The book on matsuri I’m reading at the moment suggests that, especially given their propensity for kidnapping females, it is almost certainly a phallic thing. However, Wikipedia’s suggestion that it was a beak (possibly derived from Garuda) that morphed into a nose seems much more well argued – particularly as Wikipedia also shows that tengu are often the spirits of girls and abduct males too.
Why do tengu have long noses?
November 1, 2012 at 8:28 pm (Japanese myths/ misconceptions about Japan)
Michael said,
November 2, 2012 at 12:45 am
Do all the tengu have long noses, or just the crow tengu? In the latter case, a long nose is probably a beak substitute.
The stupid.. hurt burrrns us! said,
November 2, 2012 at 3:45 am
Your blog horrifies me. It’s full of misinformation and guessing, and very little factual information. Please, for the sake of all the stupid people out there who might come across this, and take it as fact, STOP POSTING.