Seven Demon Stories from Medieval Japan

by Noriko T. Reider

In Japanese culture, oni are ubiquitous supernatural creatures who play important roles in literature, lore, and folk belief. Characteristically ambiguous, they have been great and small, mischievous and dangerous, and ugly and beautiful over their long history. Here, author Noriko Reider presents seven oni stories from medieval Japan in full and translated for an English-speaking audience.
 
Reider, concordant with many scholars of Japanese cultural studies, argues that to study oni is to study humanity. These tales are from an era in which many new oni stories appeared for the purpose of both entertainment and moral/religious edification and for which oni were particularly important, as they were perceived to be living entities. They reflect not only the worldview of medieval Japan but also themes that inform twenty-first-century Japanese pop and vernacular culture, including literature, manga, film, and anime. With each translation, Reider includes an introductory essay exploring the historical and cultural importance of the characters and oni manifestations within this period.
 
Offering new insights into and interpretations of not only the stories therein but also the entire genre of Japanese ghost stories, Seven Demon Stories is a valuable companion to Reider’s 2010 volume Japanese Demon Lore . It will be of significant value to folklore scholars as well as students of Japanese culture.

Genres: Japan

312 pages, Paperback

Published October 3, 2016

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My cousin, knowing how much I love learning about Japan, got me this book for my bday. I don't think either one of us understood before hand what a hardcore academic book this was. I sort of thought it would just tell the stories with a little history on the side.

Nope. This is a full-throttle academic study, discussion, history, and analysis. The author describes the context of the tales, the historical import, and how they can be interpreted in the present. After all that, the author provides a translation of the story from the ancient scrolls. Reading the stories was my favorite part.

The first chapter was very onerous because it was filled with sentences like this:

Likewise, the text tells us that Raiko's honji is Bishamonten (Vaisravana), Emperor Ichijo's honji is Miroku (Maitreya), and Abe no Seimei is Kannon-satta (Kannon Bodhisattva) ("Shuten Doji-e-jo, chu, ge" 176 [1904]: supplement 27.)

Now just imagine reading whole paragraphs and pages like that.

I'm assuming that if I was fluent in Japanese or had a background in Japanese history I might understand it better, but it was definitely a struggle for me. And I read academic books. What I'm saying is this book is not for the faint of heart. You have to be willing to go slow and take you time to (try to) understand what is going on.

I was pleased to make the connection between some of the characters and my favorite anime shows. I was all excited when I realized the meaning of Onigumo, the notorious thief from my all time favorite anime, Inuyasha. "Oni" means demon/orgre and "gumo" means spider. Something fun I learned. I was over-the-moon when she very specifically mentioned Inuyasha in relation to another part of the book.

In the legends relating to real historical figures from Japanese History, I recognized the names of characters in Gintama. I knew a lot of those characters were given names from history so it was fun to learn a bit about the origins. (Definitely in my top five favorite animes. One of the few shows that has made me laugh until I cry.)

My favorite chapter was about the story called Blossom Princess. It's a Cinderella-type story. She even compares how it relates to other old Cinderella-type stories.

The chapter I was most confused by, even when reading the actual legend, was the last one about objects that become possessed and angry because they were treated poorly by their humans. It was just a weird concept and I didn't really get it. We have "cursed" objects in our legends, but this was a completely different thing. It was also, inexplicably, a religious tale and I think the objects were even fighting for redemption.

All-in-all I enjoyed reading this book. I could see me perusing it in the future, or at least reading the legends again. It also increased my desire to learn more about ancient Japan and find more accessible Japanese folktales.

The author obviously went above and beyond in her research. It's pretty incredible, even if it did make from rather difficult reading at times. I had to leave it at four stars, just because it was kind of a struggle for me to read at times. I think it would be great for a college course in folktales or ancient Japan.

[Pat MacEwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author, Noriko Reider, takes a close look at seven legends about demons (oni) taken from Japan's medieval era, searching out their origins, their original purpose(s) and their evolution over time. They range from tales of outright ogres like the cannibalistic Shuten Doji to pitiful ghostly figures who were once human, and can even now become Buddhas in their own right. There is even a Cinderella story of sorts. While some are fairy tales embedded with Grimm-like warnings, others had political purposes and supported the ruling shogunate with their subtexts. Others may be reactions to national fears of the other (those not like us), the barbarian (also not like us and dangerous too), and the overwhelming in many dimensions (China). Some show strong Buddhist influence, as in stories about the Tsukumogami, tools, containers and other physical objects that acquire a soul after serving their purpose faithfully for 100 years, but can turn into vengeful oni if discarded or abandoned short of that goal. Reider carefully parses the cultural, historical, religious, and political threads woven through all these stories, often using linguistic clues to trace their origins and explain their evolution. She then connects them to modern forms now commonly found in manga and anime where the once-feared oni have often become sympathetic or even heroic characters in their own right. Fascinating if you're into folklore, though the introductory essays are quite academic in nature, so be prepared for careful citations of sources and a comparison of ideas put forth by many other researchers as well.

[Lulu]

Third story is oldest = The illustrated Story of Minister Kibi's Adventures in China (Kibi daijin nittò emaki): end of 12th century