Kosuke Fujiki is a new Insignia Stories contributor from one of my favorite areas of Japan, Okinawa! I was thrilled to receive 3 Okinawan-myth drabbles for the Mythical Creatures of Asia anthology. Here is one today. Enjoy!
She Saw Shisa
Kosuke Fujiki
When Machiko saw Shisa, a big, mottled viper was about to attack her. Dazzled by the viper’s gaze, she could neither run nor scream, and she knew its venomous bite was fatal. But Shisa arrived just in time.
Shisa statues are everywhere, but she saw the real one for the first time. Shaking its unruly mane, the lion-like beast tore the snake into pieces with its enormous fangs.
“What a lifesaver!” Machiko thought to herself.
What Machiko didn’t realize was that Shisa happened be a very hungry beast. She barely knew what happened when its fangs ripped her breast open.
Kosuke Fujiki is an Okinawan scholar in film studies. He earned his Ph.D. degree in film studies in 2017 from King’s College London, where he completed his thesis on the Okinawan cinema of the 1980s and the 1990s. He is now a full-time university lecturer in mainland Japan, while also working occasionally as a critic and film subtitler. Twitter: @fujikivich
Read more drabbles on the new Mythical Drabbles page
(Featured Image from Deposit Photos)
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