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'' "ghost story" texts, ''mikoshi-nyūdō'' will frighten people who look over the top of things such as ''byōbu'' folding screens. The name combines ''mikoshi'' 見越し (lit. "see over") "looking over the top (of a fence); anticipation; expectation" and ''nyūdō'' 入道 (lit. "enter the Way") "a (Buddhist) priest; a bonze; a tonsured monster".

Summary

When walking to the end of a road at night or a hill road, something the shape of a monk would suddenly appear, and if one looks up, it becomes taller the further one looks up. They are so big that one would look up at them, and thus are given the name "." Sometimes, if one just looks at them like that, one might die, but they can be made to disappear by saying "." They most frequently appear when walking alone on night paths, but they are also said to appear at intersections, stone bridges, and above trees.

It is said that getting flown over by a ''mikoshi-nyūdō'' results in death or getting strangled by the throat, and if one falls back due to looking up at the ''nyūdō'', one's windpipe would get gnawed at and killed.

On Iki Island off Kyushu, a ''mikoshi-nyūdō'' would make a "wara wara" sound like the swaying of bamboo, so by immediately chanting, "," the ''nyūdō'' would be made to disappear, but it is said that if one simply goes past them without saying anything, bamboo would fall resulting in death. In the Oda District, Okayama Prefecture, it is said that when one meets a ''mikoshi-nyūdō'', it is vital to lower one's vision to the bottom of one's feet, and if one instead looks up to the head from the feet, one would be eaten and killed. Other than chanting "''mikoshita'' (seen past)" or "''minuita'' (seen through)," there are also examples where they would disappear by mustering one's courage and smoking tobacco (Kanagawa Prefecture), or by calculating the height of the ''mikoshi-nyūdō'' by a margin (Shizuoka Prefecture), among other methods.

In the essay by Hakuchō Nishimura from the Edo period, the ''mikoshi-nyūdō'' is a yakubyōgami that inflicts people with fever, and there is a story as follows:

In a certain region of the Okayama Prefecture, if a female squats at a toilet, a fox (''kitsune'') shapeshifted into a ''mikoshi-nyūdō'' would appear and say menacingly, "." Also, it is said that on the night of Ōmisoka, by chanting "mikoshi-nyūdō, hototogisu" while at a toilet, a ''mikoshi-nyūdō'' would definitely appear. Concerning legends like these relating to toilets, there is the theory that they may have been confused with the '' kanbari-nyūdō''.

True identity of ''mikoshi''

There are many where the true identity of ''mikoshi-nyūdō'' is unclear, but there are regions where they are animals that possess the ability to transform. In the legends of Hinoemata, Minamiaizu District, Fukushima Prefecture, they are shapeshifted weasels, and it is said that if one gets lured to look up from the ''nyūdō''s expansion, the weasel would take that opening and bite at one's throat. In the "Tonoigusa," they are shapeshifted '' tanuki'', and there are also some regions where they are shapeshifted foxes (''kitsune''). In the Shinano Province (now Nagano Prefecture), they are said to be shapeshifted ''mujina''. Also, in the aforementioned ''Hinoemata'', it is said that the ''mikoshi-nyūdō''s true form is a hand-held object like a paper lantern, bucket, or rudder, and that it would be possible to exterminate the ''nyūdō'' by striking at the object.

Similar tales

''Yōkai'' similar to the ''mikoshi-nyūdō'', such as the '' shidaidaka'', the '' taka-nyūdō'', the '' taka-bōzu'', the '' nobiagari'', the '' norikoshi-nyūdō'', the '' miage-nyūdō'', the ''nyūdō-bōzu'', the '' yanbon'', etc. throughout the country.

At Uminokuchi, Minamimaki, Minamisaku District, Nagano Prefecture, Akadani, Kitakanbara District, Niigata Prefecture (now Shibata), Kamikawane, Haibara District, Shizuoka Prefecture (now Honwane), Mikura, Shūchi District, also Shizuoka Prefecture (now Mori) among other places, they are told in legends simply under the name "''mikoshi''." In Kamikawane, there is a story where in the past, two young fellows discovered ''nobori''-like object climbing up the night sky, and were surprised, saying "It's a ''mikoshi''!"

Also, in Ryōgōchi, Ihara District, Shizuoka Prefecture (now Shizuoka), they are also called , and it is said that something with the appearance of a little ''bōzu'' would talk to people at the end of a road, and in the middle of the conversation, its height would soon become taller, just continuing to look at this would result in fainting, but they would disappear by saying "." They are said to appear with the look of a kind person, and when a person passing along talks to it, it would grow larger depending on the contents of the conversation.

In Icchōda, Amakusa District, Kumamoto Prefecture (now Amakusa), they are told in legends using the same pronunciation "''mikoshi-nyūdō''" but are written with different kanji, 御輿入道. It is said that they are a ''yōkai'' with a height of about five ''shaku'' (about 15 meters) that would appear on the road Geden no Kama, and to people who encounter them, it would lick around their lips as if it was licking them right then. A certain person encountered this, and when he prayed silently to god with all his mind, the ''nyūdō'', without any fear of god, rode on a ''mikoshi''-like object, and dragging out a long cloth, it flew away toward the mountain.

In the kibyōshi the "" by Masayoshi Kitao, it appears as , a female ''yōkai'' that has deep hair and a long neck, and this has been determined to be a female version of the ''mikoshi-nyūdō'' (refer to image).

''Yōkai'' depictions

Even while simply saying "''mikoshi-nyūdō''," they have been depicted as having various appearances in ''yōkai'' depictions. In the yōkai emaki, the "''Hyakkai Zukan''" from the Edo period (refer to image) as well as the ''yōkai sugoroku'' the "''Mukashi-banashi Yōkai Sugoroku'' (百種怪談妖物双六)," only its face and upper body have been captured in the depiction, and are thus compositions that do not make clear what characteristics they have for their body. The ''mikoshi-nyūdō'' that has been depicted under the title "''Mikoshi''" in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Sekien Toriyama (refer to image) is depicted covered by the shadow of a large tree, and its neck has become long, but since this is its appearance to people looking from behind, it does not mean that it is emphasizing the length of its neck like that of a ''rokurokubi''.

While ''mikoshi-nyūdō'' depicted as a ''yōkai'' with giant characteristics exists, the ''mikoshi-nyūdō'' that brings to mind the long-necked ''rokurokubi'' depicted in play images in the Edo period are certainly not strange. There are those who think that they are related to the ''rokurokubi'', and since the ''rokurokubi'' of legends are frequently female, they are sometimes pointed out as examples of male ''rokurokubi''. The length of its neck has been exaggerated over the passage of eras, and in the late Edo period, it has become standard for its neck to be long and thin, and for its face to have three eyes. In many ''kusazōshi'' that had a theme on ''yōkai'', they are also depicted as having a characteristic long neck, and from having an appearance with such impact, they almost always appear as the chief ''yōkai''.

There is the opinion that these kinds of things give a glimpse on the varied and complicated influences that went into forming the world of ''yōkai''.

See also

* List of legendary creatures from Japan
* ''Rokurokubi''
* Takaonna

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikoshi-nyudo

Yōkai
Japanese giants
Japanese folklore
Fictional Buddhist monks