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is a type of Japanese dragon or legendary serpent-like creature, either found in aquatic habitat or otherwise connected to water. Some commentators perceived it to have been a water deity. It is described in the ancient chronicle ''Nihon Shoki'', and one Manyoshu poem. ''Mizuchi'' is also the Japanese transliteration for several types of Chinese dragons (, ''Kojien'' dictionary, 2nd. ed.), and may refer to the ''jiaolong'' (蛟; (日本語:''kōryū'')) or "4-legged dragon", the ''qiulong'' (; (日本語:''kyūryū'')) or "hornless dragon", and the ''chilong'' (; (日本語:''chiryū'')) or "yellow dragon". Daniels (1960:157) notes that rain-controlling Japanese snake deities are sometimes called dragons, but cautions that for ''okami'' and ''mizuchi'', "it is unsafe to deduce their forms from the Chinese characters allotted to them". ==Early references== The ancient chronicle ''Nihongi'' contains references to ''mizuchi''. Under the 67th year of the reign of Emperor Nintoku (conventionally dated 379 A.D.), it is mentioned that in central Kibi Province, at a fork on Kawashima River (川嶋河, old name of Takahashi River in Okayama Prefecture), a great water serpent or dragon (大虬) dwelled and would breathe or spew out its venom, poisoning and killing many passersby. This ''mizuchi'' was exterminated by a man named , ancestor of the clan. He approached the pool of the river, cast three calabashes which floated to the surface of the water, and challenged the beast to make these gourds sink, threatening to slay it should it fail. The beast transformed into a deer and tried unsuccessfully to sink them, whereby the man slew the monster. The record goes on to say: "..He further sought out the water-dragon's fellows. Now the tribe of all the water-dragons filled a cave in the bottom of the pool. He slew them every one, and the water of the river became changed to blood. Therefore that water was called the pool of Agatamori" (tr. Aston 1896: 1, 299; orig. ). A river-god reported seen in Nintoku 11 (323 A.D.) is also regarded by commentators to be a mizuchi, due to paralleling circumstances. On that year, the built along Yodo River kept getting breached, and the Emperor guided by an oracular dream ordered two men, Kowa-kubi from Musashi Province and Koromo-no-ko from Kawachi Province be sought ought and sacrificed to the "River God" or . One of the men, who resisted being sacrificed, employed the floating calabash and dared the River God to sink it as proof to show it was truly divine will that demanded him as sacrifice. A whirlwind came and tried, but the calabash just floated away, and thus he extricated himself from death using his wits. Although River God is not called ''mizuchi'' in the source, Aston has regarded the River God (Kawa-no-kami) and the ''mizuchi'' as equivalent (Aston 1905: 1, 150-151). De Visser (1913:139) concludes, "From this passage we learn that in ancient times human sacrifices were made to the dragon-shaped river-gods." Foster (1998:1) suggests this is "perhaps the first documented appearance of the water spirit that would become known popularly in Japan as the kappa." In Japanese folklore the ''kappa'' is a water sprite often considered benignly mischievous, in contrast to the deadly dragon. However, the ''kappa'' can also be seen as sinister, reaching in and extracting the liver or the ''shirikodama'' from humans (see also #Name for kappa below). A mizuchi is also mentioned in the Man'yōshū, the ancient collection of Japanese poems. The tanka poem composed by can be paraphrased to mean "Oh if I only had a tiger to ride to leap over the Old Shack, to the green pool to capture the mizuchi dragon, and a (capable) sword (in hand)" (''Man'yōshū'', Book 16; ).(in English) 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mizuchi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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