Mutō Spirit

The Mutō spirit (武藤魂, Mutō-Tamashī). Is the legendary character which is said to be the spirit of Takeshi Mutō, and is also said to be the protector of Asia. Nearly all stories involving the spirit explicitly state that Takeshi's Wife, Aika Mutō, is also a spirit and never far behind him that. While not all the time, much of the time it is depicted that the Mutō spirit is said to either be carried, followed, or is a Japanese Golden Eagle.
In legend, the Mutō spirit travels all over Asia, however he most frequently travels to Japan. The only outlier to the Asia specific rule being The tale of the Cowboy, (西洋人の物語, Seiyō hito no monogatari) Where He is seen traveling to 1800s America. Takeshi is depicted always as having his hood or Kabuto, and both him and Aika have a blue hue to them. Takeshi's wear differs from depiction to depiction, some depict him with armor, others with his Monk robes, and the strangest depiction comes from The Tale of the Rat God (ネズミの神の物語, Nezumi no kami no monogatari) Where he is depicted with a Watermelon Green Kimono. In theatre he is mostly depicted in Kyōgen and Kabuki theatre in a comedic role, being a straight man to the often absurdist events happening around him, and He will often hit someone with a Keisaku as punishment. If not in comedy, in many fairytales and plays The Mutō Spirit plays the role of either an oracle of some prophecy, or as a Deus Ex Machina who saves the protagonist or helps in some way, whether it the Mutō spirit directly doing something, or an Eagle swoops in. In some of his depictions, he is depicted similarly to a harpy, most likely based off of his nickname given by the Spanish.
Outside of fairytales and theatre he is believed by many to be a real thing, in 2013 a Japanese study showed that 63% of the population believe that he is real, and that 52% of the population claimed that they have seen him at-least once. Legends say that his role is as protector of Japan, advisor, and ultimately a helper to the Emperor and those in power. In tradition Takeshi would advise and help the emperor or empress throughout the entirety of their lives from childhood to death, he would also appear to them at seemingly random times and talk to them Empress Go-Sakuramachi is quoted as saying,

When I was a child, I remember seeing a man much like you describe, I also remember seeing a Woman with him. I was certain I had never seen him in my life before, but he still seemed familiar. We talked for a while and walked through the gardens, he picked out a Lotus flower and told me to take care of it before he left. He would come back all the time of course, just as you described, and whenever we did interact, of course there was an eagle around, not a doubt in my mind that he is the one you speak of.
-Empress Go-Sakuramachi, 1802

Historical Basis

The historical basis is a loose one. Many simply reported seeing Takeshi Mutō and Aika Mutō in the form of the depiction of the Mutō spirit. More and more people reported seeing this, and this quickly turned into stories of his actions, and the character of the Mutō spirit then started being adopted in plays and stories not pertaining to the actions the Mutō spirit was observed doing.

Certain versions of the description also describe a Fox following him around, most likely supposed to be either a representation or actually Masato.

Date of First Recording

1648

Date of Setting

various