I mentioned the other day how the great Toriyama Sekien was a big fan of inventing yokai that poked fun at the red-light districts and the priest class of his day. (Readers may have noticed the sheer number of priest yokai in Night Parade — most of these originated from Toriyama.) Today’s is another priest, from Toriyama’s book The Illustrated Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, published in 1776. | 以前私は偉大な絵師鳥山石燕が妖怪を創作し、特に遊女や坊主に関連したものが多いとお話ししました（私の本「百鬼夜行」の読者の方はいくつかの坊主に関連した妖怪に気づかれたでしょうね。それらの多くは鳥山石燕によって創作されたものです）
今回も鳥山石燕の本(The Illustrated Night Parade of One Hundred Demons ：1776)から別の坊主にまつわる妖怪を紹介しましょう。

Aobōzu

Ao-bōzu

Unfortunately very little is known about this yokai. Toriyama Sekien’s illustration came with not a single word of description other than the name. From its name, we can glean a little bit of information; the word ao 青 means blue or green, and can denote immaturity and inexperience (just as green does in English). Another well-known yokai — ao-nyōbō — uses this color in a similar manner. In fact, as Toriyama’s original illustration was black-and-white, it may even be that he never intended this yokai to be colored blue or green, but rather just meant it as a mockery of what he saw as a corrupt and unskilled priesthood (bōzu = priest). Nonetheless, thanks to its name, it is usually depicted in a sickly shade of ao.

The fact that ao-bōzu has only one eye draws a strong parallel with another yokai, the hitotsume-kozō. He also bears a strong resemblance to the one-eyed hitotsume-nyūdō.

There are a few local legends from various regions about ao-bōzu:

The most well-known legend comes from Shizuoka. It is said that ao-bōzu appear on spring evenings at sunset in the wheat and barley fields. The transition from night to day is a popular theme in the tradition of in’yō magic (known as ying yang in Chinese). Further, the still blue-green leaves of the young barley also have powerful connections to in’yō sorcery. Children who go running and playing through the fields in the evening might be snatched up and taken away by an ao-bōzu summoned by this bizarre magical energy. Thus, good children must go straight home after school and not go tramping through the fields!

Another famous description comes from Okayama. There, ao-bōzu are said to be blue or green giant priests who take up residence in uninhabited homes. Sometimes this results in them moving into inhabited homes while their owners are away, resulting in a big surprise when the owners return! These ao-bōzu are generally depicted with two eyes instead of just one. This version of the ao-bōzu is popularized in yokai karuta cards.

In Yamaguchi and West Japan, they are considered minor deities. They appear before humans on the road and challenge them to sumo matches. Because these ao-bōzu look only as big as children, many a person has foolishly accepted the challenge, only to find himself flung to the ground with god-like strength and potentially lethal speed. Because of the similarity of this story with the hitotsume-kozō of East Japan, there are theories suggesting a connection to the ancient ghost religions of old Japan. In these shamanistic proto-religions, one-eyed monsters were often fallen gods and bringers of evil, sent to do the bidding of larger deities. They could be kept at bay with woven baskets, or other objects with many holes, which the monsters viewed as hundreds of eyes and kept away out of fear or jealousy.

In Kagawa and Shikoku, they appear late at night to young women and ask them, “Would you like to hang by your neck?” If the woman says no, the ao-bōzu disappears without a word. However, if she ignores him or says nothing, he attacks her with lightning speed and knocks her out. Then he hangs her by the neck!

Because there are so many different accounts, and because there are so many different kinds of nasty priest yokai, it’s impossible to tell which, if any, are the real ao-bōzu, and which are variations of other kinds of yokai. Maybe they all are. Maybe an ao-bōzu is simply any unskilled priest who turns from the path of his teachings and falls into wickedness, transforming into a yokai. In any case, if you happen to see a one-eyed blue priest, you should probably stay away!

Are you interested in yokai? Can’t get enough of strange Japanese culture? Then you should check out my book, The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, on Amazon.com and learn the story behind over one hundred of these bizarre monsters! |

Aobōzu

Ao-bōzu

残念な事にこの妖怪についての情報は非常に少なく、鳥山石燕の本では図画と名前以外は何も記されていない。しかしこの名前から少しの情報を引き出す事ができる。「青」には“みどり”・“あお”の意味があり、他にも未熟・世間知らずといった意味も含んでいる（英語のgreenと同じように）。もう一つ青という漢字とその意味を使った妖怪には青女房がある。– ao-nyōbō — 事実、鳥山石燕の原画は白黒であるためこの妖怪が青色や緑色をしていると意図していたのかは分からない。しかし不道徳な悪い僧を皮肉る意図は窺い知れるものであろう。青のつくその名前から多くの青坊主は青色を用いて描かれている事が多い。

青坊主は一つ目の妖怪であり、一つ目小僧hitotsume-kozō.や一つ目入道とよく似ている。

青坊主にまつわる言い伝えは各地にみられる。静岡県では青坊主は春の夕暮れ時に麦畑に現れるといわれ、そこで遊んでいる子供は青坊主によって連れ去られるのだという。よって賢い子供は寄り道して畑で遊ばずにまっすぐ家に帰るのだそうだ。岡山県では、青坊主は青か緑の僧として伝えられており空き家に現れるといわれている。時に家主が家にいない時にも現れるといわれており、家主がそこに帰ってきた時の驚きは大変なものであろうと推測できる。山口県では、青坊主は小さな神様（一つ目小僧に似ている）と考えられており、彼らは道行く人間の目の前に現れて相撲を挑むのだという。この小さな風貌のせいか多くの人はその挑戦を受けるのであるが、神の力と驚異的なスピードで地面にたたきつけられてしまうのだそうだ。また神奈川県では、青坊主が夜更けに若い女性の前に現れてこう尋ねるのだという・・・「首を吊らないか？」もしその女性が拒否すると青坊主は何も言わずに消えるのだそうだ。しかしもしその女性が無視をしたり何も言葉を発しなかっかったとしたら、青坊主はその女を素早く気絶させて彼女の首を吊ってしまうのだという！

このように種々の異なった話があり、また多くの悪い僧侶妖怪が他にもあるためにどれが本物の青坊主でどれが他の僧侶妖怪の一種であるのかと定めることは難しい。
おそらく青坊主は昔々に僧侶であった者で、悪行のために仏門から外れて妖怪になったものであろう。どのみち、青い僧侶を見た時には近寄らないに越したことはないようだ。

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！