Japanese Urban Legends

Inugami

Inugami translates to "Dog God" and is a mythical Japanese dog spirit. They are a spirit of possession, and people typically summon them to possess and harm their enemies. The legend of Inugami is popular in Western Japan, possibly due to the lack of foxes in the area. Foxes are usually used as familiars and spirits that perform tasks in Japan, and since many foxes weren't around in areas, it is speculated that they instead used dogs.

There are a few chilling rituals that have been claimed to summon an Inugami. They have been banned due to the animal cruelty surrounding them, as well as how the ritual is clouded with misfortune and ultimately seen as a dark act. It was strongly frowned upon by everyone in ancient times as Inugami could be seen as curse gods.

Although there are various rituals, I'm only going to be listing one. I will warn readers that it consists of hideous animal cruelty.

In the most well-known method, a dog would be starved until it reached the peak of desperation. One way this was often accomplished was by tying up the dog and placing food near it so that the food was just out of reach. This would cause the dog to be staring at the food as it slowly dies. The other way was by burying the dog up to its neck and placing the food in front of its head. This led to the dog struggling to free itself and reach the food, but to no avail.

When the dog reaches its highest point of distress, the person is supposed to behead the dog. Then, they would bury its head at a crossroad. As people unknowingly walk and trample over the head, the spirit will become even more angered and hold a deep grudge. Finally, the head is dug up and enshrined. Other variations state that a person should pray to the head and offer food in exchange for the dog spirit to do their bidding. Either way, an Inugami is created from these acts.

 Once summoned, an Inugami will be loyal and obey its owner's commands. The owner, during old times, were usually witches and sorcerers. In some circumstances, the dog will turn on the owner and attack them as a combination of revenge and anger. Inugami have been reported to "savagely bite their owner to death" if the owner inflicts any further abuse. They are malevolent and tend to harm anyone who mistreats them or displays signs of weakness to them. Inugami will ultimately curse and possess whoever their creator instructs them to harm.

They are extremely good at possessing anyone who is weak or unstable. For example, and Inugami could easily possess somebody that is feeling hopeless and discouraged. It is said that they enter a victim through the ears and possess them. When a person is possessed by an Inugami, they will most likely experience a pain in their chest, as well as pain in their arms and feet. Victims will experience severe feelings of jealousy as well as random moments of barking like a dog. Some even develop the intense hunger of an Inugami and turn gluttonous, eating anything when given the opportunity. When a person possessed by an Inugami dies, it is said that their body will have teeth marks on it, almost as if a dog bit them.

There is a way to have the possession of an Inugami removed. However, there is a lengthy process that has to be followed in order to do it. The victim has to locate a sorcerer and convince them to help remove the Inugami. Where do you find a sorcerer? I have no clue.

Inugami can bring wealth and prosperity, just like other spirit familiars. But these advantages are outweighed by the disadvantages of receiving discrimination and possibly getting harmed. In the past, if there were families or bloodlines that used Inugami, they were usually shunned upon by other villagers. It was considered taboo to marry someone associated with Inugami. Along with this, if an owner wasn't careful, it could end up possessing someone close to them, such as a family member.

Ultimately, Inugami don't bring much good and come from the result of a cruel ritual. They have been mentioned in many pieces of folklore, as well as in literature and television. Their appearances vary, so there are many different interpretations to what they look like. Overall, I recommend taking a deeper look into Inugami, as they have a lot of information that I didn't include on various websites and are interesting to learn about.