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Kutaka Niwatari

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(にわ) (たり) () () ()
niwataɾi kɯtaka
Kutaka Niwatari
Kutaka Niwatari
Kutaka Niwatari in Touhou Gouyoku Ibun
Clerical God of Hell's Checkpoint
More Character Titles
Species

God of chickens (Yaoyorozu no Kami)

Abilities

Healing throat illnesses

Occupation

Gatekeeper of Hell

Location

Youkai Mountain, Higan

Music Themes
Appearances
Official Games
Print Works

Strange Creators of Outer World (Who's Who of Humans & Youkai in Gensokyo - Everlasting Edition)

"So you're already familiar with me.
Let's get straight to the point, then.
I shall hereby test whether you are capable of surviving Hell."
Kutaka Niwatari (Wily Beast and Weakest Creature Stage 3)


Kutaka Niwatari (庭渡 久侘歌 Niwatari Kutaka) is a god of chickens and a guard of Hell. She lives in a spring atop the Youkai Mountain but goes to Higan for her job of overseeing the gateway to otherworlds such as Hell under the yama's oversight. [1]

General Information

Kutaka first appeared as the stage 3 midboss and boss in Wily Beast and Weakest Creature, attempting to dissuade the protagonist from entering Hell. She also appears as the extra stage midboss.

Personality

Kutaka has called herself birdbrained. When she was told not to put too much trust in the animal spirits, she stated she forgot the details when asked.[2] She also tells the protagonists that, to her, it wouldn't really matter what would happen to them, as she would've forgotten all about them by that point anyway. She speaks in a polite, somewhat refined manner, and despite already being authorized to let the protagonists through, she takes extra care to test their strength out of concern for their well-being.

Abilities

Healing throat illnesses

Kutaka's stated ability. The extent or how the ability works is unknown.

Occupation

Kutaka is the guard of the checkpoint leading to various Otherworlds, such as Hell and the land of oni. Her job is to distinguish betwen humans and oni, and sort them into their respective locations.[1] If someone wants to enter Hell, they must have Kutaka's permission to do so. If they don't have it, Kutaka will ask them to return to their original world.

Character Design

Origin

Kutaka is based on Niwatarijin (ニワタリ神), a god based in rural folklore who is worshipped in many shrines throughout northeastern Japan. Niwatarijin is typically depicted as a god of agriculture, fertility, irrigation and/or safe passage, and is at times associated with chickens (niwatori) and the sacrifice thereof. One of the god's notable blessings is to cure children's whooping cough, which was associated with birds and locally referred to as tori-shabiki.

Wide variation exists in the name of the god and its shrines, both in terms of spelling and pronunciation. Variants include Niwatari/Niwatashi (庭渡, 二渡, 二羽渡, 仁和多利, 荷渡), Oniwatari/Oniwatashi (鬼渡), Newatari (根渡, 子渡), and Miwatari/Miwatashi (水渡, 新渡, 見渡, 美渡, 御渡). Various theories exist regarding which name or meaning came first, though no conclusive answer has been reached. Some shrines were originally referred to with the Buddhist terms Myoujin and Gongen, and were renamed to "jinja" in the Meiji era. Many of the shrines were also dedicated to gods from Japanese mythology at this time in addition to Niwatarijin, including water gods such as Ame no Mikumari no Kami (天水分神) or Kuni no Mikumari no Kami (国水分神).

Kutaka's role as a gatekeeper of Hell is likely drawn from the "Oniwatari" name variant. The characters "鬼渡" (oniwatari) mean "passage through oni", or "battle with oni" as in the verb "watari-au" (渡り合う, "to do combat with").

Name

Her full name is Kutaka Niwatari (庭渡 久侘歌). Kutaka is spelled with the characters ku (), meaning "a long time", ta (), which means "proud" in Chinese and "lonesome" in Japanese, and ka (), meaning "song". The name may be derived from "kutakake", an archaic word for "chicken". Though it was originally a derisive term, with "kake" meaning "chicken" and "kuta" meaning "rotten", it eventually came to be viewed as a refined term owing to its archaic nature. (Incidentally, "kutaka" is also Swahili for "wanting".)

Niwatari is taken directly from one of several names for Niwatarijin's shrines, spelled with the characters niwa (), meaning "courtyard", and watari (), meaning "to pass through". Relatedly, the word "niwatori" (chicken) is derived from "niwatsu-torikake" (庭つ鳥かけ), meaning "domestic kake kept in the courtyard".

Design

Kutaka wears a brown dress under a short white jacket. Her jacket has an orange Puritan collar, over which she wears a red ribbon that resembles a rooster's wattle. She wears long brown boots. She has fluffy yellow wings and a bushy, feathery tail. She has red eyes and a light tan. Her hair is cut short and light yellow in color. On top of her head is a red nest-like extension, which is apparently host to a tiny chick. Her pose in her portrait art is a reference to a statue of Mekhila in the Buddhist temple Shin-Yakushi-ji of Nara, Japan. Mekhila is one of the Heavenly Generals and guardians of the Buddha Bhaisajyaguru. The Heavenly Generals representing the 12 Chinese Zodiacs and Mekhila is the Rooster, just like Kutaka is the chicken god.

Story

Games

Kutaka's sprite in WBaWC
Wily Beast and Weakest Creature

Kutaka approaches the protagonist as she enters the gateway to Hell, claiming that she has heard of her from the Yama. Although given permission to let the outsider in, she defends the gate anyway to test whether they can really survive Hell. She relents and lets them through upon being defeated, though not without a warning about the trustworthiness of their beast spirit partner.

She later returns in the Extra stage, once again trying to dissuade the protagonist from entering hell due to the coastal operations being carried out to contain Saki Kurokoma from attacking the surface.

Kutaka's sprite in GI

Spin-offs

Touhou Gouyoku Ibun

Kutaka was in the Hell of Blazing Fires investigating the incident about the Sanzu River overflowing.

If the player uses Kanako Yasaka or Marisa Kirisame, Kutaka will think that they are the culprits and will attack them, but afterwards she will let them continue to check the reactor or to keep investigating the “black water”, respectively.

If the player uses Joon and Shion Yorigami, the goddesses will attack her thinking they will be caught, and after being defeated she will explain that she doesn’t care about it at all, and will let them pass.

If the player uses Flandre Scarlet, the vampire will suddenly attack her, and after defeating her she will leave using a backdoor, which leaves Kutaka really confused.

100th Black Market

In 100th Black Market, Kutaka appears as the one of the 3rd market bosses. Her ability card, a chicken weather vane, can be acquired.

Relationships

Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu

Kutaka mentions receiving orders from a yama, which Marisa confirms is Eiki. [3]

Komachi Onozuka

They are both subordinates to Eiki which makes them co-workers. It's unknown whether they know each other personally.

Gallery

Artwork

Illustrations

Spell Cards

Spell Cards
Name Translated Comments Games Stage
Total: 17
水符「水配りの試練」 Water Sign "Trial of Mikumari(Water Sharing)" WBaWC St. 3: E/N
水符「水配りの上級試煉」 Water Sign "High-Level Tribulation of Mikumari(Water Sharing)" WBaWC St. 3: H
水符「水配りの極級試煉」 Water Sign "Ultimate Tribulation of Mikumari(Water Sharing)" WBaWC St. 3: L
光符「見渡しの試練」 Light Sign "Trial of Miwatashi(Land Surveillance)" WBaWC St. 3: E/N
光符「見渡しの上級試煉」 Light Sign "High-Level Tribulation of Miwatashi(Land Surveillance)" WBaWC St. 3: H
光符「見渡しの極級試煉」 Light Sign "Ultimate Tribulation of Miwatashi(Land Surveillance)" WBaWC St. 3: L
鬼符「鬼渡の試練」 Oni Sign "Trial of Oniwatari(Oni Passage)" WBaWC St. 3: E/N
鬼符「鬼渡の上級試煉」 Oni Sign "High-Level Tribulation of Oniwatari(Oni Passage)" WBaWC St. 3: H
鬼符「鬼渡の獄級試煉」 Oni Sign "Hell-Level Tribulation of Oniwatari(Oni Passage)" WBaWC St. 3: L
血戦「血の分水嶺」 Bloody Battle "Watershed of Blood" WBaWC St. Ex
血戦「獄界視線」 Bloody Battle "Hell Realm Sight-Line" WBaWC St. Ex
血戦「全霊鬼渡り」 Bloody Battle "Highly Spirited Oniwatari(Oni Passage)" WBaWC St. Ex
長鳴「目覚めよ、葬られた幽霊達よ」 Long Cry "Awaken, O Buried Phantoms" SFW
笛符「幽霊達よ、居るべき場所に還れ」 Whistle Sign "O Phantoms, Return to Thy Proper Place" SFW
庭渡「見渡しのよい旧地獄」 Niwatari "Picturesque View of Former Hell" SFW
庭渡「アルゴリズミックファントム」 Niwatari "Algorithmic Phantom" SFW
「命の分水嶺」 "Watershed of Life" 100BM 3rd Market

Additional Information

  • Kutaka's long tail would indicate that she is based on the Onagadori, a historic Japanese breed of chicken.

Fandom

Official Profiles

Kutaka Niwatari  ○3面ボス

  地獄関所の番頭神

  庭渡 久侘歌(にわたり くたか)
  Niwatari Kutaka

  種族:神様
  能力:喉の病気を癒す程度の能力

  地獄、鬼の国などの、異界との関所の番人。
  鬼と人間を見分けて、それぞれの居場所に振り分ける仕事をしている。

  今回は地獄に行きたいという人間の話を閻魔様に話を聞いていたが、
  心配して地獄に行っても大丈夫か、腕前を確かめようとした。

  彼岸には彼女の仕事場があるだけで、普段から彼岸に住んでいるわけではない。
  普段は妖怪の山の滝の上あたりの、見晴らしの良いところに住んでいるようである。

  彼女の正体は家畜化される前の、野生の鶏の神様、ニワタリ神である。
  鶏というと弱々しさや、臆病さのイメージがあるが、彼女は礼儀正しく公正で、
  平等と利他を優先する神様である。

  密かに、人間の食料と化してしまった鶏の、地位向上の為に何か出来ることは無いかと考えている。

Stage 3 Boss: Clerical God of Hell's Checkpoint

Kutaka Niwatari

Species: God
Ability: Capable of healing throat illnesses

The guard of the checkpoint leading to various Otherworlds, such as Hell and the land of oni.
Her job is to distinguish betwen humans and oni, and sort them into their respective locations.

In her appearance here, the yama have informed her of a human who wanted to enter Hell, but she was worried about how the human would fare in Hell, so she decided to test their strength.

Her place of work is at Higan, but she doesn't spend most of her time there. She seems to typically reside at the top of a waterfall on the Youkai Mountain, in a spot with a beautiful view.

Her true identity is that of Niwatarijin, the god of wild chickens from before they were domesticated. People tend to think of chickens as being sort of weak and cowardly, but she's a polite and just god who values equality and altruism above all.

She's quietly considering what she can do to help raise the status of chickens, who've been reduced to a food source for humans.

Official Sources

Official sources

References