Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternative names: Itsumaden
Category: Bird
The Myth
The Itsumade is a monstrous bird yokai that appears during times of great suffering, such as plagues, famines, and battlefields filled with the unburied dead. It has the face of a human, a long pointed beak lined with saw-like teeth, the body of a serpent, enormous wings spanning nearly five meters, and talons as sharp as swords. Throughout the night it circles overhead, crying, “Itsumade? Itsumade?” (“Until when?”), as if demanding to know how long the suffering will continue.
According to the Taiheiki, during a devastating plague in 1334, the eerie bird appeared every night above the Imperial Palace, terrifying the capital with its dreadful cries. Unable to endure the nightly hauntings, the imperial court summoned the master archer Oki no Jirōzaemon Hiroari, recalling the famous slaying of the nue by Minamoto no Yorimasa.
Hiroari faced the creature with a whistling signal arrow and shot the monstrous bird from the sky, ending its nightly appearances. Later traditions identified the creature as the Itsumade, believing it to be born from the restless spirits of those who died in misery and whose bodies or souls had not yet been properly laid to rest.
Sources
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Itsumade. In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itsumade.
Meyer, M. (n.d.). Itsumade. Yokai.com: The Illustrated Database of Japanese Folklore. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://yokai.com/itsumade/.