Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Tontari Maō, Greedy Demon King
Category: Demon
The Myth
No physical appearance is given for Tontari Maō in the surviving account.
After Emperor Jimmu had pacified the barbarian enemies of Japan, the country was governed peacefully for generations. A demon king who coveted Japan was unable to invade and was forced to live in solitude off the coast of Chiguraka, at the boundary between China and Japan.
Eventually, however, disorder began to spread throughout the country. Seeing his opportunity, the Demon King invaded Japan with tens of thousands of demons and evil gods. He defeated the Kongo God and occupied the renowned Mount Kongo, declaring himself the Greedy Demon King. He then began transforming the land into a realm of demons. Clouds and fog covered the sky, storms caused the mountains and rivers to overflow, floods devastated the country, and plague spread throughout the land.
Amida Buddha of the Pure Land saw the suffering of living beings and decided to subdue the demons. He constructed a magnificent jade ship shaped like a phoenix, raised brocade sails, and departed from paradise accompanied by countless Buddhas and gods. The ship traveled through the western countries and then through China, where it gathered holy figures including Emperor Wenchang and King Wenxuan. It crossed the Milky Way and passed through the heavenly realms before reaching Takamagahara. There, accompanied by Amaterasu and the other gods, it descended upon Mount Kongo.
When the Greedy Demon King saw the Buddhas descending, he summoned clouds, mist, wind, and rain and turned the mountain into a fortress. The Three Treasures God, protector of the Buddhas, appeared at the summit and unleashed lightning, setting the vegetation on fire. The demons attempted to extinguish the flames with rain, but failed, and even the Demon King’s mansion was burned down.
The Demon King’s army fled toward the river. The Three Treasures God dammed the river mouths on all four sides, while water poured down from the Milky Way until the mountain was transformed into a sea. Unable to withstand the raging waters, the Demon King returned to the mountaintop.
Tontari Maō and the Three Treasures God then fought each other with sacred swords. Marishiten, Bishamonten, and Fudō Myōō came to the aid of the Three Treasures God, while the Demon King’s allies joined the battle. The Gale Demon King attacked Fudō Myōō, the Fierce Lion Demon King attacked Bishamonten with an axe, and the Heavenly Dragon Demon King struck Marishiten with an iron club.
After a fierce battle, all of the Demon Kings except Tontari Maō were defeated and disappeared. The Three Treasures God’s eight-directional sword flashed like lightning and cut down the remaining demons one after another. The surviving demons fled, but billions of treasure arrows fired from a thousand-pound divine bow struck them, wounding tens of thousands and forcing them toward the open sea.
Tontari Maō, however, turned back toward the mountains with tens of thousands of his followers. He bowed before the Three Treasures God, confessed his former wrongdoing, and vowed from that moment onward to change his ways and obey the Buddha and the gods.
The Three Treasures God accepted their repentance and instructed them not to hesitate to correct their mistakes, but instead to change their ways and accumulate good deeds. He promised to report their repentance to Amida Buddha, have their sins removed, and make them his followers.
The repentant demons were overcome with emotion and chanted “Namu Amida Butsu” together. Amida Buddha then descended in the phoenix-shaped ship, accompanied by numerous Buddhas and gods. The light of Buddha illuminated the entire land, and Tontari Maō attained enlightenment through the virtue of Buddha.
He then vowed to bestow blessings upon devout practitioners even while naked and became the “Original God of Poverty.” The place where this deity stood was thereafter called Naked Forest.
Mount Kongo, meanwhile, came to be called Kojin-yama after Sanbō Kojin, and eventually Funagata-yama because of the arrival of the phoenix-shaped ship.
Sources
Takahashi, Toshihiro. “貪多利魔王 [とんたりまおう] (Tontari Maō).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). December 8, 2018. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1073154559.html