History Like the komainu “lion dogs,”the shisa are a variant of the guardian lions of China. Beginning in the Edo period, in mainland Japan they began to be called “guardian dogs.” In general,the gender is assigned in various ways to the shisa.
1. Origins
The shisa faced the monster with its figure raised, and immediately a giant roar echoed throughout the village, a roar so deep and powerful that it even shook the dragon.
Great Stone Shisa in Tomimori In the village of Tomimori, near the town of Kochinda, at the southern tip of Okinawa, there were often many fires. They did so, and have protected their village from fire ever since.
An open-mouthed shisa that is a female who shares her owner’sgood fortune with others, or a male who roars to scare away evil spirits that pass by.
2. Symbolism
Shisa are gargoyle-like decorations that come from Okinawan mythology. They are best described as beasts that resemble a cross between a dog and a lion. People place pairs of these creatures flanking the doors of their homes or on their roofs, as they are believed to protect the occupants from evil spirits or entities.
The shisa on the left will always have its mouth closed, while the one on the right will have its mouth open. The open mouth scares away nearby demons or evil spirits, while the closed mouth keeps benevolent entities in the house and on the grounds.
In mainland Japan, similar pairs of monstrous creatures can be seen adorning front walkways and entrance gates today. They are now known simply as “guard dogs,” whereas they were formerly called “Shisa dogs and guardians.” The right-hand dog with its mouth open is a guardian, and the left-hand creature with its mouth closed is a shisa.
Sometimes people assign genders to shisa; several Okinawans believe that the male has a closed mouth to keep evil out of its owner’s house, and the female’s open mouth symbolizes the idea that she is sharing the good inside the dwelling she is guarding. Others disagree, believing that the female has a closed mouth because she is preventing good entities from escaping, while the male’s mouth is open in a threatening posture to scare away evil spirits.
These beasts make numerous appearances in Chinese folklore: In one legend, a young man receives a Shisa as a gift from a nobleman in Okinawa. The boy senses a mystical power within the inanimate object, so he takes great care of his gift. Then one day, a dragon enters the village of a young boy and begins to wreak havoc, but the shisa repays the boy’s care and kindness by coming to life and defeating the dragon before it can harm any of the villagers.
In another Okinawan tale, the dog-like creature was brought to Okinawa many, many years ago as a gift to be given to a Ryukyuan king. It earned a reputation as the protector of the village of Madanbashi, shielding it from fear.
3. Iconic Location
Off the coast of Kyushu (Japan’s third largest island), there is a series of volcanic islands that flow southwest toward Taiwan. These are called the Ryukyu Islands, also known as the Nansei Islands. In the center of this chain of volcanic islands is Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands. It is in this subtropical location that a variation of an iconic creature from East Asian mythology, the shisa, calls home.
Found everywhere in Okinawan society, the shisa (or shiisaa if using the Okinawan pronunciation) is a cross between a dog and a lion. They are often found sitting in pairs protecting the entrance to an area and are used to ward off evil spirits; it would be surprising if they didn’t, as this type of gargoyle can be seen throughout East Asia.
Collectively, these statues are known as “foo lions” in the West and are commonly associated with China under the name “shishi,” where they guard imperial palaces and other places of great importance.
4. Culture and legends
Similar to how these statues are perceived in China, guardian lions in Japan are generally seen as a male and female pair. The way to tell which gender each guardian represents depends not only on the mythology you are looking at, but also on whether the mouth is open or closed.
Most countries generally believe that one is ultimately male, while the other is undoubtedly female, but in Okinawa there are differences in beliefs. Some think that the open-mouthed shisa is the male who scares away evil spirits, while the one with the closed mouth is the female who maintains the surrounding goodness.
Regardless of what is believed, it seems that there are strong connotations of physical protection from the male, while the female represents protection that involves preservation and sharing positivity.
Komainu: tale of two dogs
It was through the influence and export of Chinese shishi statues that shisa came to Okinawa. The name derives from the regional dialect pronunciation of shishi. Mainland Japan also gradually acquired this guardian lion influence; however, the Japanese variation was imported from Korea as opposed to China, and after a while became known as komainu.
With both originating in Japan and used to ward off evil spirits, shisa are native only to Okinawa, adding to their rich mythology and, as such, are not found on the Japanese mainland. They originated sometime before 1879, when Okinawa was not associated with Japan, and are a more traditional Ryukyuan decoration compared to komainu.
Furthermore, while both creatures offer protection, they are used in completely different areas. Komainu are mainly found protecting Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, and even the homes of nobility. Shisa, however, can come in much smaller packages and, as such, protect more everyday places.
In terms of size, they can be seen on roofs, protecting the entrances to residential homes, or even next to vending machines. They are usually seen as partners, but they can also be placed individually.
The tale of the shisa and the sea dragon
As with most Japanese creatures, there are many tales and folklore surrounding the shisa. One such legendary story is that of a monstrous sea dragon that terrorized the tranquility of Madanbashi, a village in Naha Port Bay.
It all began with a necklace decorated with a shisa figure that was presented to a king at Shuri Castle by a Chinese emissary. It was when this same king visited Madanbashi that the sea dragon began another infamous attack. Terrified, all the villagers fled to hide.
It was then that the local noro (a priestess) remembered a dream she had recently had. She was to inform the visiting king to stand on the beach with the shisa figure held high toward the dragon. She gave this information to a boy, Chiga, who delivered the message to the king. From there, the king went to face the dragon and performed the actions as Chiga had said.
Once the shisa figure was held up before the monster let out a powerful roar that echoed throughout the village, a roar so powerful that it shook the dragon itself. From that roar, a gigantic rock fell from the sky and smashed the dragon’s tail. Unable to move, the dragon eventually died. Over time, the rock and the dragon’s body became overgrown with trees and plants, and can still be seen today as the forests of Gana-mui.
Like most tales, this story has many variations and differences, one involving the sea dragon mocking the shisa’s power because of its size. This angered the shisa enough to roar so loudly that it led to the aforementioned events involving the rock.
In general, regardless of the variation, the central premise remains the same.
The Great Shisa Stone of Tomori
The shisa is not only known for warding off evil spirits and monsters. They are also known as guardians against fire, as told in this story from the southern settlement called Tomori Village.
He claimed that it was due to the power of the nearby mountain. He then suggested that everyone build a giant stone shisa statue to face the mountain. Following his advice, the villagers did exactly that, and since then they have been free and protected from fire.
5. Today
The legend and power of the shisa are not only linked to Okinawa or ancient folk tales; they can be found in various forms of media, from classic television to video games. Take the demon Shiisaa from the Shin Megami Tensei games; this demon is based exactly on the shisa, from its appearance to the elemental attributes it possesses.
Series and video games
The evolutionary line of Growlithe/Arcanine, from the extremely popular Pokémon franchise, also has very strong shisa elements. These fire-breathing pocket monsters seem to be based on the guardian lion creature in general, although the connection to fire may or may not be associated with the story of the giant stone Shisa mentioned above. Even Hello Kitty has had a shisa makeover.
Just as Arcanine was inspired by guardian lions, the same can be said about Seasarmon, a creature from the digital monster series, Digimon. The name, appearance, and disposition of this evil-fighting digimon canine all correlate with the shisa, especially when the Seasarmon seen in the Digimon movie Battle of Adventurers originates from a computer in Okinawa.
Remaining in the realm of television is also King Caesar from the Godzilla franchise, who first appeared in 1974 in the Toho film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. The reason why this loyal guardian of humanity is named King Caesar, and not King Shisa, arose from a misinterpretation that shisa was the Japanese way of saying Caesar.
Although the name may be a bit twisted, this Japanese monster is extremely related to the first Okinawan folk tale mentioned in this article. In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, King Caesar plays a supporting role, symbolized and designed around a shisa, against the titular antagonist, Mechagodzilla, who symbolizes the sea dragon.
There are many other inclusions of shisa around the world, whether in legends, myths, or popular media. In the cacophony of yokai (the Japanese term for ghosts and monsters) in Japanese mythology, shisa are the ones that truly highlight the wonder and mystery of Okinawa.
