As drowning victims are generally found with a distended anus (swollen rectal), the Kappa is also sometimes called the shirikodama 尻子玉 (lit. = anus ball, also written 尻小玉) vampire. The shirikodama is a mythical ball at the mouth of the anus. In order for the Kappa to steal the liver of the victim (by reaching its arm up into the victim’s anus or shiri 尻), the Kappa must first suck out or remove the shirikodama, which means certain death for its former owner. The belief in this ball is rather mysterious, and scholars have come up with various explanations. One explanation is the commonly observed “open anus” of drowning victims (as if something had been removed or sucked out). Another conceivable reason could be the Tanden 丹田, or "elixir field," which is located beneath the navel and represents the focal energy point in age-old yogic breathing and meditative techniques. Some Japanese scholars (Ando / Seino 1993) say the Kappa offers the shirikodama and/or liver as tribute to a snake-shaped dragon deity (the lord of water, the most powerful of all water deities). But, in my mind, the most probable explanation relates to the term tama 玉 (also read dama), which can mean either ball or jewel. When read as “jewel,” it could easily mean life force, spirit, or soul. In paintings (see drawing by Jippensha below), the shirikodama is sometimes portrayed as a jewel with a pointed top -- one that looks exactly like the Hōju 宝珠 (Skt. = Cintamani), the sacred all-powerful wish-granting jewel of Buddhist lore.