Tradition / Region: Japanese Folklore (Yatsuka-chō, Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture)
Alternate Names: Osshine (variant pronunciation)
Category: Yōkai / Water Spirit
The Myth
On a bitterly cold day in Yatsuka-chō, a fisherman waited alone in his boat at sea, watching his nets and enduring the freezing wind. As the cold deepened, he began striking a bell-like instrument to keep himself awake. Suddenly, he noticed what appeared to be a large mountain directly in front of him, looming where open water should have been.
Believing the mountain to be some illusion or object washed into the sea, the fisherman rowed toward his shore shack and pulled on the anchor rope to steady himself. Finding nothing amiss, he returned to his work. Though uneasy, he closed his eyes and continued fishing.
After some time, he opened his eyes and saw three children gathered around a bonfire burning on bamboo. The children had no hands and no feet, yet they moved about the fire as if untroubled. Realizing what he was seeing, the fisherman thought of an old tale he had heard and understood that these beings were Oshoné, a strange yōkai known from local stories.
Acting quickly, the fisherman threw shushumi leaves into the fire. As the leaves crackled and snapped loudly, Oshoné was startled. In confusion and fear, the creature scattered, fleeing with a lantern and vanishing into the pine trees of the nearby mountain.
After that night, the fisherman never saw Oshoné again, but the story remained along the waters of Yatsuka-chō, told as a strange encounter with a yōkai that appeared by the sea, took the form of limbless children, and vanished when frightened by sudden noise and flame.
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
- Digambara Jain Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive