Amanojaku

__NOTOC__Amanojaku, or Amanjaku (天邪鬼, "heavenly evil spirit") is a demon-like creature in Japanese folklore. It is usually depicted as a kind of small oni, and is thought to be able to provoke a person's darkest desires and thus instigate him into perpetrating wicked deeds.

One of the "amanojaku's" best known appearances is in the fairytale Urikohime (瓜子姫, "melon princess"), in which a girl miraculously born from a melon is doted upon by an elderly couple. They shelter her from the outside world, and she naively lets the "amanojaku" inside one day, where it kidnaps or devours her, and sometimes impersonates her by wearing her flayed skin.

Amanojaku in Religion

The "amanojaku" is commonly held to be derived from Amanosagume (天探女), a wicked deity in Shintō myth, which shares the "amanojaku's" contrary nature and ability to see into a person's heart.

The creature has also entered Buddhist thought, perhaps via syncretism with the "yaksha", where it is considered an opponent of Buddhist teachings. It is commonly depicted as being trampled on and subdued into righteousness by Bishamonten or one of the other Shitennō. In this context it is also called a "jaki" (邪鬼).

Amanojaku in popular culture

*There is a Japanese musical group called Amanojaku. Founded in 1986 by Yoichi Watanabe, their sound is a fusion of Western music styles with taiko.

*"Amanojaku" is the demon who possessed the cat Kaya in the anime "Ghost Stories".

*In episode 13 and 14 of the anime, Hanada Shounen Shi, an "Amanojaku" is the "ghost of the day".

*The narrating character in the manga "Legend of the Overfiend" is named Amano Jyaku.

*In Japanese, the term "amanojaku" also refers to a person who is deliberately contradictory, someone who argues for the sake of arguing, or can be used in common Japanese conversation to refer to someone who is a 'Perverted Demon'.

References

cite book
last = Mizuki
first = Shigeru
authorlink = Mizuki Shigeru
title = Mujara 5: Tōhoku, Kyūshū-hen
publisher = Soft Garage
date = 2004
location = Japan
pages = p. 6
id = ASIN 4861330270

* [http://mouryou.ifdef.jp/100wa/amanjaku.htm Yōmi Hyaku Monogatari: Amanojaku]

* [http://bakebake.com/zukan/129amano.htm Bake Bake Zukan: Amanojaku]

* [http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/あまんじゃく Japanese Wikipedia: Amanjaku]

* [http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/うりこひめとあまのじゃく Urikohime To Amanojaku]

* [http://gogen-allguide.com/a/amanojyaku.html Gogen Yurai Jiten: Amanojaku]

* [http://www.pandaemonium.net/rdb/menu/file/53.html Dictionary of Pandaemonium: Amanosagume]

* [http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shitenno.shtml#jyaki Japanese Buddhism Photo Dictionary: Jyaki Demons]

* [http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~kotonara/sitennouzou.htm Shiten'nō Zō no Ohanashi]

External links

* [http://amanojaku.info/EProfile.html Amanojaku, the music group]

* [http://www2.gol.com/users/nhavens/htmlfile/joru2-e.html Fujino Bunraku 2001] (contains mythological information and images)

* [http://ffxi.somepage.com/itemdb/705/ Profile of the Final Fantasy XI monster]

* [http://www.obusession.com/cocktail/amanojakusake.html Amanojaku sake]