chinese mythical chimera with an elephant’s trunk, rhinoceros eyes, an ox tail and tiger paws, which protected against pestilence and evil, although eating nightmares was not included among its abilities. 

However, in a 1791 Japanese wood-block illustration, a specifically dream-destroying Baku is depicted with an elephant’s head, tusks and trunk with horns and tiger’s claws. These were most commonly found in shrines, temples and carvings. In 1902, it was described as also being able to devour nightmares, which added the risky part of the folklore to it.

Outside of the risk factor of them eating your hopes and dreams, the Baku’s written name and image have been used as symbols of good luck in talismans and charms throughout Japanese history. Baku images are commonly carved into the pillars above temple doors and on the columns supporting temple roofs and it is one of only a handful of holy creatures frequently honored in this manner.

Children are also still told to place a picture of the Baku under their pillows on the evening between January 1st and January 2nd as the legend says if they have a good dream that night, they will be lucky for the whole year, and the chances of having a good dream are reportedly enhanced by calling upon Baku, this tradition is called Hatsu Yume or the first dream of the new year.

During the Muromachi period, which was 1337AD to 1573AD in Japan, it became popular for people on their death bed to hold a Baku talisman against evil spirits. They also became associated with a mythical ship, the Takarabune, which often had a Baku painted on its sails. This ship was sailed by the seven luck Gods through the heavens on the three days following new year, and you would place a wooden block with a painting of the ship on it under your pillow, and if you had a good dream - you were lucky for the year, and if not, you disposed of the block in the river.

Then during the Edo period, which was 1603AD to 1868AD, pillows were also sold in the shape of the Baku, said to protect the sleeper from bad dreams. You can still find these, but they’re often in the shape and design of a tapir.

Which leads us into reality. The Baku does resemble a tapir and shares the name, which isn’t the first Japanese monster to have this, with the Kirin meaning giraffe and having a long-necked monster with the same name attached. We’re not sure if the tapir or the myth on the monster came first, although there are arguments they’re completely disconnected and it’s coincidence, but either way, we know they’re not talking about the tapir we see now, but one that definitely is long extinct. 

I will say that the Baku are still a popular figure in modern Japan. The Baku appears in loads of modern media, although recently, they look more and more like authentic tapir, and less and less like the folkloric chimera-like hybrid that we know here.

A fun modern media fact before we get to it, just to reflect the ongoing popularity of the Baku, is that there are two Pokemon based on these; Drowzee and Hypno from generation 1 and Munna and Musharna from generation 5, and they both look like tapir and steal and eat dreams. They are both gross and I will hear no different, I’m sorry but they are my least favourite.

We have a few mythical comparisons here, but nothing that eats dreams like the Baku, just ones that work with dreams. We have Morpheus from Greek mythology, the god of Dreams, but he mostly manages and creates them, rather than taking them away. He works with his sister Ker, who is the goddess of nightmares, whose shadow lurks over dreams she selects and twists. Morpheus is in a bunch of modern media too, but mainly Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman series, and I’ll be covering him later this year in his own episode.

There’s also the Night Hags from European folklore, but these are just monsters who sit on you to invoke nightmares. And lastly the Incubi and Succubi, who are biblical monsters who sneak into your dreams, mate with you and steal your reproductive stuff for their own babies - so they kind of do dream stuff too.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: 

Now onto modern media, we actually have a few bits for this monster which is pretty cool, I’ve interwoven them with Dream stealers and eaters from media to fill it out too.

For art, have a look at the Japanese tapestry art for this one which typically don’t have names attached to them, so have a look at independent art with this one too!

In movies, we have; Cryptozoo, Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Movie, The City of Lost Children, The Golden Child, Dreamscape, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Darby O'Gill and the Little People, Inception & Twice Upon a Time.

For TV, we have; GeGeGe no Kitarō, How to Keep a Mummy, Charmed, Lost Girl, Monster Rancher, Ultraman Ace, Heroes, Doctor Who, Pokemon, Super Sentai, Hell Teacher Nube, Power Rangers, The Wheel of Time, Digimon, Dream Eater Merry, Hello Kitty, Sailor Moon, King of Bandit Jing, Urusei Yatsura & Kamen Rider.

In video games, we have ones such as; Pokemon, Neverwinter Nights 2, Get Amped, Dreams, Final Fantasy, Cross Edge, Animal Crossing, Dragon Age, Them’s Fighting Herds, Look Outside, Nioh 2, Flight Rising, Rayman, Lusternia, Dual Hearts, Spyro the Dragon, Dreamkiller, Ghost Master, The Battle Cats, Ayakashi: Romance Reborn, Dark Chronicle, Cocoron, Tsukihime, Death Smiles, Parodius, DARQ, Genshin Impact, Yokai Watch, Touhou Project & World of Horror.

My book recommendation this week as always with Japanese monsters, have a look at Hiroko Yoda’s Attack series such as Yokai and Yurei Attack, as these are really great books for all these Japanese Yokai, as well as The Book of Yokai by Michael Dylan Foster for some great summaries of this part of the world’s monsters.

DO I THINK THEY EXISTED? 

Now it’s time for, do I think they existed?

I’m going to say probably not for this one honestly, and whilst I’m usually against saying a hard no to spirits, this one is a little different because it’s so fantastical. 

I do though, think this monster is pretty cool - and I hesitate to use the word monster, although I do think the consequences of using this are pretty monstrous. ALSO what I will say is how can you tell before you summon it that it’s overtly hungry and will steal your dreams too, is it just a gamble that you might get a Baku with a big appetite!? Or do they send you that one when you ask too many times - it’s so risky!

What I love about Japanese mythology is that they think of everything, every creature or spirit you can imagine, they’ve got it covered. Did I think that a creature out there that looks vaguely like a cute and weird zoo animal could steal my hope? No, and I also hate that. 

What I will also say is that the two Pokemon species that are based on them are very literally, my least favourite Pokemon and I hate them. I do believe that whilst every Pokemon is someone’s favourite, including the weirder ones, I think if they’re yours, you’re actually weird and I don’t trust you or believe you. I think if you’re that into sleepy Pokemon, go like Snorlax instead, you creep.

I am an avid-bad sleeper, and I’ve suffered horrendously with nightmares and night terrors my whole life. I sleep with a dream catcher, but I still have nightmares, so maybe I need to change over to a Baku talisman and see if this helps - although, I’m not sure I want to risk losing my ambition, but I think general life in the modern age steals that from me enough already. 

But what do you think? Did Baku steal dreams of old-time Japan? Let me know on social media!

OUTRO: 

What a fun, but also slightly horrific monster this week - I can’t get the idea of the Munna out of my head and I truly do not want them stealing my dreams. How do people in the Pokemon world sleep well at night with that running around?! That’s my real question - but I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did!

Next week, we’re heading over to Africa for the first time in ages and going over to almost all over the continent for this one! Get ready to make some wishes as we visit the goddess, Mami Wata next week!

For now, thank you so much for listening, it’s been an absolute pleasure. If you enjoyed this podcast, please give it a rating on the service you’re listening on - I’ve got loads of social media for any questions, or suggestions on what monsters to cover next and I’d love to hear from you. The social media handles for Tiktok, YouTube and Instagram are mythmonsterspodcast, twitter is mythmonsterspod and BlueSky is mythmonsters. But all of our content can be found at mythmonsters.co.uk, and you can also find us on Goodpods, Buymeacoffee and Patreon if you want to help me fund the podcast too.

Come join the fun though and share this with your pals, they might love me as much as you do.

But for now, stay spooky and I’ll see you later babes.