A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Batchelor translates Otapatche guru’s name as the person who makes sand fly and situates him on the shore within the reach of breaking waves. Dead fish washed onto this shore belong to him and are treated as ikonnup rather than taken for food. His wife is Otapatche-mat. The account withholds inao and sake offerings from this figure, while reporting that fishermen who have been cheated or mistreated by Japanese counterparts invoke him for vengeance. This records the social setting of one colonial-era account, not an ethnic character judgment or a recommendation to curse anyone. No particular animal body, wings or sandstorm transformation is described.

01

Origins & earliest records

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

02

Records & interpretation

Complete chapters XLV–XLVI read, with original printed pages checked for selected names, variants and locators.

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

    XLVI, Fish Cultus: Demons of the Sea and Rivers, pp.543–544; London: Religious Tract Society. Complete chapter context checked; no independent Ainu-language collation.

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

Complete XLV532–539 and XLVI540–545 read; title and relevant printed pages visually inspected. Source collector and variant limitations explicit.

The Ainu and their Folk-Lore

London: Religious Tract Society,1901. XLVI, Fish Cultus: Demons of the Sea and Rivers, pp.543–544

Caches batchelor1901-ch45.txt/ch46.txt and master OCR. Original pixels batchelor1901-leaf10.jpg(title),567–568(printed536–537),571–576(printed540–545). The download page/n index is three below scandata leafNum here; printed numbers take precedence. Metadata names author1854–1944; no artwork reuse.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

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 — XLVI, Fish Cultus: Demons of the Sea and Rivers, pp.543–544Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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