Abstract
In this study, we consider folkloric fact in the stories of kappa in order to research the basis of Japanese subconscious against civil engineering. Some of the stories are as follows. Dolls made of wood and soil to construct bridges were thrown away into river and turned into kappa. (Dolls are usually interpreted in Japanese folklore as objects which take sins or unclearness from people.) As premise of the discussion, we review studies of civil engineers in folklore, and it is indicated that civil engineers are considered to be consisted by non-farmer such as special worker, vagabond, and discriminated people. Also it is indicated that the folkloric fact that civil engineers called “kawaramono”, “hinin” and “kurokuwa” who performed public works based at riverside, could be the basis of the kappa stories. Therefore, it is suggested that the stories of kappa represent the existence of discriminative norm against civil engineers as unclear. This discriminative norm could be connected at a fundamental level with the subconscious regarding civil engineering as unclear in the present day.
