![]() When local Oghuz villagers retreat, the son of Aruz is left behind. In the first chapter of the Book of Dede Korkut, enemy forces attack Oghuz lands (Azerbaijan and Turkish lands). The circular opening at the top of a yurt/ger is also called tepegoz. In Turkic languages, tepe means high/hill, and goz means eye. He is an ogre that appears in the Book of Dede Korkut, a famous epic story of the Oghuz Turks. “In Turkic mythology, Tepegoz is a legendary creature who has only one eye on his forehead. Dragons serve as guards and wolves as messengers.”įrom Wikipedia’s entry on Tepegoz, the Turkic epics have a tale of a one-eyed ogre that can only be killed by striking his eye and with a magical sword: Also, dragon-headed and dog-headed and one-eyed people and wizards and magicians live there. “ these Kyrgyz reside the Tyrgaut and the castle of the Iron Arrow, of the house of Chingiz, with his metal-armed soldiers. Compare the Japanese folktale with the tales below.Īccording to the Epic of Manas of the Turks, the one-eyed people lived among the ferocious and innumerable Tyrgauts who later surrender to Manas and his soldiers: And according to folklore, if “ a Hitotsume Kozo drops by and sees that a family or resident isn’t eating sekihan, it is said, it marks the address down in a notebook, and the location is cursed with poor health and misfortune that year” (Source: Yokai Attack!).Īlthough folklorist Kunio Yanagita who gathered yokai tale for his “Tales of Tono” associated the Hitotsume Kozo with Shinto priests who were so devoted that they deliberately poked out a single eye, the better to receive mystic wisdom from the gods”, the origins of the Japanese one-eyed ogre/goblin/demon is obscure, but most likely had continental origins, likely transmitted out of Central Asia via Indo-Iranian-Sakka or other Northern Chinese nomadic peoples. They also eat sekihan rice which has azuki beans mixed into the steamed rice … beans were widely believed to have demon-repelling powers. Residents place the white water residue from rice wash, and holly leaves out which are thought to repel the ogre-goblin since the serrated edges of the leaves present a danger to the eye of the goblin and in some versions of the tale, the holly pokes out the eye of the Hitotsume Kozo. In some regions, baskets or colanders are left out because the eyes in the basket’s weave are thought to frighten the one-eyed ogre/goblin/demon. The folklore figure appears to be well known from Edo tales and karuta playing cards.Īccording to folk traditions from Shizuoka prefecture, the Hitotsume Kozo descend from the mountains to visit peoples’ homes on December and February 8th. Often depicted in traditional kimono or monk robes, and known as a prankster who likes to scare people by leaping out from shadows or sneaking about people’s homes, knocking things around, stealing candy and such mischievous activities. This article delineates the oni's transformation.In Japanese yokai folklore, the Hototsume Kozo is a one-eyed boy-ogre/goblin/demon with a glowing eye. Moreover, the oni's transformation is reflective of Japan's own socio-economic transmutation into one of the major industrialized nations of the world. There is no doubt this change in the oni has been at least partially brought on by commercial interests imposed on writers and artists in the modern age. Although they are still shape shifters, today's oni sometimes assume the form of an alluring human female, exuding sexuality, sensuality, and a child-like naughtiness that is altogether absent in older mytho-historical and literary treatments. Some modern renderings even depict the oni as benign and, at times, benevolent beings. Today's oni are much more eclectic in appearance and demeanor than their ancestral cousins. Popular modern day literary treatments of the oni reveal several new renderings of this demon. The oni were also feared because of their penchant for human flesh. The oni were often depicted with one or more horns atop their heads, wearing only a loincloth of tiger skin, and a toothy grimace that stretched from ear to ear. While it is true that the shape-shifting powers of the oni made it possible for them to take on human form, their gruesome appearance would reflect their evil dispositions. Popularized through both oral and written Japanese folklore and religious traditions, early literary treatments of the oni 鬼 rendered a hideous, demonic, ogre-like creature intent on terrorizing humans.
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