There are a lot of bizarre animal yokai out there, and we’ve seen a few this week. Today we’ll look at a strange chimerical monster called the Nue!
Nue
Nue (鵺)
The nue is one of the oldest yokai to be written down, having its first appearance in the Kojiki (712 CE), an account of the early histories of Japan. It also appears in the Heian-period encyclopedia Wamyo Ruijusho (938 CE), and again in the Heike Monogatari (1371 CE), a record of one of Japan’s bloodiest civil wars and most tragic family clans. It is recorded as having the head of a monkey, the body of a tanuki, the tail of a snake, and the limbs of a tiger. In ancient times it was thought to be a kind of nocturnal bird — it’s call is supposed to sound like that of a White’s thrush — and thus its name is written with a kanji that contains the meanings “night” and “bird.”
Unlike some of the Japanese chimeras we’ve seen (kirin, baku, houou), the nue is not a holy animal, and is not good at all. In fact, they are considered to be pretty evil monsters. One very famous account of a nue attack occurs in the summer of 1153 in Kyoto. Emperor Konoe began to have nightmares every night, and grew very ill. Neither medicine nor prayers had any effect on his illness, and the source was attributed to some kind of evil spirit which was visiting the palace every night, early in the morning. These events climaxed some days later in a storm which appeared over the imperial palace around 2 AM. Lightning struck the roof, setting it on fire. The emperor summoned the legendary samurai Minamoto no Yorimasa, to deal with the evil spirit. Yorimasa brought his trusted companion I no Hayata, and his legendary bow which he received from Minamoto no Yorimitsu, to hunt the best. During the night, a strange wind came over them, followed by a black cloud. Yorimasa fired his arrow into the clouds above the palace, and out from the sky came a horrible scream as a nue dropped to the earth. I no Hayata immediately leaped upon the body, dealing it a finishing blow. The emperor immediately recovered from his illness, and rewarded the heroes with the legendary katana Shishiou for their service. This event has been immortalized in numerous paintings and ukiyoe prints.
After the nue was slain, the inhabitants of Kyoto were so afraid of a curse for killing the best, that they loaded its body in a ship and sent it down the Kamo river. The boat with the nue’s body eventually washed up on the shore near the village of Ashiya in Hyogo prefecture, and the good citizens of Ashiya removed the body and built it a burial mound and gave it a proper funeral. Apparently, you can still visit the mound, “Nuezuka,” today, though I’ve never been there…
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! | 今週はちょっと奇妙な動物の妖怪を紹介してきましたが、その他にも日本には色々な動物の妖怪がいます。今回も一風変わった動物の妖怪を紹介しましょう。
Nue
Nue (鵺)
鵺は日本で最も古い妖怪のうちの一つであり、古いものでは古事記（712CE)にその記述がある。また、平安時代に作成された辞書、和名類聚抄（938CE)や平家物語（1371CE)にも鵺の記録がある。
記述によると頭は猿で胴体は狸、尾は蛇で肢体は虎であるという。元々は夜行性の鳥の声だと思われており、そのために鵺の漢字には夜と鳥が使われているとも言われる。
これまでに紹介した事のあるキメラに似た妖怪たち（麒麟・獏・鳳凰）と異なる点は、鵺が聖なる動物としては扱われていないという所である。それどころか、凶鳥といわれる事もあるという。
鵺と人間との対峙が伝えられている物の一つに1153年の夏の京都での出来事がある。当時の天皇、近衛天皇は毎晩悪夢にうなされ、しだいに病に伏せるようになった。祈祷師や薬は全く功を奏さず、呪術師はこの原因に連日御所に訪れている物の怪があると伝えた。ある夜、夜中2時頃に御所の周囲には暗雲がたちこめ、稲妻が屋根に落ちて燃え上がった。天皇は弓の達人源頼政を呼んで怪退治を命じ、頼政は家臣の猪早太を連れ源頼光から受け継いだ弓を手に退治に向かった。すると再びあの暗雲が彼らの頭上に現れたので頼政がその雲めがけて矢を放った所、雲からは恐ろしい叫び声が聞こえて鵺が地上に落ちてきた。そこに猪早太が瞬時に鵺にとどめを刺した所、天皇の病は消えてなくなったという。その褒美として、天皇から授かった褒美が伝説の刀獅子王であり、この物語は多くの浮世絵に描かれこれまで伝えられてきている。
鵺の死後、京都ではその祟りを恐れたため鵺を鴨川から流したとされている。鵺の体は流されて兵庫県芦屋に流れ着き、芦屋の住人は屍骸を弔って塚を建てて葬ったという。私はまだ行った事がないが、現在でも兵庫県芦屋の鵺塚を訪れる事ができるとあります。
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！
