Hitotsume-nyūdō is a

yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and Spirit (supernatural entity) , spirits in Japanese folklore. The kanji representation of the word comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply ...

of Japan that has the appearance of an

ōnyūdō Ōnyūdō is a yōkai, or supernatural monster, told about in parts of Japan. Summary Their name has the meaning of "big monk", but depending on area, there are various legends where their actual appearance is that of an unclear shadow, simply ...

that has only one eye.

Summary

They can be seen in the legends and folklore of various places, and like the

mikoshi-nyūdō ''Mikoshi-nyūdō'' (見越し入道 or 見越入道) is a type of bald-headed ''yōkai'' "goblin" with an ever-extending neck. In Japanese folklore and Edo period (1603–1868) ''Kaidan (parapsychology), kaidan'' "ghost story" texts, ''mikoshi ...

, there are some that expand and contract their height. In

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, it is said that their true identity is that of a fox (

kitsune The , in popular Japanese tradition, are foxes or fox spirits that possess supernatural abilities such as shapeshifting, and capable of bewitching people. General overview , though literally a 'fox', becomes in folklore a ' fox spirit', o ...

). Also, a hitotsume-nyūdō appears in the

kaidan is a Japanese language, Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (''kai'') meaning "strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition" and 談 (''dan'') meaning "talk" or "recited narrative". Overall meaning and usage In its broadest sense ...

Inō Mononoke Roku from the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, and there was a picture depicting it attempting to capture the main character Heitarō (refer to image), but this one is a tanuki that has shapeshifted. In

Hidaka District There are 2 districts in Japan with the same name. * Hidaka District, Wakayama * Hidaka District, Hokkaido {{disambig ...

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 876,030 () and a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture to ...

, there is a yōkai tale as follows. A young fellow was on the way from Kamishiga to Ena (now Yura, Hidaka District), he came across a splendid procession. It didn't appear to be a feudal lord or a marriage, but when he climbed a tree to spectate, the procession stopped at the base of the tree, and from an awfully large palanquin, a large man with one eye about 1 to tall appeared, climbed the tree, and attempted to attack the young fellow. When the young fellow was absorbed and was slashed at with a sword, it is said that the old man and the procession all disappeared. This hitotsume-nyūdō and the

hitotsume-kozō ''Hitotsume-kozō'' (一つ目小僧) are a ''Yōkai'' (supernatural apparition) of Japan that take on the appearance of a bald-headed child with one eye in the center of its forehead similar to a cyclops. Summary They generally do not cause an ...

has the appearance of a nyūdō (monk), but there is a theory that it comes from the yōkai called "" from

Mount Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by ...

. As its name implies, it is a yōkai or

yūrei are figures in Japanese folklore analogous to the Western concept of ghosts. The name consists of two kanji, (''yū''), meaning "faint" or "dim" and (''rei''), meaning "soul" or "spirit". Alternative names include , meaning ruined or departed ...

with the appearance of a monk with one eye and one foot, and it is said that when a monk idles on his training on Mount Hiei, he would be admonished by being stared at with one eye, and monks that are terribly lazy would be driven out of the mountain. This hōshi has been specified to be what the 18th Tendaizasu,

Ryōgen was the 18th chief abbot of Enryaku-ji in the 10th century. He is considered a restorer of the Tendai school of Mahayana Buddhism, and credited for reviving Enryaku-ji.English display at the TNM His supposed role as a precursor of the ''sōhei ...

(or his best pupil, the 19th Tendaizasu Jinzen) turned into, and it is believed that Ryōgen, who judged the monks on strict precepts, lamented at how the monks became secularized after his death, became thus a yōkai and admonished the monks. Nowadays at

Enryaku-ji is a Tendai monastery located on Mount Hiei in Ōtsu, overlooking Kyoto. It was first founded in 788 during the early Heian period (794–1185) by Saichō (767–822), also known as Dengyō Daishi, who introduced the Tendai sect of Mahayana ...

on Mount Hiei, there remains a picture of this hōshi in Sōjibō, a small temple where monks in training live.

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