Conduits of Power: What the Origins of Japan's Earthquake Catfish Reveal about Religious Geography

By the nineteenth century, the giant catfish (namazu) had become a widely known symbol of earthquakes throughout Japan, as the production of hundreds of varieties of catfish prints (namazu e) after the Ansei Edo Earthquake of 1855 indicates. Starting with these prints and moving backward in time, this essay examines the origin and development of the earthquake catfish from its Japanese roots in Chikubushima, an island in Lake Biwa, to its Chinese roots in mythical hybrid creatures and a vast network of powerful mountains, waterways, and islands. This investigation reveals a general approach to apprehending divine power in Japan similar to the operation of a modern electrical power grid. Lakes, rivers, seas, and underground conduits transmit divine power in this grid. Mountains and mountain-like islands serve as the relays and substations, at which transformers such as foundation stones (kaname ishi) step cosmic power down to levels suitable for humans. Local deities based at the substations manage the system. This divine power grid linked Japan and China, in part by replicating potent Chinese spaces, especially Penglai. This essay highlights Daoistic elements in Japanese religion that centuries of domestication have obscured.