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Overview
In the legend recorded by Batchelor, Japanese woodcutters separate while searching the mountains for timber. One loses his companions and wanders calling for them until he starves. At death his soul changes into a green pigeon. Its call recalls a person calling to another, continuing the lost man’s search in the form of a bird.
The account associates its visits to the seashore with the dead man’s supposed liking for salty food. That explanation belongs to the tale and its ethnic generalization, not to a verified account of human tastes or bird physiology. Batchelor reports that the bird, called wazao chikap in his preceding discussion, was not killed for food by his informants because they considered it a human ghost. The woodcutter is unnamed; no restoration to human life or reunion with his companions follows. This is a particular transformed-soul narrative, not an assertion that a living people constitute a nonhuman race.
Origins & earliest records
Ainu traditions as reported in John Batchelor’s1901 English account; individual tellers generally unnamed in these passages.
Records & interpretation
Complete chapters XXXVIII430–438 and XXXIX439–452, endings and attached note read; selected original437–438,444–446 and450–451 visually checked.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Ainu and their Folk-Lore
XXXIX, Bird Cultus (d), pp.443–444; London: Religious Tract Society,1901. Complete narrative and surrounding chapter read.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
The Ainu and their Folk-Lore
London: Religious Tract Society,1901. XXXIX, Bird Cultus (d), pp.443–444
Complete caches batchelor1901-ch38.txt/ch39.txt; original printed437–438,444–446,450–451 at download n468–469,475–477,481–482. Source title/preface independently read. No native-language collation, biological species claim or present-day universal practice inferred.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical English ethnographic and narrative accountThe Ainu and their Folk-Lore — XXXIX, Bird Cultus (d), pp.443–444Research access: 2026-10-06
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.