Namahage Performance, Part 7: The Namahage Logbook and the Grandchild
The answer to our question comes in the form of a book that one of the Namahage suddenly produces. This is a Namahage logbook, in which the sacred beings record everything they observe throughout the year. They look down at the village from nearby Mt. Shinzan and see which children cry or disobey their parents, and which villagers shirk their duties. The Namahage remind the head of the household that they know everything, no matter how hard he tries to hide the truth. Taken aback, their host suddenly becomes wary.
The Namahage flip through their logbook and start questioning the head of the household on matters relating to his grandson. Although this boy, Ichiro, goes to school every day, the Namahage note, he always gets into trouble for teasing his classmates. And at home he plays games instead of doing his homework. His grandfather appears incredulous, assuring the Namahage that Ichiro does study after he’s done with his games, but to no avail: the logbook says otherwise. Shaken, the head of the household promises to see to it that his grandson will focus more on schoolwork and less on play in the coming year.