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Oni is one of the most popular and common imaged animals in Japan. It often appears in folklore, childrens storys, festivals and traditional annual events. There are some variations, but most common oni has one or two horns on its head, big fangs with its upper or under jaw and scarlet-faced or blue-faced. They are naked except for tiger-skin loincloths (or short pants in recent years) and carry very large heavy metal clubs with many spikes. *According to the yin and yang, it has been said that North-East is t he worst direction in Japan. The North-West is Ushi-Tora (lit. cattle-tiger) in old terms. As cattle have horns and a tiger has yellow and black striped skin, people imagine that oni have one or two horns and wear tiger patterned pants. Now there are abhorrent images of oni. Some have traditionaly been bad images and still they are a symbol of evil that devour people. In the early 8th century they appeared as ferocious and fierce demons in hell or the land of the dead people in the chronicles ( Kojiki and Nihonshoki). Whereas, because of the influence of the thought of Buddism and cult of the god of thunder, there are also images of oni who are humorous, friendly and bring good fortune to people. If you are very interested in Oni, I recommend you visit Ooe-yama (name of the mountain ) in Tango region in Kyoto Pref. ( according to another story it's Tamba region in Kyoto Pref.) You can meet lots of oni there, :)) |
| Setsubun in Osu-kannon |
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