Transformation of the Oni From the Frightening and Diabolical to the Cute and Sexy.pdf

N ORIKO T. R EIDER

Miami University

Oxford, Ohio

Transformation of the Oni

From the Frightening and Diabolical

to the Cute and Sexy

Abstract

Popularized through both oral and written Japanese folklore and religious traditions,

early literary treatments of the oni … rendered a hideous, demonic, ogre-like creature

intent on terrorizing humans. While it is true that the shape-shifting powers of the oni

made it possible for them to take on human form, their gruesome appearance would

reµect their evil dispositions. The oni were often depicted with one or more horns atop

their heads, wearing only a loincloth of tiger skin, and a toothy grimace that stretched

from ear to ear. The oni were also feared because of their penchant for human µesh.

Popular modern day literary treatments of the oni reveal several new renderings of this

demon. Today’s oni are much more eclectic in appearance and demeanor than their

ancestral cousins. Some modern renderings even depict the oni as benign and, at times,

benevolent beings. Although they are still shape shifters, today’s oni sometimes assume

the form of an alluring human female, exuding sexuality, sensuality, and a child-like

naughtiness that is altogether absent in older mytho-historical and literary treatments.

There is no doubt this change in the oni has been at least partially brought on by com-

mercial interests imposed on writers and artists in the modern age. Moreover, the oni ’s

transformation is reµective of Japan’s own socio-economic transmutation into one of the

major industrialized nations of the world. This article delineates the oni ’s transforma-

tion.

Keywords: oni —Japanese ogre—demon—animation—commercialism

Asian Folklore Studies , Volume 62, 2003: 133–157

hideous supernatural creature emerging from hell’s abyss to terrify

wicked mortals. According to Anesaki, Japanese oni “belong to a purely

Buddhist mythology” (A NESAKI and F ERGUSON 1928, 283), but the oni is not

exclusive to the Buddhist cosmic universe. According to Komatsu

Kazuhiko, oni was the term used in Onmyõdõ ‹ îŠ (the way of yin and

yang) to describe any evil spirits that harm humans. In early Onmyõdõ doc-

trine, the word “ oni ” referred speci³cally to invisible evil spirits that caused

human in³rmity (K OMATSU 1999, 3).

In Japan’s ancient past, Origuchi Shinobu infers that there may have

been no demarcation between a Japanese oni and a Japanese kami P (deity).

Both were “awesome” beings (O RIGUCHI 1975, 47). Similarly, Tsuchihashi

Yutaka asserts that many types of kami possessing powerful spiritual forces

existed in ancient Japan. Among kami, those harmful to humans were quite

similar to the mono , or evil spirits. Both beings were invisible, however the

kami were the object of awe and respect while the mono were universally

feared, but not respected. Tsuchihashi further notes that the oni were spiri-

tual beings very much like the mono . Despite this, however, there exist no

de³nitive examples of the term oni in the ancient literature (T SUCHIHASHI

1990, 94–95).

Ishibashi Gaha ³nds the origin of the Japanese oni in yomotsushikome

2ª@ƒ Ñ u (lit. fearful creature[s] of the nether land), who appear in the

creation myth of the Kojiki òª z (“Record of Ancient Matters,” 712 CE ;

I SHIBASHI 1998, 4). Yomotsushikome , the precursors of oni, were sent from

the underworld to avenge the shame of Izanami, the divine female creator

of Japan. Izanagi, her brother and male counterpart broke his promise not

to look at her, causing her undying shame. While Japanese can identify with

the primordial form of oni in Yomotsushikome , Ishibashi attributes the appel-

lation oni to Chinese thought (I SHIBASHI 1998, 104).

Ancient Japanese literature has assigned a number of different Chinese

characters to express the term oni. Among them, the character used now is

[ 134 ]

I N POPULAR THOUGHT , the oni immediately conjures up images of a

TRANSFORMATION OF THE ONI

135

… , 1 which in Chinese means invisible soul/spirit, both ancestral and evil, of

the dead. According to the Wamyõ ruijushõ È e { ´¿ (ca. 930s), the ³rst

Japanese language dictionary, an oni is explained as something that is “hid-

ing behind things, not wishing to appear.…It is a soul/spirit of the dead.”

Takahashi writes that the concept of oni in Wamyõ ruijushõ is apparently

based upon the Chinese concept (T AKAHASHI 1992, 41).

During the medieval period, oni gradually entrenched themselves into

popular consciousness. Their extensive representation in paintings and the

performing arts is evidence of this. Oni were customarily portrayed with one

or more horns protruding from their scalps. They sometimes had a third eye

in the center of their foreheads, and varying skin colors, most commonly

black, red, blue, or yellow. More often than not, the oni were scantly clad,

carryed an iron mace, and wore a loincloth of fresh tiger skin. 2 Though oni

were not exclusively male, for there were female oni, the popular image of

oni was predominantly that of a male character.

As the image of oni spread and gained recognition amongst the public,

more and more supernatural characters began to display oni features and oni

attributes, which included the ability to cause natural disasters and to pos-

sess ordinary household objects. Even “people who had different customs or

lived beyond the reach of the emperor’s control” (K OMATSU 1999, 3) were

considered to be some form of oni . Expansive and dynamic, oni thrived in all

corners of ancient and medieval Japanese society. They could appear any-

where and often did. Oni frequented both urban and rural areas, and were

even seen in the capital, disturbing everyday life, causing fears and trouble.

Indeed, the oni were the object of awe and fear, considered a real entity

among the ancient and medieval Japanese. Modern oni, despite of continued

evolution/changes, still exhibit the characteristics of medieval oni, as will be

discussed in the following section.

C ANNIBALISM

It is thought that oni can eat a person in one gulp and they are, in fact, some-

times portrayed feasting on human µesh. Indeed, the phrase “ oni hitokuchi ”

… s S ( oni in one gulp), is highly suggestive of the inclinations of oni s to eat

human µesh. The sixth episode of the Ise monogatari Q ¤] B (“Tales of

Ise,” tenth century CE ) tells of a man who falls hopelessly in love with a lady

well above his social status. The man decides to kidnap her. On a thunder-

ous night during their µight, the lady takes shelter in a ruined storehouse

near Akuta River. Even though the man stands gallantly on guard at the

entrance of the shelter, the lady is still eaten up by an oni in one gulp.

Although she screams, a thunderclap mufµes her outcry to such an extent

136

NORIKO T. REIDER

that the man does not realize what has happened until she has been com-

pletely devoured (S AKAKURA 1957, 114). In the story, nobody sees the oni eat-

ing the woman, or even the oni itself. But the gruesome act is attributed to

the oni . “ Oni in one gulp” suggests an instantaneous action, amplifying the

oni ’s atrocious nature and enormous appetite. But the action of eating does

not have to be instantaneous. In the story “Shutendõji” , 7 ‡{, the oni

deliberately enjoy the delicacies of human µesh during a special banquet.

The ghastly nature of oni may well be symbolized by the act of cannibalism.

Another example of an oni ’s cannibalism appears in the Nihon ryõiki

Õû ‘ b z (“Miraculous Stories from the Japanese Buddhist Tradition,” ca.

823). The story is entitled “Nyonin no akuki ni kegasarete kurawareshi en”

œ^u 1 … r([›m7Vv›^ â (“On a Woman Devoured by an Oni ”).

During the reign of Emperor Shõmu ¸ (724–749) in the province of

Yamato, there was a wealthy family who had a beautiful daughter. Many

suitors came to ask for her hand in marriage. But the daughter never con-

sented to wed any of them. One day, a suitor sends her a number of luxuri-

ous gifts including three carriages full of splendid silks. She is pleased with

his overtures and accepts his proposal of marriage. On the wedding night,

from the bed chamber of her house comes a cry, “Ouch, ouch, ouch!” Her

parents hear the cries but think, “perhaps she feels pain because she is not

used to it.” So they take no action. On the following morning, her mother

goes to her daughter’s bedchamber to wake up the newly-wedded couple,

but there is no reply to her call. Thinking it rather strange, she opens the

door. She ³nds only her daughter’s head and a ³nger; the rest of her body

have been devoured. The parents are obviously horri³ed. People claimed it

was the work of an oni (E NDÕ ,K ASUGA 1967, 274–77). 3 In the story, no one

sees the enemy or its act of cannibalism, but as the title denotes, this abhor-

rent act is again attributed to an oni .

Although the oni ’s appearance is not described in the text, the creature

must have appeared to the woman as a decent-looking human male since

she let him spend the night with her. This also provides proof of the oni ’s

transformative power, as will be discussed below.

P OWER OF T RANSFORMATION

One of the most famous stories of oni ’s transformation can be found in the

story of Watanabe no Tsuna 9Œ „ , one of Minamoto no Raikõ’s (d. 1021)

four brave warriors. According to the Heike monogatari rB] B (“Tale of

the Heike”), Watanabe no Tsuna encounters a beautiful woman of about

twenty years of age at Modori Bridge on First Avenue in Kyoto. She solicits

Tsuna to take her back to her house. Tsuna agrees and lifts her on his horse,

just as the lady reveals her (or probably his) real identity—that of a mon-

TRANSFORMATION OF THE ONI

137

strous oni . 4 Tsuna manages to cut off one of the oni ’s arms. The oni µies in

the air— oni can µy—leaving his severed arm behind. Later, the same oni dis-

guises himself as Tsuna’s aunt in attempt to gain entry into Tsuna’s house.

The aunt/ oni asks Tsuna to show her the famous oni ’s arm. Believing that

the woman was his own aunt, Tsuna takes the disguised creature to the chest

where he had placed the oni ’s arm. Seeing his severed arm, the creature

revealed his true identity to Tsuna, grabs his limb, and µies off with it

(Y ASHIRO - BON H EIKE M ONOGATARI 1966, 973–83). In the Genpei seisuiki

èrµ{ z (“The Vicissitudes of the Genji and Heike Clans,” mid-thir-

teenth century) an oni turns into Tsuna’s foster mother rather than his aunt.

The Konjaku monogatarishð Ä Ë] B (“Tales of Times Now Past,” ca. 1212)

contains a similar story, which is probably the origin of the later develop-

ment of a similar theme. In the Konjaku monogatarishð version, a man (not

Tsuna) meets a young woman at a bridge, who asks him for a ride home. She

soon reveals her identity as an oni —red-faced, one-eyed, with dishevelled

hair. The man narrowly escapes with his life. Later, the oni visits the man

disguised as his brother, and then proceeds to devour his head while still in

disguise (Y AMADA et al. 1962, 491–94).

As revealed in these few select stories, oni have the power to freely trans-

form into human males or females at will. An oni often uses this power of

transformation to trick men, and to prevent warriors from accomplishing

their heroic tasks. An example is the Nõ play “Momijigari” } è& (“Maple

Leaf Viewing”), by Kanze Kojirõ Nobumitsu (1435–1516). The warrior

Taira no Koreshige (ca. late tenth century) receives an imperial order to sub-

jugate the oni on Mt. Togakushi. At the mountain Koreshige meets with an

enchanting lady (another oni in disguise) and the two partake in a banquet

under the maple trees. Seduced by the lady, he sleeps alongside her, com-

pletely intoxicated. In his dream, a messenger of the deity of Hachiman

bestows a sword on him and tells Koreshige to use it to kill the oni . Jostled

awake, Koreshige is shocked to ³nd the sword from his dream alongside him

and then, is even more shocked when he realizes what he is lying next to:

Instead of the beautiful lady he thought he had slept with lies a gruesome oni

with horns on its head. As mentioned earlier, oni can be female. Indeed, the oni

in “Maple Leaf Viewing” is a female oni —this can be understood by the audi-

ence because the performer who plays the role of oni wears a hannya “ ø (she-

demon) mask. Koreshige kills the oni with the sword given by the deity (S ANARI

1982, 3079–3092). Though unsuccessful, the oni of Mt. Togakushi transformed

into a voluptuous woman to preempt Koreshige’s attack. It is not at all uncom-

mon for oni to use female sexuality as a ploy to prevent the warrior from achiev-

ing his task.

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