Also, most snakes have only one developed lung, but this is long and extends well down into the body. The mamushi in particular prefers moist habitats. Snakes here prey heavily on frogs and other small animals that live around the water. It is perhaps natural that snakes in Japan be associated with water and water-spirits. The short but thick body, fat head with puffed cheeks holding the poison glands, and mottled markings are clearly those of a mamushi pit viper! In this case, the sculptor went through considerable effort to depict a real snake. At one tiny irrigation pond in the Saitama countryside, I discovered a wonderful statue of a snake-body Benzaiten, only about a half-meter high, along with a tile plaque depicting a snake that serves as her familiar. Snake-body Suijin are rare, but you can see a stone statue of Ugajin just above the pond at Inokashira-koen park in western Tokyo. This avatar is known as Jatai-Benzai, or "Snake-body Benzai." A closely related Suijin, also often revered at irrigation ponds, is called Ugajin. In rare instances she also appears in a very special avatar, with the body of a coiled snake and the head of a human being. Benzaiten is sometimes depicted with a coiled snake sitting on top of her head. The Suijin enshrined here is an extremely popular Buddhist deity known as Benzaiten. A good example of this arrangement can be seen at Shinobazu Pond in Ueno Park. Suijin are typically revered in shrines constructed on small islands in the pond, or at least on chunks of land jutting out from the shore. Tame-ike irrigation ponds have traditionally been treated as sacred places, inhabited and protected by spirits known generically as Suijin (literally water deities). Naturally, the Japanese, as did people in most of the world, place a high cultural value on spots that form their major source of water. Japanese civilization was built on irrigated rice cultivation, and securing a sufficient source of water has always been the key to successful farming. The water is held in the pond, then directed downstream though a series of canals and ditches to the waiting rice paddies. In the Kanto region, these are usually formed by damming the upper reaches of a narrow valley, at a spot where water naturally springs or seeps from the surrounding slopes. A good place to look for spiritual snakes is at tame-ike irrigation ponds. Here in Japan, they are primarily associated with water spirits. Kevin Short wrote in the Daily Yomiuri, “In addition to being one of the 12 animals of the traditional Asian almanac, snakes are widely revered as messengers and familiars of local deities. Snakes Considered Mystic Messengers of Japanese Water Spirits Snake teeth are small but sharp, and slanted backward to better grasp prey for suffocating or swallowing. The bite is not venomous, but from rich personal experience I can tell you it is extremely painful. Large specimens can stretch out to close to two meters. The best known of these is the aodaisho rat snake (Elaphe climacophora). In contrast to the Ryukyus, Japan's main islands are inhabited by only eight species of snake. These include the tiny 20-centimeter Miyakohime-hebi, or Pfeffer's reed snake (Calamaria pfefferi), a rare endemic restricted to two islands, Miyakojima and Erabujima and the habu pit viper (Protobothrops flavoviridis), a thick, deadly venomous species reaching lengths of over two meters. Kevin Short wrote in the Daily Yomiuri, “Japan is home to about 50 species of snake, the majority of which are endemic species found in the islands between Kyushu and Taiwan. Equally home in the water and on land, they feed on rats, mice, other mammals, frogs and bird eggs. It has red eyes and four distinct black stripes. The rat snake is often seen in urban areas and around rice paddies. There are two main species of nonvenomous snake: the rat snake and the hibakari. Many shrines for her have images of snakes. Snakes are associated with the water goddess Benzaiten. They thrive in the rice paddies where they feed on frogs and small rodents and compete with wading birds who feed on the same animals and even snakes themselves. Four line snake There are lots of snakes in Japan.
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