Happy Halloween everyone!

Whew! We made it! Another year of A-Yokai-A-Day. Today’s entry marks the final one for this year’s yokai series, but before that, on to the results of the Hyakki Yagyō poster contest:

I was really impressed by the results of the contest! Naming all of those yokai took a lot of work and research, and a lot of people got them all correct! I wrote down all of the names with the correct answers and picked one at random, and the lucky winner, chosen by whatever yokai controls luck and fate, was Neal from Pennsylvania! Congratulations!

Now, on to today’s yokai. This was a request from a fan at my gallery show in Fukui this August. I saved this one for last because a) it was one of the most difficult to find information to translate, and b) the opportunity for beautiful fall colors deserved to wait until late October, when the reds and yellows are at their peak. Plus, it has a little bit of Halloween flavor to it, with the demon of the story disguising herself as a beautiful princess. Enjoy! | ハッピーハロゥイーン！

今年もやりました！今年のA-Yokai-A-Dayも皆さんのおかげで毎日行う事が出来ました！今年のプロジェクト最後の妖怪ですが…その前に！百鬼夜行ポスターコンテストの正解発表です！

ポスターコンテストに応募された方々の答えにはとても驚かされました！全ての妖怪の名前を挙げるのに沢山リサーチされた事でしょう。多くの方が全問正解でした！

正解者の中からランダムに抽選した結果、選ばれた幸運な勝者が決まりました！幸運の妖怪により選ばれし者、ペンシルベニア州のニールさんです！おめでとうございます！

The Witch of Togakushi Mountain (Momiji)

Momijigari (紅葉狩)

This story takes place long long ago, in what is now Nagano prefecture, during fall. It was the season of fall-leaf-viewing, when groups of people would gather in the mountains for festivals and parties under the falling red, orange, and gold leaves.

During this time, a samurai named Taira no Koremochi was charged by a local Hachiman shrine with hunting oni. His hunt had taken him to Togakushi mountain, where a particularly nasty kijo (a female oni) was said to live.

Koremochi and his retainers climbed the beautiful mountain, and they came upon a small aristocratic leaf-viewing party. Koremochi sent one of his retainer ahead to investigate who was having the party. The retainer approached, asking about the party, and was told that a noble princess was hosting it; however the ladies in waiting would not tell him the princess’ name. Just as Koremochi and his retainers decided to continue on their mission, a lady-in-waiting approached and told them that her mistress had heard of Koremochi, and she wanted to invite them to her party. Koremochi was unable to be rude to such a princess, so he and his companions agreed.

At the party, the warriors were introduced to Princess Sarashina, an extremely beautiful young woman. They all sat and enjoyed drinking sake, watching the leaves, and dancing. Eventually, Koremochi asked the princess if she would dance for him, and she did. Soon the drunk men became sleepy and dozed off under the beautiful trees.

As he slept, Koremochi dreamed of Hachiman and his mission. The god told him that Princess Sarashina was actually the kijo Momiji in disguise, and that he must kill her with the holy katana, Kogarasumaru (“Little Crow”). When Koremochi woke up, the sword he dreamed of was in his hand — a gift from the god — and he knew that what he dreamed was real. He ran after the women, and all of a sudden a huge storm broke out. Fire and wind lit up the mountain. Suddenly a ten foot tall kijo with horns made of burning trees appeared, and an intense battle between the samurai and the demoness took place. In the end, thanks to his magical sword, Koremochi was successful, and slew the Witch of Togakushi Mountain.

The full tale of Princess Sarashina/Momiji is much longer than that, but this version of her story is famous for being told in Japanese theater. Momijigari (“Hunting Momiji”) first appeared hundreds of years ago, during the Muromachi period, as a noh play. During the Meiji period it was remade as a kabuki play. The plays are noted for both the beautiful costumes featuring demon masks, as well as the actor’s transformation in character from the beautiful princess into the violent demon. The play was put to film in 1899, becoming the first narrative filmed in Japan. It was designated an Important Culture Property in 2009.

Do you like Japanese ghosts? Are you a fan of strange Japanese horror? Then get my book, The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons from Amazon.com today! |

The Witch of Togakushi Mountain

Momiji (紅葉)

この話は長野県に何年も昔から伝わるものである。この伝説も多くの諸説があり、歌舞伎や能、神楽などで語り継がれている。今回は中でも紅葉狩りの鬼女の征伐にまつわる部分を要約して伝説を紹介しよう。

平朝臣維茂という武将は戸隠に潜み村々を襲っている鬼を退治するよう命じられた。しかし戸隠には恐ろしい鬼女が潜んでいたのである。

維茂が軍を引き連れ戸隠山を登ってゆくと、貴族たちが紅葉狩りをしている様子が見えた。手下の一人が調べに行き尋ねると、とある高貴な姫がひらいている宴であるという。姫は維茂達を宴に招き、失礼のないよう維茂もこれを受け入れた。

維茂達は宴で非常に美しい娘、更科姫を紹介された。彼らは酒肴を堪能し、紅葉を愛で、素晴らしい宴と姫に陶酔していった。維茂は更科姫の舞いを愉しみ、そのうちに酒に酔ったのか美しい木の元でうとうとと眠ってしまったのである。

眠りに落ちた維茂は不思議な夢を見る。八幡大菩薩が現れ、あの姫こそがなんと戸隠山に潜む鬼女であると告げ、神剣（小烏丸）を授けたのである。維茂が起き上がると手元には夢で見た剣が置いてあるではないか。そして彼は夢が現実であったと知り、女の跡を追うが突然嵐がおきて道を遮り、炎がたちまち強風と共に広がったのである。ふと見上げるとそこには大きな鬼女が立ちはだかっており、維茂はこれに戦いを挑んだ。熾烈な戦いの後、小烏丸によって維茂は鬼女に打ち勝ったのである。

紅葉狩りの鬼女が現れたのは何百年も昔である。能では室町時代、歌舞伎では明治時代に描かれている。演者は美しい面と鬼の面を交互につけ鬼女と姫とを交互に演じ分けるのである。１８９９年には映画「紅葉狩り」も撮られており、これは日本で初めての動画であったとされ２００９年に、重要文化財に指定されている。

他の妖怪にも興味をもっていただけたなら、是非アマゾンから「The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons（百鬼夜行）」をどうぞ！