Call Me Stormy

Know Your Monster: 26

SHOBIJIN

The Shobijin are not monsters, but rather high priestesses from Infant Island assigned to watch over one of the most famous monsters of them all — Mothra.  A few things worth noting about the Shobijin:

* They are usually portrayed as identical twins, but much smaller than humans. Their race shrunk owing to nuclear testing on Infant Island. It’s sometimes depicted as a Polynesian paradise and other times as a lost island within the Indonesian archipelago.

* They sing haunting ballads to Mothra, who they worship as the guardian protector of their Lilliputian race.

* They can communicate telepathically with the monster, even across oceans and great distances. In some more recent films, they can even teleport themselves or other creatures.

I’ve always been a sucker for the Shobijin. Besides the fact that the actresses playing these fairies are stunningly beautiful and well-known pop stars,  the ballads have a haunting and ethereal quality all their own.  Take their most famous ode to Mothra — “Mosura No Uta” or “Mothra’s Song” — originally written in Malay although sometimes sung in Japanese in the movies. An English translation of the lyrics:

Mothra oh Mothra
If we were to call for help
Over time
Over sea
Like a wave you’d come
Our guardian angel!

Here, the Shobijin awaken Mothra in the 1966 movie Godzilla Vs. the Sea Monster.

Tomorrow’s featured monster: Ultraman