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( ) is a kind of yōkai, demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. They are believed to live in caves or deep in the mountains or in hell. Oni are known for their superhuman strength and have been associated with powers like thunder and lightning, along with their evil nature manifesting in their propensity for murder and cannibalism. They are typically portrayed as hulking figures with one or more horns growing out of their heads, massive teeth, and occasionally a third eye in the center of the forehead."Oni." Handbook of Japanese Mythology, by Michael Ashkenazi, ABC-CLIO, 2003, pp. 230–233. They are typically depicted with red, blue, black, or yellow colored skin, wearing of tiger pelt, and carrying iron kanabō clubs. They also have three to six digits on each hand and foot tipped with claw-like nails. Oni are able to change their looks to fool their victims into trusting them. Oni can be male or female, but have been predominantly male throughout history. Female oni are sometimes referred to by the name Yamauba. When in disguise, oni are capable of appearing as a man or woman, regardless of their gender. As monstrous as oni are, they have been linked to bringing good fortune and wealth.
During the Heian period (794–1185), were often depicted in Japanese literature, such as , as terrifying monsters that ate people. A prominent depiction of is that they eat people in one mouthful, which is called "". In , and , for example, a woman is shown being eaten in one mouthful by an . There is the theory that the reason why stories of were common is that wars, disasters, and famines where people lose their lives or go missing were interpreted as from another world appearing in the present world who take away humans.
It was not until the legend of was created that the began to be depicted in paintings, and the 14th century is the oldest surviving depicting . Shuten-dōji has been regarded as the most famous and strongest oni in Japan. The legend of Shuten-dōji has been described since the 14th century in various arts, traditional performing arts and literature such as emakimono, jōruri, noh, kabuki, bunraku, and ukiyo-e. The tachi (Japanese long sword) " Dōjigiri" with which Minamoto no Yorimitsu decapitated Shuten-dōji' in the legend is now designated as a National Treasure and one of the Tenka-Goken (Five Greatest Swords Under Heaven).
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> 酒呑童子を退治した天下五剣「童子切安綱」 Naoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Shuten-dōji. Kotobank.
They are popular characters in Japanese art, literature, and theater and appear as Stock character in the well-known fairytales of Momotarō ( Peach Boy), Issun-bōshi, and Kobutori Jisan. Although oni have been described as frightening creatures, they have become tamer in modern culture as people tell less frightening stories about them like Oni Mask and Red Oni Who Cried.
The character 鬼 has changed over time in Japan to become its own entity, and there are significant differences between the Japanese and the Chinese guǐ (鬼). The Chinese guǐ generally refers to the disembodied spirits of the dead and are not necessarily evil. They usually reside in the underworld, but those with a grudge sometimes appear in the human world to haunt, and Taoism priests and others have used their supernatural powers to exterminate them. Japanese , on the other hand, are evil beings that have substance, live in certain places in the human world, such as mountains, have red or blue bodies with horns and fangs, are armed with , and can be physically killed by cutting with Japanese swords.
The and are the earliest written examples of as entities rather than soul of the dead. The , whose compilation began in 713, tells the story of a one-eyed who ate a man. , completed in 720, tells of a kasa-wearing watching the funeral of Emperor Saimei from the top of Mount Asakura. The character for 鬼 is believed to have been read as when the was completed, and was also read as , , and in the Heian period. In , the character for 鬼 is read as . It was not until the end of the Heian period that the reading of for the character 鬼 became almost universal.
Particularly powerful oni may be described as kishin or kijin (literally "oni god"; the "ki" is an alternate character reading of "oni"), a term used in Japanese Buddhism to refer to Wrathful Deities.
The oni was Syncretism with Hinduism-Buddhism creatures such as the man-devouring yaksha and the rakshasa, and became the oni who tormented sinners as Hell wardens (Diyu), administering sentences passed down by Hell's magistrate, King Yama (Enma Daiō). The Hungry ghost called Preta (餓鬼) have also been sometimes considered a type of oni (the Kanji for "ki" 鬼 is also read "oni"). Accordingly, a wicked soul beyond rehabilitation transforms into an oni after death. Only the very worst people turn into oni while alive, and these are the oni causing troubles among humans as presented in folk tales.
Some scholars have even argued that the oni was entirely a concept of Buddhist mythology.
Oni bring calamities to the land, bringing about war, plague/illness, earthquakes, and eclipses. They have the destructive power of lightning and thunder, which terrifies people through their auditory and visual effects.
Finally, two lesser Kami were made to establish earth, Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾, meaning "He-who-invites" or the "Male-who-invites") and Izanami (イザナミ, meaning "She-who-invites" or the "Female-who-invites"). These two were brother and sister. They also are married and had many children, one of them being Kagu-tsuchi (カグツチ, Fire). Upon birth, Kagutsuchi mortally wounded Izanami, who went to Yomi (黄泉, 黄泉の国, World of Darkness) on her death and was transformed into a Kami of death. Izanami, who gave life in the physical world, continued to do so in the underworld, ultimately creating the very first oni.
are often built facing that direction, for example, Enryaku-ji was deliberately built on Mount Hiei which was in the kimon (northeasterly) direction from Kyoto in order to guard the capital, and similarly Kaneiji was built towards that direction from Edo Castle.
However, skeptics doubt this could have been the initial design of Enryaku-ji temple, since the temple was founded in 788, six years before Kyoto even existed as a capital, and if the ruling class were so feng shui-minded, the subsequent northeasterly move of the capital from Nagaoka-kyō to Kyoto would have certainly been taboo.Huang Yung-jing 黄永融 (1993), master's thesis, " Fūsui shisō ni okeru gensokusei kara mita Heiankyō wo chūshin to suru Nihon kodai kyūto keikaku no bunseki 風水思想における原則性から見た平安京を中心とする日本古代宮都計画の分析", Kyoto Prefectural University, The Graduate School of Human Life Science. Cited by
Japanese buildings may sometimes have L-shaped indentations at the northeast to ward against oni. For example, the walls surrounding the Kyoto Imperial Palace have notched corners in that direction.: "the walls of the Imperial Palace have a notch in their top-right hand corner to confuse the evil spirits".
This custom began with the aristocratic and samurai classes in the Muromachi period (1336–1573). According to the Ainōshō (壒嚢鈔), a dictionary compiled in the Muromachi period, the origin of this custom is a legend from the 10th century during the reign of Emperor Uda. According to the legend, a monk on Mount Kurama threw roasted beans into the eyes of to make them flinch and flee. Another theory is that the origin of this custom lies in the word , which means bean. The explanation is that in Japanese, can also be written as , meaning the devil's eye, or , meaning to destroy the devil. During the Edo period (1603–1867), the custom spread to Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples and the general public.
Regionally around Tottori Prefecture during this season, a charm made of holly leaves and dried sardine heads is used as a guard against oni.
There is also a well-known game in Japan called 鬼ごっこ, which is the same as the game of tag that children in the Western world play. The player who is "it" is instead called the "oni".
Oni are featured in Japanese children's stories such as Momotarō ( Peach Boy), Issun-bōshi, and Kobutori Jisan.
Japanese buildings sometimes include oni-faced roof tiles called 鬼瓦]], which are thought to ward away bad luck, much like in Western tradition.
Many Japanese idioms and proverbs also make reference to oni. For example, the expression 親に似ぬ子は鬼の子 (Translation: "A child that does not resemble its parents is the child of an oni.") may be used by a parent to chastise a misbehaving child.
They can be used in stories to frighten children into obeying because of their grotesque appearance, savage demeanor, as well as how they can eat people in a single gulp.Roberts, Jeremy. Japanese Mythology A to Z. Chelsea House Publishers, 2010.
Modern times
In more recent times, oni have lost some of their original wickedness and sometimes take on a more protective function. Men in oni costumes often lead Japanese to dispel any bad luck, for example.
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Gallery
In popular culture
Oni remain a very popular motif in Japanese popular culture. Their varied modern depiction sometimes relies on just one or two distinctive features which mark a character as an oni, such as horns or a distinctive skin colour, although the character may otherwise appear human, lacking the oni's traditionally fearsome or grotesque features. The context of oni in popular culture is similarly varied, with instances such as appearances in cartoons, video games, and use as commercial mascots.
See also
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