Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Jikininki, Human-Eating Demon
Category: Demon

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The Myth

Jikininki is a man-eating demon that feeds upon human corpses and the offerings placed before them. It appears in the story “Jikininki” associated with Lafcadio Hearn’s Kwaidan.

Long ago, Musō Kokushi, the Rinzai Zen monk Musō Soseki, was traveling through Mino Province. As evening approached, he became lost in the mountains and discovered an old hermitage on a hill. He asked the old monk who appeared to live there for lodging, but the monk curtly refused him and instead directed him toward a village in the valley.

Musō traveled to the village and was warmly welcomed into the house of the village headman. He was given a meal in an outbuilding and went to sleep.

Late that night, the young man who had welcomed him came to his room and explained that the village headman had actually died shortly before Musō arrived. The young man was his son. Now that the funeral was over, he intended to leave the village for another settlement, according to the custom that everyone must leave the village on the night of a death. Strange things were believed to happen in houses where a corpse was left alone, and those who violated the custom were said to suffer great misfortune.

Musō was grateful for the hospitality he had received and decided to remain alone in the house until morning so that he could mourn the dead village headman. His words reassured the young man and the villagers, who thanked him before leaving.

Musō sat before the corpse, reciting Buddhist sutras and meditating while he waited for dawn. As the night grew deeper, an unknown creature entered the room. At the same moment, Musō became completely paralyzed and was unable to move.

The creature approached the corpse and devoured everything. It consumed the flesh, bones, and hair of the dead man, then ate the burial shroud and even the offerings that had been placed before the body. After consuming everything, it left the house.

The next morning, the villagers returned. Musō told them about the terrible creature that had entered during the night and devoured the corpse. The villagers recognized it as the same kind of being described in their old stories.

Musō then asked whether the monk living in the hermitage on the hill ever performed funerals for the villagers. The villagers looked at him in confusion. They told him that there was no hermitage on the hill and that they knew of no monk living there. No monk had settled in the area for a very long time.

Musō left the village and returned to the hill to discover the truth. He found the hermitage without difficulty. The old monk welcomed him inside, bowed respectfully, and confessed that Musō had seen him the previous night swallowing the corpse and devouring the offerings.

The monk revealed that he had once been the only monk living in the area. Because of this, the villagers depended upon him whenever someone died and needed Buddhist funeral rites. He became constantly occupied with funerals, and his religious devotion gradually disappeared. Eventually, he began performing Buddhist services merely to obtain food, clothing, and shelter.

After his death, the monk was reborn in the realm of hungry ghosts as a man-eating demon. From then onward, he became a wretched creature that survived by devouring the corpses of the dead in the surrounding area.

The demon begged Musō to perform a Buddhist memorial service for him and save him through prayer. As he pleaded, both the demon and the hermitage suddenly vanished. Musō found himself sitting alone among the tall weeds. Beside him stood only a moss-covered five-tiered pagoda, which appeared to mark the monk’s grave.

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Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “食人鬼 [じきにんき] (Jikininki).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). May 7, 2016. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1056923784.html

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Tsunodaishi, Horned Daishi, Gansan Daishi
Category: Demon

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The Myth

Tsunodaishi is the demon-like form of Ryōgen, the eighteenth head of the Tendai Buddhist sect. He is depicted as a slender, horned, demonic figure and is believed to represent Gansan Daishi after transforming himself into a yaksha.

Ryōgen was a highly revered monk of the Heian period, and many legends and anecdotes developed around him. According to the legend of Tsunodaishi, Ryōgen became seriously ill and made a vow to ward off illness from himself and from other people. He transformed his appearance into that of a terrifying yaksha and saw this demonic form reflected in a mirror.

Ryōgen declared that wherever his image was placed, evil spirits would not enter and calamities would be driven away. His demonic image therefore became a protective charm against evil.

Images of the Great Master were subsequently placed on buildings throughout society, from the pillars of major temple gates to the doors of ordinary people’s thatched houses. The image was intended to protect those places from evil spirits and misfortune.

A similar account appears in the Inōshō, compiled by Gyōyo around the Bun’an era (1444–1449), indicating that images of the Great Master were already regarded as protective charms against evil at that time. However, that earlier account does not mention Ryōgen transforming into a yaksha.

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Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “角大師 [つのだいし] (Tsunodaishi).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). August 25, 2019. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1074589343.html

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Angry Drunkard
Category: Demon

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The Myth

Oko-jōgo is a demon who becomes violently angry when drunk. He lived in a cave on a monstrous mountain to the northeast and was notorious for his enormous appetite and terrifying temper.

An old man named Sakubei was an exceptionally enthusiastic drinker. He invited anyone he encountered to drink with him, constantly saying, “Hey, let’s have a drink.” Because of his love of alcohol, people called him Orochi-jiisan, the Great Serpent Old Man.

Eventually, however, Sakubei accumulated a debt of 2 yen and 38 sen at his usual liquor store and could no longer obtain enough sake. When he tried to persuade the shopkeeper to give him more, arguing that there was no record of a great serpent ever bringing money, his efforts failed.

The village headman’s son then told Sakubei about a demon living in a cave on a mountain to the northeast. The demon loved sake and became extremely angry whenever it became drunk. It had promised to provide free sake to anyone who could retrieve both of its eyes.

Several people had already attempted to defeat the demon, but all had failed. Some fled in terror, while others were killed and eaten. Since humans became intoxicated more easily than the demon, they had little hope of overcoming it. The village headman’s son therefore suggested that Sakubei, whose drinking ability was supposedly unmatched, might be capable of obtaining the demon’s eyes.

Sakubei carried a large barrel of sake on his back and traveled into the mountains. When he reached the demon’s cave, he encouraged the demon to drink and joined it himself. The demon became increasingly intoxicated and boasted about its strength, declaring that when it drank sake it could smash rocks, kill horses and cows, and devour humans with ease.

The drunken demon then attempted to eat Sakubei. Sakubei narrowly escaped and suggested that they continue drinking on a mountaintop where they could enjoy a beautiful view, accompanied by rabbits and monkeys.

They eventually reached a lone pine tree. The demon was delighted by the scenery and continued drinking until the barrel was completely empty. Sakubei immediately climbed the pine tree and taunted the demon, telling it that it was merely a drunkard who could not even handle a little sake.

The demon became furious and attempted to climb the tree and tear Sakubei apart. However, it was so heavily intoxicated that it could not climb properly. It repeatedly climbed and fell, then climbed again as its rage grew. Its eyes gleamed as it stared upward at Sakubei.

Finally, as the demon glared up at him, both of its eyes suddenly popped out of their sockets. Sakubei quickly seized the eyeballs, bound the now-blind demon, and dragged it back to the village.

The demon’s eyes were placed on the festival float as a treasure of the village’s guardian shrine. The blind demon itself was spared and, out of pity, was made a guardian of the shrine.

Sakubei was praised for his achievement and given permission to drink as much sake as he wished. However, fearing that excessive drinking might cause him to suffer the same fate as the demon, he eventually stopped drinking, devoted himself to cultivating the fields, and became a wealthy man.

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Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “怒り上戸 [おこ‐じょうご] (Oko-jōgo).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). May 9, 2015. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1026352266.html

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Shuten-dōji, Shuten Doji
Category: Demon

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The Myth

Shuten-dōji was a powerful demon king who lived on Mount Ōe near Kyoto during the reign of Emperor Ichijō. He appeared at first as a young boy, but his true form was that of a gigantic demon. He was particularly fond of sake and surrounded himself with demons and women whom he had kidnapped from Kyoto.

During the Shōryaku era, people of all social classes and both sexes began disappearing throughout and around the capital. When the court consulted the onmyōji Abe no Seimei, he determined that demons living on Mount Ōe were responsible.

The court first selected samurai to defeat the demons, but they declined the task. The order was therefore given to Minamoto no Yorimitsu, governor of Settsu Province, and Fujiwara no Yasumasa, governor of Tango Province. They prayed at shrines including Hachiman and Sumiyoshi for success before beginning their expedition.

Yorimitsu and Yasumasa were joined by four warriors: Watanabe no Tsuna, Sakata no Kintoki, Usui Sadamitsu, and Urabe no Suetake. Together they traveled toward Mount Ōe.

In the mountains they encountered four unfamiliar old men, who were actually incarnations of Hachiman and other gods. The gods advised the warriors to hide their armor and disguise themselves as mountain ascetics. They also gave them a sacred sake called Divine Transformation Demon Poison Sake.

Further into the mountains, the warriors encountered an old woman washing bloodstained clothing beside a stream. She explained that demons had kidnapped her more than two hundred years earlier. Although she had escaped being eaten, they had forced her to serve them as a laundress ever since. She described the mountains and showed the warriors where the demons’ castle was located.

She also described Shuten-dōji as a demon king who appeared in the form of a child, loved sake, and surrounded himself with women from Kyoto whom he had kidnapped.

Guided by the old woman, Yorimitsu and his companions reached the demon’s castle. Disguised as mountain ascetics, they claimed to be pilgrims and succeeded in gaining Shuten-dōji’s trust.

A great banquet was held. Shuten-dōji refused the sake offered by the disguised warriors, but eagerly drank the special sake given to them by the old man. His demon followers also drank it. As the feast continued, Shuten-dōji told the warriors about his life while his demonic followers entertained the gathering with dengaku and other performances.

While the banquet continued, Yorimitsu and his companions secretly explored the castle. They discovered a prison where the young lord of Mido Nyūdō and other kidnapped people were being held. They also found a terrible pile of corpses, revealing the fate of many of the demon’s victims.

Eventually the poisoned sake took effect. Shuten-dōji returned to his chambers, where beautiful women surrounded him. He revealed his enormous demonic form and fell asleep, weakened by the poison.

When the demons were asleep, Yorimitsu and his warriors launched their attack. They pinned down Shuten-dōji’s enormous body and cut off his head. Even after being severed, the demon’s head remained alive. It flew through the air screaming and attached itself to Yorimitsu’s helmet, refusing to release him.

Tsuna and Kintoki gouged out the demon’s eyes, and Shuten-dōji finally died.

After defeating the demon king, the warriors cremated his body and returned triumphantly to the capital, carrying his head in a palanquin. The head was presented to the regent and chancellor before being placed in the treasure house of Byōdō-in Temple.

Yorimitsu and Yasumasa were rewarded for their victory and appointed Great Generals of the Eastern and Western Barbarians respectively.

In other versions of the legend, Shuten-dōji’s dwelling is placed on Mount Ibuki in Ōmi Province. Other accounts also name powerful demon followers such as Ibaraki-dōji, Kumadōji, and Hoshikuma-dōji, as well as the Four Heavenly Kings who appear at Rashōmon.

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Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “酒呑童子 [しゅてんどうじ] (Shuten-dōji).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). August 3, 2013. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654411.html

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Namahage, Amahage, Amamehagi, Namomihagi, Appossha
Category: Demon

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The Myth

Namahage are frightening, demon-like yōkai who live in the mountains along the northern coast of the Sea of Japan. They resemble oni, with bright red or blue skin, wild hair, large eyes, enormous mouths filled with sharp teeth, and often horns growing from their foreheads. They wear straw leggings and raincoats and carry large blades.

Once a year, during koshōgatsu, the first full moon of the New Year, the Namahage descend from the mountains and visit villages. They go from house to house brandishing their knives and demanding to know whether there are any badly behaved children. They particularly enjoy frightening small children and newly married women.

Despite their terrifying appearance and behavior, Namahage are not purely evil. They descend from the mountains as messengers of the gods, sent to warn and chastise people who have become lazy or wicked. Their frightening visits are therefore intended to encourage villagers to behave properly.

The name Namahage comes from one of the questions they traditionally ask: “Have your blisters peeled yet?” During the cold winter, people who spent too much time sitting close to the fireplace could develop heat blisters. Namomi was a regional term for these blisters, while hagu means “to peel.” The two words eventually combined to form Namahage.

Similar supernatural figures are known under different names in neighboring regions. In Yamagata Prefecture they are called Amahage, in Ishikawa Prefecture Amamehagi, and in Fukui Prefecture Appossha.

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Sources

“Namahage.” Yokai.com: The Japanese Yokai Encyclopedia. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://yokai.com/namahage/

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