寸白虫
すばくちゅう

Translation: segmented white worm, tapeworm
Habitat: the abdomen

Appearance: Subakuchū are long worms with dragon-like faces and forked tails.

Behavior: Subakuchū don’t have a fixed home; they travel back and forth between the abdomen and the scrotum. Ordinarily they spend their time stretching left and right around the belly, wriggling up and down below the diaphragm. However, when their host’s body becomes cool, they slither into the scrotum and coil up, remaining motionless.

Interactions: People infected with subakuchū suffer from acute bouts of abdominal pain once or twice a year. The longer the subakuchū get, the more dangerous they become. By the time they reach 15 meters, the host is sure to die.

They can be treated with acupuncture, although recovery is difficult. The trick for treating them is a secret which is only passed down orally.

Origin: The su in subakū comes from one sun and refers to the segments of tapeworms. A sun is old Japanese unit of measurement equal to about 30.3 millimeters.