While the emperor deeply laments its loss, an enchanting melody being played on the biwa is heard from the direction of Rashō Gate. The original story, found under the same title in Konjaku monogatari shū,12 is a straightforward narrative: A prized biwa called Genjō disappears from the Imperial Palace. … a biwa called genjō is stolen by an oni One example of how Yumemakura portrays oni in his own way can be seen in his retelling of “Genjō to iu biwa oni ni toraruru koto” 玄象という琵琶鬼にとらるる こと (A biwa called Genjō is stolen by an oni).11 ![]() As we will presently see, many of his oni are the marginalized spirits of humans trapped in the world of the living by the overpowering urgings of unrequited love. At the same time, Yumemakura peppers the plots of these old stories with a mixture of sex, pathos, and grotesque imagery involving oni and their emotional resonance. Yumemakura often portrays oni in a sympathetic light, enabling readers to identify with these marginalized creatures. This important feature differs from classical literature, in which the oni’s stance is ignored by the authors/compilers or readers. “… Yumemakura fills in the contexts and explanations left out in the original stories so that the readers do not have to read between the lines.įilling in the gaps, Yumemakura presents the oni’s perspective. Source: “Oni – demons” Dentsdelion Antiques Newsletter Mar-Apr 2012 XII.II These malicious beings feed on human flesh some say they can eat a person in one gulp! Such oni are believed to be the spirits of the deceased who carried resentment during their lifetime, and the spirits of malicious or jealous women are particularly feared … But the most feared oni are the first type, the ones who bring disasters and death, who were initially considered invisible but later became visible. The second type of oni typically describes marginalized persons, those from the frontier, foreigners who could have drifted to Japanese shores, or itinerant performers. The last type is an oni invoked to chase away evil spirits. The Encyclopedia of Shinto published by Kokugakuin University in Tokyo, distinguishes 3 type of oni: the wicked spirits or evil kami, the oni as foreigners or strangers, also considered demons, and the oni as good kami. In Chinese, the ideogram 鬼 (ki) designate the soul of a deceased person, a ghost, but in Japanese it is read as oni, or demon, but also sometimes as mono, an indwelling spirit or kami. Although oni are predominantly male, female oni can be as terrifying, as we will see. Their skin is usually red, black, blue, or yellow and they wear only a loincloth of tiger skin. Hideous grimace from ear to ear and showing their conspicuous teeth. ![]() Some have a third eye in the center of their forehead, and they often make a Typically, oni have either one or several horns protruding from their scalp.
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