Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Akiya Akuzaemon, Akuzaemon
Category: Demon
The Myth
Akiya Akuzaemon is a hulking demon with thick eyebrows and round eyes. He wears a plain kimono with a white collar and plain hakama worn high around the waist. His voice seems to echo from deep within the earth.
Akuzaemon appears in Izumi Kyōka’s 1908 novel Kusa Meikyū (Grass Labyrinth). He is an Akuzaemon, a type of demon said to dwell in “the blink of an eye of a human.” Several Akuzaemons haunt Akiya Residence, a mansion feared because five people connected to the Tsuruya family had died there one after another.
A wandering ascetic monk named Kojiro Hoshi stays at the abandoned mansion to pray for the dead. At the same time, a young man named Akira Hagoshi has taken refuge there while searching for a childhood hand-clapping song once sung by his deceased mother. Strange phenomena repeatedly occur around him: tatami mats jump by themselves, knives disappear, lanterns float in the air, loud crashes echo through the house, and even eggplants in a bowl make strange noises.
The Akuzaemons are responsible for these disturbances. They attempt to frighten Akira into leaving the mansion, even causing him to dream that he has poisoned Kojiro Hoshi. In the dream, however, Akira repents and attempts to take his own life, causing their plan to fail.
Akuzaemon eventually appears before Kojiro Hoshi and introduces himself as the Akuzaemon of Akiya. He has been protecting a young woman named Ayame, who has been possessed by a demon and has been staying within the mansion. Ayame decides to leave and asks Akuzaemon to arrange one final meeting with the monk.
Ayame appears before Kojiro Hoshi and sings the childhood temari ball song that Akira has desperately wanted to hear. She explains that she cannot meet Akira directly because doing so would draw him into the same supernatural situation that has overtaken her. She also says that Akira’s mother, who is in heaven, continues to worry about him and pray for him from among the clouds.
After singing, Ayame prepares to leave before Akira awakens from his dream. She is accompanied by a young girl with a rabbit’s face and a lady-in-waiting with a dog’s face. When Akira awakens and tries to cling to Ayame, Akuzaemon reappears and shouts for them to be allowed through. The yokai board a boat that suddenly appears in the garden.
Ayame disappears behind the boat’s curtain. With Akuzaemon’s sleeve serving as a sail, the boat is carried away by the wind and disappears from Akiya Residence.
Sources
Takahashi, Toshihiro. “秋谷悪左衛門 [あきやあくざえもん] (Akiya Akuzaemon).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). July 25, 2015. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1034642612.html