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Paper short abstract

This paper traces so-called tengu claw stones (fossilised shark teeth) from Edo-period folklore to global natural history, showing how Japanese scholars reinterpreted these objects through European texts on the same, revealing the entanglement of curiosity, translation, and unresolved science.

Paper long abstract

This paper examines tengu claw stones (天狗爪石), enigmatic objects associated with tengu folklore that illuminate the intersection of Edo-period collecting, natural history, and transnational knowledge exchange. Focusing on a composite manuscript held at Leiden University Library and compiled between 1796 and 1818, it traces how interpretations of these stones evolved from descriptive curiosity to comparative natural-historical inquiry. The earliest layer centres on the work of stone aficionado Kiuchi Sekitei 木内石亭 (1734–1808), whose Tengu tsume ishi kidan (1796) meticulously records findspots, dimensions, and networks of collectors while explicitly suspending judgment on the stones’ origins.

Later additions, associated with Ōtsuki Gentaku 大槻玄沢 (1757–1827) mark a decisive shift. These sections integrate translated excerpts from European natural-historical works discussing glossopetrae, fossil shark teeth long known in the West and traced back to classical authorities such as Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE). Through references to authors including Egbert Buys (fl. mid-18th century) and Johann Hübner (1668–1731), the compiler situates tengu claw stones within a global comparative framework that juxtaposes Japanese folklore with European fossil theory.

The paper argues that the manuscript does not simply document a linear transition from superstition to science. Instead, it reveals a layered epistemology in which folklore, empiricism, translation, and classical authority coexist without full resolution. Particular attention is paid to textual variation among surviving manuscript copies held in the Netherlands and Japan, including the selective omission of passages engaging directly with the tengu itself, suggesting shifting sensibilities concerning the boundary between natural history and the supernatural.

By approaching tengu claw stones as objects of knowledge rather than mere curiosities, this study highlights how Edo-period scholars negotiated uncertainty, authority, and foreign learning at the margins of early modern science.