Yesterday was a national holiday in Japan known as Marine Day. It’s meant to be “a day of gratitude for the blessings of the oceans and to hope for the economic prosperity of maritime Japan.” Certainly appropriate, considering how important the sea is for an island nation.

Of course, the sea is not just a source of bounty for Japan. It also can be a source of terrible tragedy, such as the tsunami earlier this year which began the whole current nuclear crisis. It also is a source of yokai — usually terrible ones — such as the one I am showing you today.

You may remember I painted an Ushi-oni from Shikoku last year, which was a large, horned, bear-like monster which terrorized villages. There are many different kinds of Ushi-oni, however, as the term simply means “bull demon” and can refer to pretty much any large, beefy, demonic yokai. This particular Ushi-oni hails from the Sea of Japan off of the coasts of western Japan. It scours the beaches for human prey, often working in conjunction with Nure-onna and Iso-onna to catch its prey.

Ushioni