Kids Web Japan

About 50 kilometers west of central Tokyo stands Mount Takao, which is popular with hikers in the Tokyo area. It is also famous as both a training ground for the yamabushi and as a home of the tengu.

There are many strange legends about the tengu along Mount Takao's hiking path. One concerns the "octopus cedar." One day, the tengu in Takao were working to build a path to the top of the mountain when they came across a huge cedar tree with roots that were blocking the path. The tengu decided to pull the roots out the first thing next morning. But when they returned the next day, the roots were curled up like the legs of an octopus. The tree had decided to "behave" and pulled in its roots so as not to interfere with the work of the tengu.

Since then the "octopus cedar" has been worshipped by people who regard it as a symbol for the "opening of a path" toward good fortune, and it can still be found along the hiking trail today.

Another legend regarding Mount Takao is about the "laughing tengu." It is said that you sometimes hear the laughter of a large group of people when walking on the mountain, but when you turn around, nobody is there. Then there is the story of the "toppling tengu." You hear the sound of a large tree crashing to the ground, but when you go see it the next day, there are no fallen trees in sight.

There is also a folktale about tengu living on Mount Takao:

Once upon a time, there lived an old woman in a village at the foot of Mount Takao. She would always cook up rice and bamboo shoots for the tengu to eat.

One day, the old woman fell ill. Her son became worried and went to fetch some water from a hot spring far away. He tripped just before reaching home, however, and spilled all the water. He was very disappointed, but then he noticed water springing up from the ground. When the old woman bathed in this water, she became healthy again. Everyone in the village said it must have been the tengu who caused water to spring up as a way of saying thank you to the woman for all the meals she cooked for them.