Baku

The baku entered Japan from China, where a creature called the mo (written with the character for tapir) was believed to ward off pestilence and evil. In Japan, the creature took on a specific function: it ate dreams.

The Call

After a nightmare, the sleeper says “Baku-san, come eat my dream” three times. The baku arrives and consumes the nightmare. The dreamer sleeps peacefully. Images of the baku were carved on pillows, painted on screens near beds, and hung in children’s rooms. Some Edo-period inns placed the character for baku on the wooden pillow blocks provided to guests.

The Warning

The baku has a limit. If called too frequently, or if its appetite outgrows the supply of nightmares, it may eat pleasant dreams as well. In some versions, a greedy baku devours all of a person’s dreams, hopes, and desires, leaving an empty husk. The protector becomes a predator when overused. The lesson: do not become so dependent on something that removes discomfort that it takes everything else along with it.

The Shape

The baku is a chimera. Descriptions vary but commonly include an elephant’s trunk, a rhinoceros’s eyes, a tiger’s paws, an ox’s tail, and a bear’s body. The creature does not correspond to any living animal. In modern Japan, the word baku is also the standard word for tapir, creating a quiet connection between the dream-eater of folklore and the real animal sleeping in the zoo.