SNORKELLING WITH THE YOKAI
Snorkelling with the Yokai By Kim Bartos and
Ever heard of the Japanese old wives’ tale that warns against swimming during obon? Well we heard about it after the fact… Supposedly, if you go swimming during the week of obon, certain Japanese ghosts and monsters, otherwise known as yokai, might try to grab you and pull you deep underwater! There are various ideas as to why this superstition came about, but one of the most popular comes from warning children not to interfere with the floating lanterns in the water. These lanterns are said to represent deceased family members’ souls transitioning back to the spirit world. So, if children were to disturb these lanterns by swimming in the water, their spirits might get taken right along with them! This tale then transformed into the superstition we heard about after our day trip. Another theory comes from Japan’s very own typhoon season. Although we swam in a lake, swimming in the ocean during typhoon season can be quite dangerous. So many parents often tell their chil38
Brooke Dalgleish
dren to stay away from bodies of water during this time. Regardless of where this tale comes from, we were lucky to make it out of our swimming adventure intact! Speaking of scary stories and bodies of water, have you heard any ghost stories from Akita’s very own Lake Towada? After learning about the “do not swim during Obon” tale, Kim very excitedly told her coworkers that she did just that! A surprised coworker added to the excitement with this spine-chilling local tale about Lake Towada:
