Pauchi Kamuy

Pauchi Kamuy (Pawci-kamuy) is the Ainu demon of madness — a specific, named, individuated malevolent kamuy (one of the nitne-kamuy, the 'evil spirits') rather than the spirit-class itself. He is born of the Willow-Soul River in Pikun Kando, the high heaven, and descends to earth to afflict humankind with insanity, stomach ailments, food-poisoning, seizures and frenzied dancing; epidemics of the dancing-frenzy were said to have wiped out whole villages in the late nineteenth century. Authored as a (malevolent) deity with no attested divine parent. Flagged SOLITARY: his only stated origin is the Willow-Soul River, with no parent, spouse or sibling kamuy named.

Domains

• madness
• disease
• evil spirits

Powers

• Strike humans with insanity and frenzied dancing
• Cause stomach ailments, food-poisoning and seizures
• Descend from the high heaven to plague humankind

Sources

• Michael Ashkenazi, Handbook of Japanese Mythology (Oxford University Press, 2003)
• John Batchelor, The Ainu and Their Folk-Lore (1901)
• Carl Etter, Ainu Folklore: Traditions and Culture of the Vanishing Aborigines of Japan (1949)