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q.v. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Kappa is one of Japanese fantastic beasts.
Kappa love cucumber, mischief and sumo.
They lives in water of rivers, ponds, marshes, or seas. And they can
walk in the land, too.
They let a person drown when they are angry. But
if you are nice to them, they help you when you are drowned.
It is common to call Kappa, but they are called in various names
(Gappa, Kawataro, Kawarabozu, Kawanotono, Honko, Medochi and so on)
according to areas.
History:
Kappa was considered to be children of the god of water, and they
protect people from drowning and flood.
So the river festival (or the god of water festival) in June is held to
worship kappa and offer cucumbers.
Figures:
They look like children and have a plate on top of the head. And if
water disappear from the plate, they die!
As for the color of their skin, blue or gray is common, but there is a
red thing inside.
They have webs to hands and foots, so they are good at swimming.
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