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Ushi-oni
The ushi-oni (牛鬼; ox oni; ox demon), or gyūki, is a yōkai from the folklore of western Japan. The folklore describes more than one kind of ushi-oni, but the depiction of a bovine-headed monster occurs in most. Ushi-oni generally appear on beaches and attack people who walk there.
Ushi-oni have brutal, savage personalites. Their appearance varies, mainly based on geographical location. They usually have an ox's head with sharp upward-curving horns, wicked fangs and a slender tongue. They spit poison and enjoy killing and eating humans. Their body is most commonly depicted as spider-like with six legs and long singular claws at the end of each appendage.
In other descriptions, they have the head of an ox and an oni's torso. Certain legends claim that they appear in front of temple gates in the mountains wearing human clothing, or flying with the wings of an insect. Other ushi-oni have a reverse appearance, with an oni's head and an ox's body.
They are said to appears in beaches, in mountains, in forests, in rivers, in swamps, and in lakes. They often appear in stream pools, and in the Kinki region and Shikoku among other places, there are many places names such as "ushi-oni fuchi" (ushi-oni stream pool) or "ushi-oni taki" (ushi-oni waterfall).
In yōkai emaki of the Edo Period such as the Hyakkai Zukan, they are most often shown with the bovine head and a spider torso. In the Hyakki Yagyō Emaki, a similar picture goes under the title of Tsuchigumo.
The ushi-oni is considered to curse the Mie Prefecture. It is said that there was once an ushi-oni in the caves of Gokasho-ura, Minamiise, and when the lord of the Gokasho castle, Aisu Shigeaki shot it with a bow, the seishitsu (lord's wife) fell sick with an incurable illness due to the curse. Because of this, Shigeaki distanced himself from the seishitsu, and developed an infatuation for a shirabyōshi (dancer) who came from the capital. As a result, the seishitsu's parents, Kitabatake, came to have bad relations with the Aisu, and ended up ruining the Aisu.
The ushi-oni stream pool in Nishimuro District connects to the sea at its bottom, and when the water gets dirty, people would say "the ushi-oni is there." Just encountering this ushi-oni would result in catching an illness. It is said that by saying opposites like "rocks flow, leaves sink, oxen neigh, and horses bellow," one's life can be saved. The ushi-oni of this land possess a catlike body that is springy like a ball with a tail at a length of 1 shaku (about 3.3 meters) or more, and therefore do not make sound as they walk.
It is said that there is an ushi-oni at the waterfall basin in Wado River. People who have their shadows licked by one would get a high fever and die in a few days, and to avoid this, one can provide the ushi-oni with its favorite thing, some alcohol, every year at new years.
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Ushi-oni
The ushi-oni (牛鬼; ox oni; ox demon), or gyūki, is a yōkai from the folklore of western Japan. The folklore describes more than one kind of ushi-oni, but the depiction of a bovine-headed monster occurs in most. Ushi-oni generally appear on beaches and attack people who walk there.
Ushi-oni have brutal, savage personalites. Their appearance varies, mainly based on geographical location. They usually have an ox's head with sharp upward-curving horns, wicked fangs and a slender tongue. They spit poison and enjoy killing and eating humans. Their body is most commonly depicted as spider-like with six legs and long singular claws at the end of each appendage.
In other descriptions, they have the head of an ox and an oni's torso. Certain legends claim that they appear in front of temple gates in the mountains wearing human clothing, or flying with the wings of an insect. Other ushi-oni have a reverse appearance, with an oni's head and an ox's body.
They are said to appears in beaches, in mountains, in forests, in rivers, in swamps, and in lakes. They often appear in stream pools, and in the Kinki region and Shikoku among other places, there are many places names such as "ushi-oni fuchi" (ushi-oni stream pool) or "ushi-oni taki" (ushi-oni waterfall).
In yōkai emaki of the Edo Period such as the Hyakkai Zukan, they are most often shown with the bovine head and a spider torso. In the Hyakki Yagyō Emaki, a similar picture goes under the title of Tsuchigumo.
The ushi-oni is considered to curse the Mie Prefecture. It is said that there was once an ushi-oni in the caves of Gokasho-ura, Minamiise, and when the lord of the Gokasho castle, Aisu Shigeaki shot it with a bow, the seishitsu (lord's wife) fell sick with an incurable illness due to the curse. Because of this, Shigeaki distanced himself from the seishitsu, and developed an infatuation for a shirabyōshi (dancer) who came from the capital. As a result, the seishitsu's parents, Kitabatake, came to have bad relations with the Aisu, and ended up ruining the Aisu.
The ushi-oni stream pool in Nishimuro District connects to the sea at its bottom, and when the water gets dirty, people would say "the ushi-oni is there." Just encountering this ushi-oni would result in catching an illness. It is said that by saying opposites like "rocks flow, leaves sink, oxen neigh, and horses bellow," one's life can be saved. The ushi-oni of this land possess a catlike body that is springy like a ball with a tail at a length of 1 shaku (about 3.3 meters) or more, and therefore do not make sound as they walk.
It is said that there is an ushi-oni at the waterfall basin in Wado River. People who have their shadows licked by one would get a high fever and die in a few days, and to avoid this, one can provide the ushi-oni with its favorite thing, some alcohol, every year at new years.
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