Indigenous Shinto beliefs and imported Buddhism from China and India have fused into distinctive Japanese dragon lore. Prior to 600 AD and Buddhism in Japan, dragons were formed from one third of the body of Fire God Kaguzuchi and produced rain and snow in answer to prayers.
A Japanese saying: "Be a dragon and the clouds will come" suggests that climbing the clouds enables one as a dragon to soar to great heights.
TOYOTAMA HIKO NO MIKOTO, (Abundant Pearl Prince), a dragon Sea God, and his daughter lived in an underwater sea palace. The princess noticed the reflection of a beautiful youth in the well near the palace gate. They were married, three years later the youth returned to earth with his pregnant wife and lived in a house by the sea. While giving birth she asked the youth not to look, but he couldn't resist temptation. He saw the princess transformed into a Wani, dragon. In her anger and shame she abandoned her child and husband and returned to her father's sea palace.
RYU, A dragon able to live in the air, in water and on land. It was considered one of the four sacred creatures of the Orient. Ryu symbolizes rain and storms
RIYUJIN, Japanese Dragon King of the sea, used magic pearls to control the ebb and flow of tides, his daughter married Prince Hoori and became an ancestor to Japan's Royal family. The Japanese pearl is different from the Chinese pearl and its analogy with treasure hoards.
RINJIN, a Japanese Dragon King, ruler of all dragons, lives in a crystal palace under the sea. Precious stones wash down the mountains into his palace and pile up like mounds of sand next to great piles of magical artifacts. One story involving Rinjin is tells of how the jellyfish lost its bones. It is set at a time when jellyfish had bones, fins and feet. In differing versions either Rinjin's bride or daughter had a craving for a live monkey's liver. The Dragon King sent the jellyfish to bring back a live monkey. The jellyfish found one, and invited him back to visit the underwater kingdom. The monkey agreed and they started back. On the way the jellyfish told the monkey the real reason for the invitation. The monkey said that it took out it's liver before it came, and asked to be taken back so that it could fetch it. The jellyfish did this, and then returned to the palace to say why the monkey would be late. In anger the Dragon King beat the jellyfish into the shape it has today. (Sometimes an octopus takes the place of the jellyfish. Rinjin is also known as Ryujin.)
O GONCHO, a white Japanese dragon lives in Ukisima, a deep pool, near Kyoto, at a place called Yama-shiro. Every 50 years the dragon changes into a golden bird. The cry of the bird is an omen of famine.
KOSHI, the Japanese dragon of the sea-tides encircles the whole world with its tail in its mouth. Russians called him: "Koshchei the Deathless", who encircled the Underworld tail in mouth.
Japanese Dragon lanterns are considered gifts from the sea-dragons to the gods and derive from natural occurring phosphorescent lights, which rise from the sea to the mountains where they settle in pine trees. Literary evidence of dragon lanterns dates from the 14th century when Buddhas or Bodhisattvas worshipped them. A 16th century text details the course of a dragon lantern from the gate of an underwater dragon-palace to the Manju Temple at Ama no Hasidate, where it rested on top of a tall pine tree for about half an hour, but it was visible only to believing Budhists.
Japanese Dragon's eggs lie dormant in the form of a colourful stone containing a tiny snake. It lies for a thousand years in the sea, a thousand years in the mountains and a thousand years in a village. People would bring the beautiful stones home to serve as ink stones because they sweat water. After 3000 years the stone splits, enabling the small snake to emerge. Growing at an alarming rate it would smash through roof beams becoming an enormous dragon to ascended to the sky amid thunder and lightening.
SUSANO, the God of Storms, was exiled from heaven by Amaterasu, his sister, because his turbulent nature was upsetting everybody. While riding his horse through Izumo Prefecture, a province in Japan, he came across a sad family who were sobbing outside their house.
He was told of an eight headed dragon with red eyes and eight tails that was so big, it filled the entire valley. It came at midnight the same time every year for seven years and had devoured seven of the family's eight daughters. Kushinada-hime the beautiful, youngest, daughter was the next to be sacrificed.
Thunder in the distance warned of the approaching dragon, but Susano was smitten by Kushinada-hime, he would battle the dragon in exchange for her hand in marriage. He summoned all the people from the area to help build a barricade across the valley, it included eight hatch doors. Susano used eight newly open barrels of sake, rice wine, as bait behind each hatch.
Upon arrival, the dragon couldn't resist the delicious smell of rice wine, but he couldn't burn the barricade because the sake would evaporate. One by one the eight heads poked through the hatches to quickly become drunk and fall asleep.
Susano raised hid sword and hacked off each head. He noticed that the dead dragon had an elegant sword stuck in one of its tails. Retrieving the sword he discovered its magical powers and gave it to the Emperor of Japan.
He married Kushinada-hime, their son Okuminushi grew up to be the God of Magic and Healing.
GENKO, a Buddhist priest lived in Sakura ga Ike, Cherry Tree Pond. He wished to become a dragon for its longevity because learning Buddhist doctrine required more than one man's life span. He sat in meditation with one drop of water in his hand,upon his death, clouds and rain formed and he flew to the sky and then back to the pond transformed into a dragon.Twice a year people would come to pray and offer buckets of hard boiled rice, if found empty the dragon had accepted the offering and heard the prayer, but if left untouched the prayer would be unanswered.
