Throughout ancient history when science and society were much more underdeveloped, natural occurances were explained through myths and tall tales. One such myth in Japanese culture is that a giant catfish living underneath the earth would cause earthquakes with the shake of his tail. The catfish, called Namazu, was restrained by a giant stone tablet placed on his head by the god, Kashima. When Kashima was distracted, it was then that Namazu broke free and would wreak havok on the human world. Although it may sound like Namazu was meant to be feared because of his huge size and disregard for humankind, he was used in stories to help lift the morale of people who had just suffered from an earthquake. It was said that he caused of the earthquake of Edo (now Tokyo) in 1855 as a punishment of human greed, and writers and scholars took this as a sign saying the rich must redistribute their wealth to the people. Giant catfish have always been sacred to the Japanese, thought to be river deities who could cause flooding and rainfall.
