Dogs, Gods, and Monsters in two Contemporary Hakkenden Retellings

A girl hunter and a human-dog hybrid in Fuse: A Tale of a Girl with a Hunting Gun (dir. Miyaji Masayuki).

Submission by Dr. Lucy Fraser

Fraser, Lucy. “Dogs, Gods, and Monsters: The Animal-Human Connection in Bakin’s Hakkenden, Folktales and Legends, and Two Contemporary Retellings“. Japanese Studies. Vol. 38, iss. 1, 2018.

In this article, I delve into a fascinating tradition of legends and folktales from China, Japan, and other parts of Asia which tell of a human woman who must marry a dog or a dog-man (often after the girl’s parents jokingly promise her to the dog, and he takes them seriously).