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Japanese demon lore: oni from ancient times to the present

2011; Association of College and Research Libraries; Volume: 48; Issue: 08 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5860/choice.48-4264

1943-5975

Noriko T. Reider,

Chinese history and philosophy

While these works are all informative and illuminating, they rarely discuss the oni's modern rendition.Japanese Demon Lore: Oni from Ancient Times to the Present is different from existing studies in both English and Japanese in that it studies the oni's vicissitudes or progression/retrogression in Japanese history from ancient times to the present day, examining and evaluating the cultural implications these astonishing creatures have had for the Japanese psyche and society and culture as exemplified in literature, religion, art, folklore and film.It is my hope that this book will provide an analytical overview of oni, while suggesting connections with broader disciplines.This study thus addresses not only scholars and students of Japanese literature but also general readers interested in history, religion, anthropology, cultural studies, gender studies, and the visual and performing arts.The monograph is organized into nine chapters.Chapters one through three deal with the ancient and medieval periods.Chapter four is transitional, and examines the medieval and Early Modern periods.Chapters five through nine discuss the oni from the Early Modern through the contemporary periods, and these chapters are further organized according to topics.Chapter one ("An Overview") examines what has become the dominant representation of oni.The oni's genesis, etymology, and formation are described from the viewpoints of indigenous Japanese, Chinese, Buddhist, and onmyōdō.Further, the general features of the oni are discussed with literary examples.Considered a real entity by the ancient and medieval Japanese, the oni frequented both urban and rural areas, and were even seen in the capital, disrupting everyday life.The oni's principal characteristicscannibalism, the power to change shape, enmity to central authority, social the forefront, as exemplified in the Kabuki/Puppet play entitled Komochi yamauba (Mountain Ogress with a Child, 1712).Later, the yamauba came to be portrayed as an alluring, seductive woman by ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world) artists.In urban areas, yamauba have been commodified as objects of sexual desire.During the Early Modern period, Edoites believed in the supernatural to varying degrees.Belief in the oni as a real entity had significantly declined; yet, the oni continued to thrive in the minds of common folks and remain visible in their literary and visual arts.The fifth chapter ("Oni in Urban Culture") examines a general trend of de-demonization of oni in the Early Modern period and looks into an increasing tendency among urban cultures to commercialize and commodify oni.This is seen in Tsuruya Nanboku's Tōkaidō Yotsuya kaidan (Yotsuya Ghost Stories, 1824), and Edogawa Ranpo's Kotō no oni (Oni of a Solitary Island, 1929-30), a work of the Modern period.The sixth chapter ("Oni and Japanese Identity") examines the problematic labeling of oni.The imperial Japanese military complex used the oni to define its enemies, particularly effectively as a tool to define foreigners.The idea of outsider or "other," simultaneously promoted a sense of unity among the Japanese.This became especially true during the Second World War.Conversely, Japan's foes could use the oni to define the Japanese.This identification of oni becomes essentially a matter of whose viewpoint one takes, and this is a focal point in some postwar fiction such as Aramata Hiroshi's Teito monogatari (Tale of the Imperial Capital, 1983-89).Authors of any age, with or without intention, tend to impart values and issues contemporary to the age in which they are writing, albeit some aspects-sex and violence, for example-tend to attract larger audiences.The late twentieth and early twenty-first century's portrayal of the oni as a victim rather than the perpetrator of evil seems to be representative of all popular media of the time.In taking this approach, some modern authors essentially seem to tap the Japanese psyche.The seventh chapter ("Sex, Violence, and Victimization") examines oni representations that evince these trends through Nakagami Kenji's "Oni no hanashi" ("A Tale of a Demon") and Yumemakura Baku's extremely popular series titled Onmyōji (The Yin-Yang Master).The eighth chapter ("Oni in Manga, Anime, and Film") examines some noted anime (Japanese animation), manga (graphic novels), and films that utilize oni and oni variants, and studies the signification behind the oni. An OverviewWhat Are Oni?In an English language treatment of oni it is tempting to seek comparisons in Western demonology.Indeed, the concept of oni and the history and development of their representation have some striking affinity to the demonic entities that populate Judeo-Christian myths and the various figures from older Greco-Roman, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, and Norse traditions that became "demonized" as Christianity spread through the European continent, the British Isles, and finally Iceland.Such a comparison, a worthy task in itself, is, however, beyond the scope of this book.It suffices to say that the Western adjective demonic, while the closest Western term to describe oni, falls short of capturing the full idea of these creatures.The popularity and longevity of the oni myth is no doubt partially based on the beings' conventional demonic accoutrements, which have remained relatively constant through the ages: they are dreadful supernatural beings emerging from the abyss of Buddhist hell to terrify wicked mortals; their grotesque and savage demeanor and form instill instant fear; and the oni's omnipresence in the socio-historical and cultural archive of Japan is directly attributable to the moral, social, and religious edification that stories about oni engender.But there is a lesser known side to the oni that will also be examined here-the oni as harbingers of wealth and fortune.This widely disparate dichotomy begs a fundamental question, "What are oni?"This chapter examines the genesis and etymology of oni, as well as their features and attributes as depicted throughout various literary texts.