Wood Snake God

The Focus Shot of Kanako Yasaka from the world of iron and steam (a Touhou LW original). She swoops down from the sky, riding a log in the shape of a snake. This attack pairs with Suwako's ''Stone Frog God.'' There are many Japanese legends and folk stories that feature trees and snakes (and sometimes dragons) together, so much so that there is even a word, ''habaki,'' that means ''snakes and trees'' (or sometimes ''dragons and trees'' depending on how it is written). Nowadays, the Japanese word for ''snake'' is ''hebi,'' but they used to be called ''haba,'' like in Amenohabakiri (the sword wielded by the god Susanoo to slay the great dragon-serpent Orochi in Shinto mythology). It's also theorized that the enigmatic god, Arahabaki, was named after a great big tree that looks like a snake. Following this train of thought, it's possible that Hahakigi (a mysterious tree that looks like a broom standing on its end but disappears when you get close) and onbashira also have some kind of connection to snakes.