In the ancient times of the Japanese-inspired land, monkeys were associated with the sun god because they were most active at sunrise and sunset. Farmers, whose days also begin and end with the rising and falling of the sun, worshiped them as divine animals - the first sarugami. However, as advances in agriculture allowed more and more people to take up professions other than farming, these monkey cults began to fade. Eventually, the popularity of monkey cults had dwindled so much that they were all but a memory; the sarugami, no longer revered or worshiped, transformed into yōkai.[1]
At first glance, sarugami appear to be simply bigger monkeys, but they are far stronger and far more clever than their ancestors. The older one gets, the wiser and more powerful it becomes. The biggest ones rule over tribes of smaller monkeys, some over one hundred strong. Sarugami are rarely beneficent toward humankind; ordinary monkeys are seen as mischievous or tricky, destroying farms by digging up fields and raiding crops. Sarugami, on the other hand, are outright wicked. Instead of crops, they kidnap and eat humans. The worst among them demand regular sacrifices of young women from nearby villages as tributes. Refusal means the destruction of the village and its farms.[1]
At the hot springs at Kaijinzan, the Mountain of Ashes, at some point a sarugami struck a deal with a yamanba who lived nearby. The yamanba drugged and lured travelers out to the hot springs, where the sarugami and its tribe murdered them. They could then all feast upon the corpses. Eventually, the witcher/ronin Geralt went to the springs after being lured to the yamanba, though he managed to fight both creatures off and kill them.[1]
Trivia[]
- In Japanese folklore, sarugami are often depicted as evil monkey deities, as in the tales of Shippeitaro.