Ushi-oni

Ushi-oni

The nihongo|ushi-oni|牛鬼| ox ogre, or gyūki, is a creature which appears in the folklore of Japan. There are various kinds of "ushi-oni", all of them some sort of monster with a horned, bovine head.

Perhaps the most famous "ushi-oni" appears as a protective symbol in the "Ushi-oni-matsuri", which is held in late July in Uwajima of Ehime Prefecture. Something like the dragon dancers at a Chinese New Year celebration, this "ushi-oni" is represented with a huge, multiple-person costume with a cloth body and a carved, painted head held upon a pole. It has a sword for a tail, and is thought to drive away evil spirits.

Another well-known "ushi-oni" is a massive, brutal sea-monster which lives off the coast of Shimane Prefecture and other places in Western Japan and attacks fishermen. It is often depicted with a spider- or crab-like body. This "ushi-oni" seems to be connected to another monster called the "nure-onna", who sometimes appears before an "ushi-oni" attack and tricks the victim into holding her child, which then becomes stuck to the person's hands and grows heavier in order to hinder escape.

Yet another "ushi-oni" is depicted as a statue on the grounds of the Negoroji temple in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture. It is a bipedal monster with huge tusks, spurred wrists, and membranes like a flying squirrel. A sign nearby explains that this creature terrorized the area about four-hundred years ago, and was slain by a skilled archer by the name of Yamada Kurando Takakiyo (山田蔵人高清). He dedicated its horns to the temple, and they can still be seen to this day. [http://www1.plala.or.jp/negoro/usioni.html]

"Ushi-oni" are also mentioned in Sei Shōnagon's tenth-century diary "The Pillow Book", and in the "Taiheiki" of the fourteenth century.

Popular Culture

In the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" trading card game there are two cards featuring "ushi-oni" - "Ushi Oni" is a bull fiend with four octopus tentacles on its back, and "Abare Ushioni" is a bull monster.

In the anime Karas, a bloodthirsty Ushi-Oni (voiced by Michael McConnohie) becomes a mechanized 'Mikura' concealing itself in the form of a police chief.

In the game Jade Empire, there is a two headed ushi-oni.

In the manga Naruto, the eight-tailed beast is revealed to be an ushi-oni, built like a minotaur with eight octopus tentacles.

ee also

*Minotaur

References

* cite book
last = Mizuki
first = Shigeru
authorlink = Mizuki Shigeru
title = Mizuki Shigeru No Nihon Yōkai Meguri
publisher = JTB
date = 2001
location = Japan
pages = pp. 135-136
id = ISBN 4533039561

* [http://www.pref.ehime.jp/izanai/english/route/route4.htm Ehime Tourism Information: Sightseeing Routes]
* [http://ebikani.org/youkai/ushioni/ushioni.htm Negoro-ji Ushi-oni Shashinshū]


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