Meeting:	#2
Subject:	Oni/Supernatural Critters
		"Meet Your Mascot"
Date:		6-27-97

Your Mascot, the Oni

"Oni" is a term generally used to describe evil spirits and devils, and it is often translated as "ogre." They are believed to have originated in China and to have come to Japan with the Buddhist faith. Oni frequently appear in the old legends, are giant in size, and are blue, grey, pink, or red in color. Typically they have horns, three toes, three fingers, and occasionally three eyes. They have the ability of flight, which they seldom use. Though usually cruel, malicious, and lecherous (having a particular delight for the human female), they are sometimes comic, but never extremely bright. Oni live much longer lives than humans and are a great deal stronger and faster. It is possible for a human to become an oni at death in order to exact revenge on any family.

A young priest asked his master if he might go out into the woods to pick nuts, even though there were known to be Oni women in the vicitnity. After repeated requests, the priest allowed the younger man to go, saying that he must take three lucky charms with him (they're magically delicious! -- heh...sorry) which would help him should he fall into Oni hands. Naturally, the young priest was captured by an old Oni crone and forced to spend the night in her house. By morning he had devised a means of escape, and told the Oni that he had to relieve himself. She tied a cord around him and let him go to the proper place, keeping a firm grip on it. Once he was alone, the young man fastened the cord to a beam and climbed out the window, leaving one charm behind and asking it to answer for him when the Oni called. Eventually, the Oni realized that he had escaped, but soon caught up with him. He used his second charm to create a mound of sand which she had much difficulty climbing over, but after a while she again caught up with him. He flung his last charm behind him and begged it to create a wide, swift river to flow between them, and the Oni woman was washed away in the torrent. This is not the end of the story, though. Through a course of interesting events, playing on the Oni's lack of intelligence, she managed to get herself eaten by the young priest's master.

Other Supernatural Critters and Stuff

Tengu. Tengu, in contrast with the Oni, are mischievous rather than evil and are fond of playing tricks, though unappreciative of the reverse. They are minor deities and respected and feared as such, appearing in many old legends.Tengu, unlike Oni, are associated more with Shinto than Buddhism. They are supreme in the art of fencing and in the use of weapons generally. "A class of goblins or gnomes that haunt the mountains and woodlands . . . they have an affinity to birds; for they are winged and beaked, sometimes clawed. But often the beak becomes a large and enormously long human nose, and the whole creature is perceived as human." Sometimes Tengu are red in color and they often wear cloaks and small black hats. They are said to be emanations from Susa-no-o, "The Impetuous Male."

A boy once teased a Tengu by pretending he could see the wonders of the heavens by looking through a hollow piece of bamboo. The Tengu, distraught with curiosity, eventually succeeded in getting the boy to part with the stick by exchanging it for his straw cloak of invisibility. The boy played many tricks on his family and friends when wearing this cloak, but the Tengu who had been deceived by the boy exacted its revenge and the boy fell into an icy river, lost the magic cloak and lived to appreciate the danger of taunting Tengu.

Kappa. Approximately the size of ten-year-old children, Kappa are furless monkey-like creatures living in rivers, ponds and lakes, and feeding on the blood of drowned victims. Kappa also have a liking for cucumbers. Their main distinguishing feature is a hollow on the top of their head filled with water, which is the source of their powers. They have more intelligence and less malevolence than the Oni, yet are strangely polite, often to their own undoing, for by bowing to an intended victim the water can be spilled from their heads and their strength dispersed. In a certain part of Japan the Kappa is said to claim two victims every year.

The Kawako-no-miya, on the bank of the River Kawachi, is said to contain a document signed by a Kappa. When the villagers caught the Child of the River, rather than have him killed for his doubtlessly many horrible crimes, he was asked to peruse a document saying that he would "never again destroy any of the inhabitants or the domestic animals of the village" and then sign it. "I cannot write," replied the penitent Kappa, "but I will dip my hand in ink and press it upon the document." When this was done, the creature was released and allowed to return to the river, and to this day the Kappa has remained true to his promise.

Modern belief. As late as 1860, the officials of the Yedo Government showed their belief in supernatural beings. Prior to the visit of the Shougun to Nikko, they exhibited this notice in the vicinity of the mausolea: "TO THE TENGU AND OTHER DEMONS: Whereas our Shougun intends to visit the Nikko Mausolea next April, now therefore ye Tengu and other Demons inhabiting these mountains must remove elsewhere until the Shougun's visit is concluded. Signed, Mizuno, Lord of Dewa. Dated July 1860."

SOURCES:
Library of the World's Myths and Legends: Japanese Mythology, by Juliet Piggott
Myths and Legends of Japan, by F. Hadland Davis

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