In Japanese mythology, the Namazu or Ōnamazu is a giant catfish who causes earthquakes. He lives in the mud under the islands of Japan and is guarded by the godKashima, who restrains the catfish with a stone. When Kashima lets his guard fall, Namazu thrashes about, causing violent earthquakes.
History
Following an earthquake near Edo in 1855, the Namazu became worshiped as a yonaoshi daimyōjin. Namazu-e are a minor genre of ukiyo-e. They are usually unsigned and encompass a large variety of scenes such as a namazu forcing the wealthy to excrete coins for the poor, and a namazu atoning for the earthquake he caused. It is believed by some that the origin of the story is the notion that catfish can sense the small tremors that happen before many earthquakes, and are more active at such times. Supposedly, the sudden activity was observed in ancient times and people believed the quakes to be the result of a giant catfish.
Namazu is also the name of a song on Danish singer Oh Land's first studio albumFauna, which features a large catfish on the album cover.
In the Japanese version of Secret of Mana, the Earth Slide spell is a catfish icon in the ring menu.
In ', a catfish gives Link the Quake Medallion.
A giant catfish mimicking Namazu's habits appears as a boss figure in the video gameLufia II.
The PokémonWhiscash, originally named "Namazun", resembles a catfish and has an earthquake as its signature move. An episode of the Pokémon anime featuring Whiscash was banned when it was scheduled to air too soon after a quake.
The Namazu was featured in the episode of River Monsters, "Cold-Blooded Horror".
In S1:E7 of Dragon Ball GT, the character Zoonama appears as a giant catfish that wiggles his whiskers when detecting earthquakes, and repeats the word "Namazu" in his speech.
