Kapap kamui

Overview

Batchelor introduces kapap kamui as a divine bat associated with wisdom and protection. In the tale, Ponyaumbe rules at Tomisanpechi and repeatedly fights hostile spirits. When the demon of contagious disease arrives by sea with an army, Ponyaumbe decides to take the war into the underworld rather than devastate the inhabited country. He appoints the bat to guard his castle, which itself originally descended from heaven. The bat, by contrast, was created on earth.

A demon challenges the guardian and shoots it with a poisoned arrow. The text describes the bat falling dead, its flesh drying and its bones separating. The victor enters the castle, but the bat rises, follows him smiling and slips behind him to seize the arrows. It then shoots and kills the intruder. No weapon-making instructions or later battle involving Ponyaumbe are given in this episode.

The framing paragraph calls the trick feigned death, while the narrated episode says the bat was killed and nevertheless rose. Both formulations are retained rather than resolving the event into either ordinary deception or a universal power of resurrection. Batchelor links the victory with reverence for the bat and its supposed protective power. His classification of it among birds is historical source terminology, not modern zoology, and the association with disease protection is not evidence of medical efficacy.

Origins & earliest records

Ainu traditions as reported in John Batchelor’s1901 English account; individual tellers generally unnamed in these passages.

Records & interpretation

Complete chapter XXXIV386–397 through swift ending read; original printed388,390,393–394 and396 visually inspected.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   The Ainu and their Folk-Lore

   John Batchelor, missionary author and translator of collected traditions · 1901

   XXXIV, Animal and Bird Fetiches, pp.388–390; London: Religious Tract Society,1901. Complete chapter, framing and endings read.

Family & connections

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Primary records and illustrations

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Historical English ethnographic and narrative accountThe Ainu and their Folk-Lore — XXXIV, Animal and Bird Fetiches, pp.388–390Research access: 2026-10-06

Image credits

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