What’s the real legend of Okami?

I looked all over the internet to answer this but all I can find is stuff about the ps2 game!!! I actually want to know about the spirit okami in Japanese legend and I need to know for my friend...Any info is appreciated!!



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Do you have any idea how the 'okami' is written in kanji? It seems to be a made up name for a god (kami) with the 'o' being a honorific. However, there are several other kanji reading for 'kami' and therefore it is difficult to know what they were thinking of and since I don't know what the game is about, it is difficult to guess for me.
The short answer is: if the Wikipedia page for the game doesn't link to a legend or historical figure, the whole thing is probably made up by a game designer.

It's Ookami, isn't it?

Ookami is a wolf. Unlike in the western countries, wolves have long been considered a beneficial animal and sacred in some areas. Wolves kill deer, which cause a great damage onto farming products.

I cannot get a legend for wolves but Mitsumine Jinja (Shrine Mitsumine) in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture is dedicated to O-Inu-Sama (Sacred Wolves.)

As far as I know, the creaters of that game made the whole thing up, there are similar Japanese folk tales but none that directly relate a wolf that saved a village being a God. OH and Okami simply means "god" in Japanese. They titled the game that because the wolf in the game is supposed to be a god.

If one of u has the game u simply need to read the very last page and it will tell u the legend

There is no legend for the Okami wolf as it is. The game mixes a lot of japanese folklore with it, like the Amaterasu and Susanoo story, the legends about the Orochi demon, the Urashima Tarou story, the legends about the miniaturizing mallet, the princess from the Moon, etc. The game is fun when you know the stories, because it really makes an interesting mix of all of them ^__^

Now, there is a story about a dog that saved a girl from being eaten by a demon, who happened to pick girls from a village every year on a certain date, but the story is a little obscure and I have never found it in any internet site in any variation, I only have read it in a book somewhere. Actually, asides from the game, I didn't remember I knew the story, BTW.