Monk Archives - MarkedHistory

Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Yōkai, Fish, Monk, Catfish

The Myth

Uso no Seirei is a yōkai depicted in the Bakemono Emaki (Monster Picture Scroll) preserved in the Kawasaki City Museum.

It appears in the form of a bald monk-like figure. Its face has no eyes, no nose, and no mouth. From where its face should be, long whiskers grow, resembling those of a catfish. The creature wears a kimono patterned with images believed to represent the uso, the bullfinch.

The spirit stands silently, without expression or speech. Its lack of facial features gives it an unsettling presence, as though it exists without identity or emotion. The bullfinch pattern upon its robes marks its nature, binding it to the idea of the uso itself.

Uso no Seirei does not act violently, nor does it chase or attack. It simply appears, featureless and mute, a quiet and uncanny figure among the monsters of the scroll.

Gallery

Sources

Tyz-Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). [Title of entry]. In TYZ-Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010653494.html

Interpretive Lenses

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How to Invite The Uso no Seire

The Myth

Me-te is a yōkai known from writings attributed to Sato Arifumi. It is described as a blind creature that wanders through open fields, moving as though it cannot see the world around it.

Despite its blindness, Me-te is extremely dangerous. People are warned never to mock or make light of it. Those who laugh at Me-te or assume it is helpless are said to be punished, for the yōkai will suddenly attack and suck out their eyeballs.

Me-te is also known by the name Te no Me, meaning “Eye of the Hand,” a name that reflects its strange and unsettling nature. In illustrations, it appears in a form similar to figures shown in Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, though it is depicted without wrinkles on the face, and its empty eye sockets are shown through deep shading.

Though little is recorded about its origin or fate, Me-te is remembered as a wandering field yōkai whose apparent weakness conceals a brutal and sudden threat.