Namazu (Catfish)

Namazu (catfish) are a Siluriformes Siluridae fish. About 2900 species inhabit freshwater areas and shallow seas, and 16 species live in Japan. They have small eyes, and whiskers on their chin. Japan is a country where earthquakes are frequent and, since ancient times, it has been known that animals act abnormally before an earthquake. In particular, namazu were believed to have the power to cause earthquakes.

During the construction of the Fushimi Castle, following the Keicho Fushimi earthquake in 1596, Hideyoshi Toyotomi sent a letter containing instructions to ensure the castle was “resistant to catfish earthquakes”. During the Edo era, a belief became widespread in mainstream society that a huge catfish called Ohnamazu lived in the mud, under the islands of Japan, and was the cause of earthquakes.

After the magnitude 7 Ansei Edo earthquake occurred on October 2, 1855, a large number of Ukiyo-e illustrations featuring a giant catfish were issued. These images, called Namazu-e, became so popular that 200 types were distributed in three months. These paintings often show images of catfish being scolded and attacked by gods and townspeople, or eaten as kabayaki (grilled and dipped in sweet soy sauce) as repercussions. People who profited from the post-disaster restoration, such as carpenters, plasterers, lumber traders, firefighters, and kawaraban (newspaper) sellers who distributed flash reports about the earthquake, were often drawn into the Ukiyo-e pictures. At the same time, some Ukiyo-e ridiculed the rich townspeople who had lost their properties in earthquake-related fires, and further, some pictures incorporating political criticism began to emerge. As such, this disaster was seen as a positive opportunity to redistribute wealth and enact social reform.