/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>43082273
Rinnosuke seems to believe their origin is from turtles.
>“I think the origin of the kappa is related to the kahakame.”
>“Kahakame, the river turtle. Their name in kanji is written with the characters meaning “great turtle”. What these characters express is the idea of a huge turtle. It would not be unusual for a fully grown one to reach the size of a human. When these turtles live for many years, they become able to understand human speech and gain the ability to take on a human form, becoming kappa.”
>The real form of the kappa are the great turtles. Tortoises that don’t live in the sea, but in rivers and ponds, and can get incredibly big. In other words, softshell turtles. If these turtles live for too long, they gain supernatural abilities and become kappa.
Not that he is a completely reliable source.