Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: 白容裔, しろうねり, Shiro Uneri, White Cloth Yokai
Category: Object
The Myth
Shirōneri is a yokai depicted in Toriyama Sekien’s Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro. It appears as an old piece of cloth transformed into a dragon-like creature. Sekien describes it as an aged cleaning cloth that has become supernatural, although he also remarks that he wondered in a dream whether it might have another origin.
Sekien’s description draws on the mysterious term shiroururi, mentioned in the sixty-first section of Tsurezuregusa. The passage tells of Morichika, a priest at Shinnyō-in of Ninnaji, who gave another monk this nickname. When asked what a shiroururi was, Morichika admitted that he did not know, suggesting only that if such a thing existed, it might resemble the monk’s face. The word’s precise meaning remains unclear.
Shirōneri appears to be Sekien’s own creation, inspired in part by this enigmatic anecdote. Later children’s books and yokai references developed the idea into a more threatening creature, sometimes describing an old, foul-smelling cleaning cloth that attacks people. Some modern books also identify anonymous cloth-covered figures in Night Parade of One Hundred Demons picture scrolls as Shirōneri, although those figures were not originally given this name.
Sources
“Shirouneri.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654403.html