| Japanese marten | |
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| A stuffed specimen exhibited in the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Mustelidae |
| Genus: | Martes |
| Species: | M. melampus |
| Binomial name | |
| Martes melampus (Wagner, 1841) | |
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| Japanese marten range | |
| Synonyms | |
Crocutictis melampus | |
The Japanese marten (Martes melampus) is a marten species endemic to Japan.
It is 0.5 m (1.6 ft) in length typically, not including a 20 cm (8 in) long tail, and between 1 and 1.5 kg (2.2 and 3.3 lb) in weight. Males are generally larger than females. The pelage varies in color from dark brown to dull yellow with a cream-colored throat. [2]
Both males and females are territorial; the size of each individual's territory depends on food availability. The Japanese marten is omnivorous, preferring meat from fish, frogs, and small birds and mammals, but consuming insects, fruit, and seeds when necessary. [2]
The two confirmed subspecies of Japanese marten are:
It is most closely related to the sable (M. zibellina), with which it is sympatric on Hokkaido.
The Japanese marten's presence on Hokkaido and Sado islands is due to introductions. It has been recorded in South Korea, but no locality details prove a wild origin and no native population has been confirmed.
The Japanese marten breeds between March and the middle of May. They usually produce one kit (offspring); however, they can have up to five kits per mating season. The offspring are born blind and deaf. As it is a mammal, the female produces milk for her young offspring, but by 3–4 months of age the kits are able to hunt, and they soon leave their mother. They mature sexually between 1 and 2 years old. Average lifespan in the wild is unknown, although a specimen in captivity lived for a little more than 12 years.
After reaching maturity, young martens often try to establish their territory. They mark their territory with scent marking. [2]
Japanese martens live in boreal forests in much of Japan's mainland.[ clarification needed ][ Does this mean Honshu, or what? ] In the winter, martens tend to go to the forests where they can get the most prey. They tend to choose well-established forests because of the ways the creatures have specialized[ clarification needed ] and due to their long lifespan. Thus martens may be useful in assessing the health of the forest. However, in the summer, their habitat and diet become much more generalized, allowing them to live in a much more varied environment. [3]
One of the biggest roles martens play in the environment is seed dispersal. Many fleshy fruits rely on birds and bats to disperse their seeds; however, in more northern climates, the numbers of these species decrease. With the decrease of these species also comes a decrease in seed dispersal. In these areas, carnivores with omnivorous diets, like the Japanese marten, can become the vector of dispersal. These carnivores prove to be good dispersal mechanisms because they often have large home ranges leading to dispersal farther from the parent. Furthermore, since the carnivores are usually larger than birds or bats, they can carry and disperse larger seeds. Around 62% of the Japanese martens' feces contained one or more seeds. [4]
Japanese martens have both positive and negative impacts on human activities in their habitats. As a positive, the martens prey on Japanese hares (Lepus brachyurus), which lower the quality of trees by their browsing. However, their prey also can include many insects which aid agriculture. [2]
The biggest threat to the Japanese marten is the logging industry, which targets its preferred habitat of well-established forests. The industry often clear cuts forests quickly destroying the creatures habitat without allowing it to recover. This practice also causes insularization of marten populations, in turn causing changes in foraging behaviors and the decrease of the genetic pool. [3] Furthermore, pine plantations in their ecosystems do not contain important food for the martens. [2]
Steps have been taken to try to conserve the martens. The most common are regulations on trapping. [3] The species was named as a Natural Monument Species in Japan in 1971, drawing attention to the species' vulnerability. The species also has been given legal protection on Tsushima Islands. [2]
In the Iga region, Mie Prefecture, is the saying, "the fox has seven disguises, the tanuki has eight, and the marten has nine," and a legend relates how the marten has greater ability in shapeshifting than the fox ( kitsune ) or tanuki . In the Akita Prefecture and the Ishikawa Prefecture, if a marten crosses in front of someone, it is said to be an omen for bad luck (the weasel has the same kind of legend), and in the Hiroshima Prefecture, if one kills a marten, one is said to soon encounter a fire. In the Fukushima Prefecture, they are also called heko, fuchikari, komono, and haya, and they are said to be those who have died in avalanches in disguise. [5]
In the collection of yōkai depictions, the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Sekien Toriyama, they were depicted under the title "鼬", but this was read not as "itachi" but rather "ten", [6] and "ten" are weasels that have reached several years of age and became yōkai that have acquired supernatural powers. [7] In the depiction, several martens have gathered together above a ladder and created a column of fire, and one fear about them was that if martens that have gathered together in this form appear next to a house, the house would catch on fire. [8]
Weasels are mammals of the genus Mustela of the family Mustelidae. The genus Mustela includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets, and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender bodies and short legs. The family Mustelidae, or mustelids, is often referred to as the "weasel family". In the UK, the term "weasel" usually refers to the smallest species, the least weasel (M. nivalis), the smallest carnivoran species.
In Japanese folklore, tsukumogami are tools that have acquired a kami or spirit. According to an annotated version of The Tales of Ise titled Ise Monogatari Shō, there is a theory originally from the Onmyōki (陰陽記) that foxes and tanuki, among other beings, that have lived for at least a hundred years and changed forms are considered tsukumogami. In modern times, the term can also be written 九十九神, to emphasize the agedness.
Kasa-obake are a mythical ghost or yōkai in Japanese folklore. They are sometimes, but not always, considered a tsukumogami that old umbrellas turn into. They are also called "karakasa-obake" (から傘おばけ), "kasa-bake" (傘化け), and "karakasa kozō" (唐傘小僧).
Amikiri is a Japanese yōkai depicted in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Toriyama Sekien.
Akashita is a Japanese yōkai that appears in yōkai emaki in the Edo Period, among other places. They are depicted as a beast with clawed hands and a very hairy face covered with dark clouds, but its full body appearance is unknown. In its opened mouth is a big tongue. Sekien did not attach an explanatory note about this yōkai, but its origins are identifiable as Akaguchi which appears in older Edo period yōkai scrolls such as Bakemono no e. This yōkai is known interchangeably as Akaguchi and Akashita.
The bakeneko is a type of Japanese yōkai, or supernatural entity; more specifically, it is a kaibyō, or supernatural cat. It is often confused with the nekomata, another cat-like yōkai. The distinction between them is often ambiguous, but the largest difference is that the nekomata has two tails, while the bakeneko has only one.
Amefurikozō is a type of Japanese yōkai. There is a depiction of this yōkai in Sekien Toriyama's collection of yōkai drawing the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki, and they can also be seen in the kibyōshi among other publications of the same era.
Mikoshi-nyūdō is a type of bald-headed yōkai "goblin" with an ever-extending neck. In Japanese folklore and Edo period (1603–1868) kaidan "ghost story" texts, mikoshi-nyūdō will frighten people who look over the top of things such as byōbu folding screens. The name combines mikoshi見越し "looking over the top ; anticipation; expectation" and nyūdō入道 "a (Buddhist) priest; a bonze; a tonsured monster".
Nurarihyon is a Japanese yōkai.
The Nuribotoke (塗仏) is a yōkai found in Japanese yōkai emaki such as the Hyakkai Zukan by Sawaki Suushi. They are also depicted in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Toriyama Sekien.
Shibaemon-tanuki, or Shibaemon-danuki is a bake-danuki told in the legends of Awaji island, Hyōgo Prefecture. Along with Danzaburou-danuki of Sado island and the Yashima no Hage-tanuki of Kagawa Prefecture, he is counted among the "three famous tanuki of Japan." He is also written about in the colorful stories collection of the Edo period, the Ehon Hyaku Monogatari. While disguised as a human and in the middle of performing an act, he was attacked by a dog and killed, but the details of the tale differ depending on region and literature.
Yamajijii (山爺) or Yamachichi (山父) is a type of yōkai.
Ōnyūdō is a yōkai, or supernatural monster, told about in parts of Japan.
Tenome is a Japanese yōkai that appeared in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Toriyama Sekien.
The sunekosuri is a Japanese yōkai. Stories are told of it in Okayama Prefecture and is said to get in the way of people's paths as they walk.
Yamawaro is a yōkai (spirit) said to appear in mountains in Western Japan, starting in the Kyushu region. According to mythology, it is sometimes said that they are kappa that have come to dwell in the mountains.
Yanari is a paranormal phenomenon told about in legends in various places in Japan where the house or furniture would start shaking for no reason.
The ouni (苧うに) is a yōkai depicted in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Toriyama Sekien.
The Shōkera is a Japanese yōkai found in Edo Period yōkai emaki such as, the Hyakkai Zukan and the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō. They can also be written しゃうけら, せうけら, as well as 精螻蛄.
The waira (わいら) is a Japanese yōkai from Japanese emaki such as the Hyakkai Zukan by Sawaki Suushi and the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (1776) by Sekien Toriyama.
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