Mintuci

{{short description|Creature from Ainu mythology}} The '''''mintuci''''' (Ainu ミントゥチ; also ''mintuci kamuy,'' also transliterated into Japanese as {{Nihongo|''mintsuchi''|ミンツチ}}) is a water sprite or an aquatic supernatural creature, a half-man-half-beast, told in stories of Ainu mythology and folklore. It is also considered a variant of the ''kappa'' and, therefore, a type of ''yōkai''.

== Nomenclature == The name is ''mintuci''{{sfnp|Kanematsu|1985}}<ref name="ainu-mukeibunkadenshohozonkai"/> (Ainu: ミントゥチ<ref name="ainu-mukeibunkadenshohozonkai"/>) according to modern Ainu orthography, but it is also commonly spelled {{Nihongo|''mintsuchi''|ミンツチ}} in folkloric study literature written in Japanese.{{sfnp|Kanematsu|1985}}{{sfnp|Takamisawa|1995|p=358}}<ref name="spevakovsky"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The romanization ''mintsūchi''[?] (ミンツゥチ) is also attested in a Taisho-era paper.<ref name="yoshida"/>}}

=== Definitions === The ''mintuci'' has been defined as "fabulous animal", purported to be "half human and half animal and to inhabit lakes and rivers" in the Ainu dictionary c. 1900 compiled by British missionary John Batchelor.<ref name="batchelor-dict-mintuchi"/>{{efn|Batchelor (2nd ed., 1905) romanized as ''mintuchi'', but modern standard romanization of the Ainu is ''mintuci'' as stated.}} But he also contrived it as a type of water spirit,{{sfnp|Ishikawa|1985|p=250}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Prof. Ishikawa makes the problematic claim, directly quoting from Batchelor's "glossaries" (dictionary) and (mis)translating "fabulous animal" as {{nihongo|"spiritual being"|霊物}}. This is more accurately translated by Takamisawa as {{nihongo|"legendary animal"|伝説上の動物}}.{{sfnp|Takamisawa|1995|p=359}} Prof. Ishikawa's claim can still be justified however, since Batchelor's dictionary adds that ''mintuci'' is a type of "mermaid",<ref name="batchelor-dict-mintuchi"/> and elsewhere he is seen applying "mermaid" as the English shortand for ''pe-boso-koshimpuk'' (''sic.''),{{sfnp|Batchelor|1901|p=545}} where ''koshimp[uk]'' means 'fairy/demon' (''viz. infra''); Batchelor also explains ''mintuci'' to be the Ainu name for a "water nymph",{{sfnp|Batchelor|1901|p=545}} and a nymph is of course commonly seen as a spirit or minor deity.}} and stated it was considered by the Ainu to be a type of "''koshimpuk''" (normalized spelling: ''kosimpuk'', {{illm|kosimpu|ja|コシンプ|lt=''kosimpu''}}),{{sfnp|Batchelor|1901|p=545}} which is a word glossed as meaning 'fairy' or 'daemon'.<ref name=kayano-dict-kosimpu/><ref name=chiri-dict-kosimpu/>

Others characterize it as a ''yōkai'', closely akin to the ''kappa'',<ref name="murakami"/> but others point out that there are legends peculiar to the Ainu attached to the ''mintuci'', not seen in ''kappa'' legends.{{sfnp|Ishikawa|1985|pp=250–251}}

=== Etymology === The Ainu word ''mintuci'' is considered to be borrowed from the Japanese word ''mizuchi'' (or variants thereof), that are local appellations for the ''kappa'',<ref name="yazaki"/> ultimately deriving from the term ''mizuchi,'' which signifies a type of dragon.<ref name="murakami" /><ref name="takamisawa&sakurai" />{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|While Takamisawa links ''mintuci'' with the ''mizuchi'' dragon, the source she invokes (Sakurai) only connects ''mizushi'', ''medochi'' etc., (local Japanese terms for ''kappa'', not the Ainu term) with the ''mizuchi'' dragon. The hypothesis that the northeastern name ''medochi'' for a ''kappa'' derived from the ''mizuchi'' dragon was already anticipated by Kumagusu Minakata in his essay concerning the year of the snake (1917), which was an installment in his zodiacal series ''Jūnishi kō''.<ref name="minakata" />}}

However, Batchelor has given a strictly Ainu etymology for ''mintuci'', explaining it as a compound of ''mimi'' (or ''mim'') meaning 'flesh' and {{nihongo|''tumunci''|トゥームーンチー}} meaning 'devil'.{{sfnp|Batchelor|1901|p=545}}

=== Synonyms === According to some Ainu elders, ''mintuci'' was a name that people on the Japanese mainland used to refer to ''kappa'',{{sfnp|Kindaichi|1914|p=23}}<ref name="mizuki" /> and the correct Ainu term was {{nihongo|''Shiri-sham-ainu''|シリシャマイヌ}}, literally denoting a "mountain-side-person".{{sfnp|Kindaichi|1914|p=23}}<ref name="murakami" /> Its bald-headedness and reference to the mountainside suggest a hypothetical connection to, or conflation with, the generic Japanese mountain deity, the Yama-no-Kami.<ref name="murakami" />

The name manifests local variation, and the creature is called {{nihongo|'''''mimtuci'''''|ミムトゥチ}} in the Chitose dialect<ref name=nakagawa/> and {{nihongo|'''''mintoci'''''|ミントチ}} in the Ishikari region.{{sfnp|Kanematsu|1985|pp=120, 127}}

The creature is known by the name {{nihongo|'''''hundoci'''''|フンドチ}} or slight variants thereof in the Tokachi and Kurshiro regions.<ref name="yazaki"/><ref name="yoshida"/>{{sfnp|Kanematsu|1985|p=127}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Known as ''hunduci'' (フンヅゥチ) among the Ainu of {{nihongo|Fushikobetsu|伏古別|extra=now Obihiro}}.<ref name="yoshida"/>}} It is said to make an occasional grunting noise like "{{nihongo|''hunn''|フンッ}}", according to the folklore of the town of Ikeda in the eastern part of the Tokachi Plain, where the ''hundoci'' appears in the guise of a diminutive old person of indeterminate gender.<ref name="murakami" />

The ''kappa'' of the Ainu may otherwise be called "mintoci kamuy, '''nintoci kamuy''', or huntoci kamuy". {{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Here quoting the examples given by {{illm|Genzō Sarashina|ja|更科源蔵}} in his notes to his collected tale "''kappa wo yaita hai'' [The ashes of a burnt-up kappa]", but in this particular tale, it is the fiendish creature {{illm|mosir-sinnaysam|ja|モシリシンナイサム}} which is labeled as a ''kappa'' as a shorthand name.}}<ref name="sarashina-minwashu"/>

== Folklore == [[File:IshikariGawa2004-12-5.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Ishikari River, Hokkaido, where some of the ''mintuci'' legends are set]]

The ''mintuci'' are reputed to be of the height and stature of a 3-year-old to a 12-year-old or 13-year-old human.{{sfnp|Ishikawa|1985|p=255}}<ref name="mizuki"/> It has a head of hair without a "plate" like the kappa<ref name="kusano-hakubutsu" />{{sfnp|Ishikawa|1985|p=255}} (though having fleshy, bald patches on their heads{{efn|This fleshy head gave rise to its name, meaning "flesh[y] devil" according to Batchelor.}}{{sfnp|Batchelor|1901|p=545}}<ref name="spevakovsky" />), and though they may be bald, the males and females can still be distinguished, or so it has been told in the tale where the ''mintuci'' appears in the Ishikari River.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|This description of a bald ''kappa'' (''nintoci kamuy'') of Ishikari River occurs in the tale where a youth from the ''kotan'' (village) of {{illm|Chikapuni|ja|近文コタン}} sets out to journey the way downstream this river to Yūbetsu. The ''kappa'' predicts that the Yūbetsu people will be loth to comply with the youth's mission (return of a loaned treasure), and will persuade him to embark on a perilous search for the eggs of the giant bird huri kamuy, but the youth is protected by a small bag amulet and succeeds in winning its feather.}}<ref name="sarashina-ishikarigawa"/><ref name="murakami" />

Its skin is purplish or reddish, with sea turtle-like texture, and they have either bird-like feet<ref name="kusano-hakubutsu"/>{{sfnp|Ishikawa|1985|p=255}} or four sets of hooves,<ref name="batchelor-dict-mintuchi"/> with one supposed witness discovering sickle-like footprints.<ref name="yoshida"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Discovered by a person named Itonbiya from the hamlet of Nioi (荷負, now a district or ''aza'' within the town of Biratori, Hokkaido), who found the sickle-like prints at a spot named Abushi (also within Biratori).}} There also exists an oral tradition that both its arms are attached, so that tugging one arm makes the other become shorter, or pulling on one arm hard enough will cause both arms to be ripped out; however, this curious anatomical lore may not be original, since it is told of the kappa in some regions of Japan.<ref name=oshima/><ref name="kusano" />

The ''mintuci'' are said to hunt people and livestock by dragging them underwater, but this prankishness is also a trait frequently ascribed to the kappa, cf. the motif of the ''kappa komabiki'' ("the water-imp dragging a horse into the water").<ref name="murakami" />{{sfnp|Takamisawa|1995|p=359}} People may also become possessed by the ''mintuci'',<ref name="murakami" /> and women possessed by one may attempt to seduce men.<ref name="kusano"/> According to a legend circulating in Kushiro, on a foggy nights, a victim may detect what seems to be human presence that has abruptly appeared ahead of him, and trying to engage this entity in conversation will go unanswered; it continues to walk onward until the victim notices the odd bird-like footprints, and just then the ''mintuci'''s shadow would vanish and come around from behind, dragging the victim into the water.<ref name="mizuki" />

=== Benefactor or menace ===

Although the ''mintuci'' is generally considered an "evil dispositioned" type of fabulous aquatic creature, reputed to "disembowel and devour human beings when they catch them", there are also benevolent types called ''pirika mintuci'' (lit. "good mintuci") which inhabit the mountains according to John Batchelor.<ref name="batchelor-dict-mintuchi"/>

It is not strictly just the mountain type which assists humans (bringing bounty of the mountain, i.e., luck of hunting), because the aquatic ''mintuci'' are also known to help (bestow bounties of the waters, i.e., luck in fishing). There are also dangerous consequences when the mountain ''mintuci'' is crossed, as detailed below:

As the ''mintuci'' is a deity which controls the fish, it may bring luck to fishermen, but at a price, because as long as it is present, it will be responsible for an increase in deaths by drowning.{{sfnp|Ishikawa|1985|p=251}}<ref name="murakami" /> In an anecdote set in the Ishikari region, the ''mintuci'' allowed a bountiful catch of fish, but it was sure to take several lives each year, so that the people begged it to move elsewhere to the town of Shizunai in Hidaka (now incorporated into the town of Shinhidaka, Hokkaido), and as a result, the drownings ceased, but the fish catch plummeted afterwards.<ref name="kusano-hakubutsu" /> In another tale, a ''mintuci'' becomes the adopted husband and comes to live with the bride's family in the hamlet of Chikabumi in Asahikawa. He brought about a rich harvest of fish, but was discovered to be the cause of increased river drownings, so he was expelled and thereafter moved to the Shibichari River (in the town of Shizunai).<ref>{{harvp|Ishikawa|1985|p=251}} ''apud'' ''Ainu densetsushū''.</ref> The prosperity of Asahikawa and the Saru River was attributed to the mintuci's protection.<ref name="murakami" />

The ''mintuci'' also blesses the hunter, rewarding him with game in plenitude according to folk tradition.<ref name="murakami" /> According to one piece of lore, the chieftain of the ''mintuci'' is called ''mintuci-tono'',{{efn|Normalized as {{lang|ja|ミントゥチトノ}}, though the original paper gives {{lang|ja|ミンツゥチトノ}}.}} and he is a bearer of bow and arrows, known to aid humans in need, or give the gift of bow and arrows, but in return demands offering of ''sake'' or ''hei'' type ornaments, and people are obliged to comply.<ref name="yoshida"/> However, the ornament in question should not be the ''inaw'' usually offered to the gods; it should be a more simplified version.<ref name="yoshida"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The motif of requiring a more meagre ''inaw'' (Ainu: ''nitne inaw'', translated "hard inaw"{{harvp|Ōtani|2016|p=71}} also translatable as "shabby inaw"<ref name=ueda-usagi-no-hozumi-uwepeker/>) is also recorded in the oral tale recited by Ms. Ueda.<ref name=ueda-mintuci-kamuy-uwepeker/>}}

The ''mintuci'' is thought capable of transforming into a youth and becoming an adopted husband at a home with only daughters, bringing about fortune and luck of the hunt, but once the village incurs his wrath, he will depart, absconding with the community's food spirit, causing famine.<ref name="kusano-hakubutsu" /> There are tales of the ''mintuci'' acting as guardians for humans in the Asahikawa and Saru River areas.<ref name="murakami" /> In one tale set in the Saru River, a ''mintuci'' who helped the chieftain carry his load demanded a banquet afterwards, rewarding his hosts with a {{nihongo|golden tobacco case|金の煙草入}} said to be an amulet of protection from night raids. When another village attacked, those who participated in providing hospitality to the spirit were intact, but those who failed to come to the gathering all lost their lives.<ref name="yoshida"/> The motif of the golden tobacco case amulet as a gift also occurs in a variant tale entitled "''Kappa no hanashi''", where the benefactor is the kappa-deity or ''nintoci kamuy''.<ref name="sarashina&ando"/>

=== Origin tale ===

According to one origin myth,{{Refn|{{harvp|Miura|2002|p=119}} specifies this as an origin tale (''kigen tan''); cited by Fujita.<ref name=fujita/>}} long ago, during the epoch when the god Okikurumi descended on earth and ruled over the Ainu (human) world, there came far from the sea the smallpox divinity known to the Ainu as Patum-kamui ({{lang|ja|パツムカムイ}}), and many succumbed to the disease. Okikurmi then created a set of 61 Chishinap-kamui (''Ti-sinap-kamuy''{{Refn|Normalized spelling. "Chi-shinap-kamui" is the romanization that Kindaichi used.{{sfnp|Kindaichi|1914|p=24}}}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"| These are otherwise known as {{nihongo|noya-imos-kamuy|ノヤイモ<small>シ</small>カムイ|extra=lit. 'mugwort magic-imbued god[s]'}}.<ref name=kayano/>}}) made by braiding mugworts{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|In Japanese writers refer to the Japanese plant name ''yomogi'' but this generally implies ''Artemesia princeps'', when the Ainu refers to the ''noya'' as in (noya-kamuy), the word ''noya'' without any qualification is assumed to designate a different plant whose Japanese name is ''ezo-yomogi'' or ''ōyomogi'', ''A. montana''.<ref name=sarashina/>}} into a cross shape, breathing life into them to fight the smallpox divinity/demon. All but one of the puppets drowned, and the grand general who remained managed to defeat the smallpox demon.<ref name="spevakovsky" /> The puppets that drowned thereafter became the ''mintuci kamuy'', helping people in case of illness or adversity.<ref>{{harvp|Kindaichi|1914|p=24}}; summarized in {{harvp|Ishikawa|1985|p=257}}.</ref><ref name="murakami" /><ref name="morozov" />

A (less mythologized) and historical folk tradition blames the arrival of the pox on Japanese traders and their merchant ships.{{Refn|There is historical basis to this, as it has been pointed out, that the ''bezaisen'' boats habitually forced the crewmen who presented with smallpox symptoms off board and abandoned them on Ainu territory, which led to epidemics. (''Nihon mukashibanashi tsūkan'', '''1''', tale 46).<ref name="tsukan" /><ref name="hirayama"/> Although this commentary is on the smallpox deity, and does not touch on the ''mintuci'' per se.}} According to tradition, the Smallpox Deity (smallpox demon) sneaked onto the ''bezaisen'' boats, which the Japanese sailed into Hokkaido to establish trade relations with the Ainu during the Edo period. A smallpox outbreak killed many Ainu.<ref name="murakami" /> And this led to the custom of creating the weed dolls for protection from this disease, namely, the ''Ti-sinap-kamuy,'' which a god did not invent, but by the Ainu people.<ref name="tada" />{{sfnp|Ishikawa|1985|p=257}} In fact, the literal meaning of ''Ti-sinap-kamuy'' is 'god whom we bundled/bound'.<ref name=kayano/>

== See also ==

* Kamuy * Kami * Wight * Kappa * Nixie * Naiad

== Explanatory notes == {{notelist}}

== References == ;Citations {{Refs|30em|refs= <ref name="ainu-mukeibunkadenshohozonkai">{{Cite book|editor=Ainu mukei bunka denshō hozonkai |title=Ainu no minwa |script-title=ja:アイヌの民話 |volume=1 |publisher= |year=1983 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XdZ0AAAAIAAJ&q=mintuci |page=27}}</ref>

<ref name="batchelor-dict-mintuchi">{{Cite book|last=Batchelor |first=John |author-link=John Batchelor (missionary) |title=An Ainu-English-Japanese Dictionary |script-title=ja:アイヌ・英・和辭典 |edition=2nd |publisher=Methodist Publishing House |year=1905 |orig-date=1889 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cd0hAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA265 |pages=265–266 }}</ref>

<ref name=chiri-dict-kosimpu>kosimpu: 'daemon' (Japanese: ''yōma''){{Citation|last=Chiri |first=Mashiho |author-link=Mashiho Chiri |title=Bunrui Ainu-go jiten |script-title=ja:分類アイヌ語辞典 |journal=Jōmin bunka kenkyū |number=68 |year=1936 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gpYkAAAAMAAJ |pages=143–144}}</ref>

<ref name=fujita>{{citation|last=Fujita |first=Mamoru |authorlink= |chapter=Kikin wo shudai to suru Ainu no shinyō: ningen to kamui no sekai no taishōsei, kigen no tankyū, katari no jiyū |script-chapter=ja:飢饉を主題とするアイヌの神謡 - 人間とカムイの世界の対称性、起原の探究、語りの自由 -|editor-last=Nakagawa |editor-first=HIroshi |editor-link=:ja:中川裕 (アイヌ語研究者) |title=Chiba daigaku daigakuin jinbun shkaikagaku kenkyūka project report |script-title=ja:千葉大学大学院人文社会科学研究科研究プロジェクト報告書 |volume= |issue=188 アイヌ語韻文表現法 |year=1995 |url=https://k-ris.keio.ac.jp/html/publish_file/100012637/11485418_pdf_input_1.pdf |page=67, n9}}</ref>

<ref name="hirayama">{{Citation|last=Hirayama |first=Hiroto |author-link=:ja:平山裕人 |title=Ainu shi wo mitsumete |script-title=ja:アイヌ史を見つめて|publisher=Hokkaido shuppan kikaku center |year=1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ADkyAQAAIAAJ&q=弁財船 |page=453 |isbn=9784832896024}}</ref>

<ref name=kayano>{{Citation|last=Kayano |first=Shigeru |author-link=Shigeru Kayano |title=Itsutsu no shinzō wo motta kami: Ainu no kamizukuri to okuri |script-title=ja:五つの心臓を持った神: アイヌの神作りと送り |publisher=Komine shoten |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwUzAAAAMAAJ&q=チシナプカムイ |page=262 |isbn=9784338081443}}</ref>

<ref name=kayano-dict-kosimpu>kosimpu: 'fairy' (Japanese: ''yōsei''){{Citation|last=Kayano |first=Shigeru |author-link=Shigeru Kayano |title=Ainu-go jiten |script-title=ja:アイヌ語辞典 |publisher=Sanseido |year=1996 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dqixAAAAIAAJ&q=kosimpu |page=237 |isbn=9784385170503}}</ref>

<ref name="kusano">{{cite book|last1=Kusano |first1=Takumi |author1-link= |last2=Shibuya |first2=Yūji|author2-link= |title=Gensō dōbutsu jiten |script-title=ja:幻想動物事典 |location=Tōkyō |publisher=Shinkigensha |date=1997 |isbn=4-88317-283-X|page=299 |oclc=675909434 |lang=ja}}</ref>

<ref name="kusano-hakubutsu">{{cite book|last1=Kusano |first1=Takumi |author1-link= |last2=Tobe |first2=Tamio |author2-link=:ja:戸部民夫 |title=Nihon yōkai hakubutsukan |script-title=ja:日本妖怪博物館 |location=Tōkyō |publisher=Shinkigensha |date=1994 |page=109 |isbn=4-88317-240-6 |lang=ja}}</ref>

<ref name="minakata" >{{citation|last=Minakata |first=Kumagusu |authorlink=Minakata Kumagusu |title=Jūnishi kō (4): hebi ni kansuru minzoku to densetsu |script-title=ja:十二支考(4):蛇に関する民俗と伝説 |journal=Taiyō |year=1917}} [http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000093/card2536.html Aozora bunko No.2536]; {{cite book|last=Minakata |first=Kumagusu |authorlink=Minakata Kumagusu |author-mask=2 |editor-last=Iikura |editor-first=Shohei |editor-link=:ja:飯倉照平 |chapter=Hebi ni kansuru minzoku to densetsu |script-chapter=ja:蛇に関する民俗と伝説 |title=Jūnishi kō 1 |script-title=ja:十二支考 1 |series=Toyo bunko 215 |publisher=Heibonsha |year=1973 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PDghAQAAMAAJ |page=231|isbn=9784582802153 }}</ref>

<ref name="mizuki">{{cite book|last=Mizuki |first=Shigeru |author-link=Shigeru Mizuki |title=Mujara1: Kantō, Hokkaido, Okinawa hen |script-title=ja:妖鬼化 1 関東・北海道・沖縄編 |publisher=Softgarage |year=2004 |pages=126 |isbn=978-4-86133-004-9}}</ref>

<ref name="morozov">{{cite book|last=Morozov |first= I. A. |author-link=:ru:Морозов, Игорь Алексеевич |url=http://static.iea.ras.ru/books/Morozov_Fenomen_Kukly.pdf |title=Fenomen kukly v tradit︠s︡ionnoĭ i sovremennoĭ kulʹture : krosskulʹturnoe issledovanie ideologii antropomorfizma |script-title=ru:Феномен куклы в традиционной и современной культуре. Кросскультурное исследование идеологии антропоморфизма |location=Moskwa |publisher=Indrik |date=2011 |isbn=978-5-91674-114-8 |pages= |oclc=711737736|accessdate=2020-11-12}}</ref>

<ref name="murakami">{{cite book|last=Murakami |first=Kenji |author-link=:ja:村上健司 |title=Nihon yōkai daijiten |script-title=ja:日本妖怪大事典 |location=Tōkyō |publisher=Kadokawa Shoten |series=Kwai books |isbn=4-04-883926-8 |date=2005 |pages=317–318 |oclc=64576243 |lang=ja}}</ref>

<ref name=nakagawa>{{citation|last=Nakagawa|first=Hiroshi |author-link=:ja:中川裕 (アイヌ語研究者 |title=Ainu go Chitose hōgen jiten |script-title=ja:アイヌ語千歳方言辞典 |publisher=Sōfūkan |year=1995 |page=126 |isbn=4-88323-078-3}}</ref>

<ref name=oshima>{{citation|last1=Ōshima |first1=Tatehiko|author1-link=:ja:大島建彦 |last2=Sonoda |first2=Minoru |author2-link=:ja:薗田稔 |last3=Tamamuro |first3=Fumio |author3-link=:ja:圭室文雄 |title=Nihon no shinbutsu no jiten |script-title=ja:日本の神仏の辞典 |publisher=Taishūkan shoten |year=2001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nDwQAQAAMAAJ&q=ミントゥチ |page=1236 |isbn=9784469012682}}</ref>

<ref name="sarashina">{{citation|last=Sarashina |first=Genzō |author-link=:ja:更科源蔵 |title=Ainu bungaku no nazo |script-title=ja:アイヌ文学の謎 |series=Ainu kankei chosakushū 7 |publisher=Miyama shōbō |year=1982 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LioRAQAAMAAJ&q=エゾヨモギ |page=153}}</ref>

<ref name="sarashina-ishikarigawa">{{harvp|Sarashina|1971}} "''Ishikari-gawa no kappa'' 石狩川の河童 [The kappa of Ishikari River]", ''Ainu densetsushū'', pp. 312–313, as told by the woman {{nihongo|Munsasima Kawamura|川村ムイサシマッ|extra=ad. ''munnuye'' 'sweep', the "n" before "s" is pronounced "y"}} of {{illm|Chikapuni|ja|近文コタン}}.</ref>

<ref name="sarashina-minwashu">{{citation|last=Sarashina |first=Genzō |author-link=:ja:更科源蔵 |chapter=Kappa wo yaita hai |script-chapter=ja:河童を焼いた灰 |trans-chapter=The ashes of a burnt-up kappa |title=Ainu minwashū |script-title=ja:アイヌ民話集 |publisher=Kita shobō |year=1963 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VBImAAAAMAAJ&q=河童 |pages=58–59}}</ref>

<ref name="sarashina&ando">{{citation|last1=Sarashina |first1=Genzō |author1-link=:ja:更科源蔵 |last2=Andō |first2=Mikio|author2-link=:ja:安藤美紀夫 |chapter=Kappa no hanashi |script-chapter=ja:河童の話 |title=Hokkaidō no densetsu |script-title=ja:北海道の伝説 |series=Nihon no densetsu 17 |publisher=Kadokawa |date=1977 |chapter-url= |pages=202–204}} Brief summary: {{harvp|Ōtani|2016|p=59}}.</ref>

<ref name="spevakovsky">{{cite book|last=Spevakovsky |first=Alexander Borisovich |author-link=:ru:Спеваковский, Александр Борисович |title=Dukhi, oborotni, demony i bozhestva aynov: religioznyye vozzreniya v traditsionnom aynskom obshchestve |script-title=ru:Духи, оборотни, демоны и божества айнов: религиозные воззрения в традиционном айнском обществе |trans-title=Spirits, werewolves, demons and deities of the Ainu: religious beliefs in traditional Ainu society |publisher=Nauka |date=1988 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RPswAAAAIAAJ |accessdate=2020-11-12|language=ru}}</ref>

<ref name="tada">{{cite book|last=Tada |first=Katsumi |author-link=:ja:多田克己 |title=Gensō sekai no jūnin tachi IV nihon-hen |script-title=ja:幻想世界の住人たち IV 日本編 |series=Truth in fantasy |location=Tōkyō |publisher=Shinkigensha |date=1990 |isbn=4-915146-44-8|page=117 |oclc=673449350}}</ref>

<ref name="takamisawa&sakurai">{{harvp|Takamisawa|1995|p=359}} quotes {{illm|Mitsuru Sakurai|ja|桜井満}}: "加賀、能登方面でミズシ (That whichi is called ''mizushi'' in the Kaga Province and Noto Peninsula regions) .. ".</ref>

<ref name="tsukan">{{Citation|editor1-last=Inada |editor1-first=Kōji |editor1-link=:ja:稲田浩二 |editor2-last=Ozawa |editor2-first=Toshio |editor2-link=:ja:小澤俊夫 |title=Nihon mukashibanashi tsūkan: Hokkaido (Ainu minzoku) |script-title=ja:日本昔話通観: 北海道(アイヌ民族) |volume=1 |publisher=Dōhōsha |year=1989 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dFEiAAAAMAAJ&q=疱瘡 |pages=164, 901 |isbn=9784810406177}}</ref>

<ref name=ueda-mintuci-kamuy-uwepeker>Untitled prose tale (''uwepeker'') in Ainu language, told by Ms. {{nihongo|Toshi Ueda|上田トシ|extra=1912–2005}} of Penakori in the town of Biratori, Saru District. {{harvp|Ōtani|2016}}, summary pp. 57–5; text and opposing translation pp. 60–73. </ref> <ref name=ueda-usagi-no-hozumi-uwepeker>{{citation|last=Ueda |first=Toshi |author-link= |chapter=4. Usagi no hozumi |script-chapter=ja:4. ウサギの穂摘み |trans-title=A hare's (grain-)gathering |title=Ueda Toshi no minwa 2 |script-title=ja:上田トシの民話２ |series= |publisher=Ainu Museum |year=2014 |chapter-url=https://ainugo.nam.go.jp/siror/contents/lib_pdf/Library_2.pdf |page=97}} 1996年9月28日採録。</ref>

<ref name="yazaki">{{citation|last=Yazaki |first=Haruna |authorlink= |collaboration=Graduate School of Letters, Hokkaido University |title=Kappa denshō kara miru Ainu-go mintuci to Nihon-go mizuchi no kankeisei |script-title=ja:河童伝承からみるアイヌ語「ミントゥチ」と日本語「ミヅチ」の関係性 |work=2013 nendo dai-2 kai kenkyūkai happyō yōshi |trans-work=Presentation summary of the 2nd Meeting of the Graduate School of Letters, FY2013 |year=2013 |pages=405–407 |publisher=|doi=10.1537/ase1911.29.397 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name="yoshida">{{citation|last=Yoshida |first=Iwao |authorlink=:ja:吉田巖 (教育者) |title=Ainu no yōkai setsuwa (zoku) |script-title=ja:アイヌの妖怪説話 (續) |journal=Jinruigaku zasshi, the Journal of the Anthropological Society of Nippon|volume=29 |issue=10 |year=1914 |pages=405–407 |publisher=The Anthropological Society of Nippon|doi=10.1537/ase1911.29.397 |doi-access=free }}</ref> }}

;Bibliography {{refbegin}} * {{Cite book|last=Batchelor |first=John |author-link=John Batchelor (missionary) |title=The Ainu and Their Folk-lore |publisher=Religious Tract Society |year=1901 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x3AAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA321 |pages=321, 545}}

* {{citation|last=Ishikawa |first=Jun'ichiro |authorlink= |chapter=Ainu no kappa |script-chapter=ja:IXアイヌの河童 |title=Shinpan kappa no sekai |script-title=ja:新版河童の世界 |publisher=JIji tsushin shuppankyoku |year=1985 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5WSk45KV6owC&pg=PA250 |pages=250– |isbn=9784788785151 }}

* {{citation|last=Kanematsu |first=Mafumi |authorlink= |title=Mintsuchi (mintuci) genryūkō―Ainu minzoku no kappa |script-title=ja:ミンツチ( mintuci )源流考―アイヌ民族の河童 |journal=Gengo |volume=12 |number=9 |year=1985 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oMMvAAAAIAAJ&q=ミンツチ |pages=118–127 |publisher=}}

* {{citation|last=Kindaichi |first=Kyōsuke |authorlink=Kyōsuke Kindaichi |title=Hokkaido no kappa |script-title=ja:北海道の河童 |journal=Kyōdo kenkyū |volume=1 |number=12 |year=1914 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5yMEAAAAMAAJ&q=ミンツチ |pages=22–25 |publisher=}}

* {{citation|last=Miura |first=Sukeyuki<!三浦佑之--> |authorlink=:ja:三浦佑之 |title=Mintsuchi no kigentan |script-title=ja:ミンツチの起源譚|journal=Tōhokugaku |number=7 |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C0NMAQAAIAAJ&q=ミントゥチ |pages=112–123}}

* {{citation|last=Ōtani |first=Yōichi |authorlink= |title=Ainu kōshō bungei sanbun setsuwa: kappa ni tasukerareta otoko no monogatari |script-title=ja:アイヌ口承文芸「散文説話」―河童に助けられた男の物語― |journal=Bulletin of Ainu Culture Research Center, Hokkaido Museum |volume=1 |year=2016 |url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/view/download/digidepo_11453837_po_2016AC04_p57_77.pdf?contentNo=1&alternativeNo= |pages=57–77}}

* {{citation|last=Sarashina |first=Genzō |author-link=:ja:更科源蔵 |title=Ainu densetsushū |script-title=ja:アイヌ伝説集 |publisher=Kita shobō |year=1971 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhImAAAAMAAJ |pages=}}

* {{citation|last=Takamisawa |first=Miki |authorlink= |title=Rokkaku-sei gijō no yōtō―mizuchi ni kansuru densetsu wo tegagari ni |script-title=ja:鹿角製儀仗の用途について―蛟に関する伝説を手掛りに― |trans-title=Uses for the ritual staff made of antlers: with legends around the mizuchi as clue |journal=Journal of the Graduate School Kokugakuin University |volume=26–27 |issue= |date=October 1995 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dKNHAAAAMAAJ&q=ミントゥチ |pages=358–359}} {{refend}}

Category:Ainu kamuy Category:Water spirits Category:Ainu legendary creatures Category:Yōkai Category:Sprites (folklore)