The Nue (鵺, 鵼, 恠鳥, or 奴延鳥) is a

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

ary

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 ...

mononoke are vengeful spirits (onryō), dead spirits (shiryō), live spirits (ikiryō), or spirits in Japanese classical literature and folk religion that were said to do things like possess individuals and make them suffer, cause disease, or even cause ...

from

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...

Appearance

In the ''

Tale of Heike is an epic poetry, epic account compiled prior to 1330 of the struggle between the Taira clan and Minamoto clan for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180–1185). It has been translated into English at least ...

'', it is described as a Japanese

Chimera Chimera, Chimaera, or Chimaira (Greek for " she-goat") originally referred to: * Chimera (mythology), a fire-breathing monster of ancient Lycia said to combine parts from multiple animals * Mount Chimaera, a fire-spewing region of Lycia or Cilicia ...

having the head of a

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

, the limbs of a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

, the body of a

Japanese raccoon dog The Japanese raccoon dog (''Nyctereutes viverrinus'', or ''tanuki'' ()) is a species of canid that is endemic to Japan. It is one of two species in the genus '' Nyctereutes'', alongside the common raccoon dog (''N. procyonoides''), of wh ...

, and the front half of a

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

for a tail. In other writings, nothing is stated about its torso; in these versions, it is sometimes depicted to have the torso of a tiger. The ''

Genpei Jōsuiki The , is a 48-book extended version of the ''Heike Monogatari'' (''The Tale of the Heike''). References External links at University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research unive ...

'' describes it as having the back of a tiger, the limbs of a tanuki, the tail of a fox, the head of a cat, and the torso of a chicken. It is said to make terribly eerie bird cry "hyoo hyoo" noises that resemble that of the

scaly thrush The scaly thrush (''Zoothera dauma'') is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. Distribution and habitat It breeds in wet coniferous taiga, mainly in the Himalayas through Malaysia. Description The sexes are similar, 27–31 cm long, wi ...

. In the movie '' Akuryōtō'' (originally by

Seishi Yokomizo was a Japanese mystery novelist, known for creating the fictional detective Kosuke Kindaichi. Early life Yokomizo was born in the city of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. He read detective stories as a boy and in 1921, while employed by the Daiichi Ba ...

), the catchphrase "nights where the nue cry are dreadful" refers to this fact. The nue is also said to have the ability of shape-shifting, often into the form of a black cloud that can fly. The yokai is also thought to be nocturnal as most of its sightings happen at night. Its name written in

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

translates to ''night'' and ''bird''.

History

The nue is thought to have started appearing in the late

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

. For a more precise dating, different sources claim different periods, like the

Emperor Nijō was the 78th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1158 through 1165. Genealogy Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (his ''imina'') was Morihito''- ...

period, the

Emperor Konoe was the 76th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 近衛天皇 (76)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Konoe's reign spanned the years from 1142 through 1155. Genealogy Before his ascension to the Chr ...

period, the

Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His de jure reign spanned the years from 1155 through 1158, though arguably he effectively maintained imperial power for almost thirty-seven years through the ''in ...

period, or the

Emperor Toba was the 74th Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 鳥羽天皇 (74)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Toba's reign spanned the years from 1107 through 1123. Genealogy Before his ascension to the Ch ...

period. The visual appearance may be a combination of the animals in the

Sexagenary cycle The sexagenary cycle, also known as the gānzhī (干支) or stems-and-branches, is a cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, thus amounting to a total of sixty years every cycle, historically used for recording time in China and t ...

, with a northeast

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

, a southeast

Snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

, a southwest

Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

, and a northwest Qian (

Dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

and

Wild Boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

). Originally, the nue were stated to be a bird that resembles the

green pheasant The green pheasant (''Phasianus versicolor''), also known as the Japanese green pheasant, is an omnivorous bird native to the Japanese archipelago, to which it is endemic. Some taxonomic authorities consider it a subspecies of the common pheas ...

,角川書店『角川漢和中辞典』「鵺」「鵼」 but their precise identity is unknown. The 夜 within the 鵺 character is phonetic component and thus does not carry a meaning with it. The character 鵼 (kou or kuu) is determined to be a kind of strange bird. Due to the use of

Man'yōgana is an ancient writing system that uses Chinese characters to represent the Japanese language. It was the first known kana system to be developed as a means to represent the Japanese language phonetically. The date of the earliest usage of t ...

, the historical spelling is known to have been ''nuye''. At this early time, although, it had a different semantic meaning. It referred to a bird known as White's thrush. In Japan, they are considered a bird that makes cries at night, and the word can be seen in the ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' and the ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

''. The owner of this crying voice was traditionally described as a yellow-red bird as big as a

Columbidae Columbidae is a bird Family (biology), family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the Order (biology), order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in ...

, but nowadays there is the accepted theory that it is the

. Since the people of the Heian Period regarded the sorrowful sounding voices of this bird as an ill

omen An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient history, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages ...

, they were considered to be a wicked bird, and it is said that when the emperor or nobles heard its crying voice, they would make prayers that nothing disastrous would happen. The monster in the ''Heike Monogatari'', in the end, was merely "something that cries with the voice of a nue, its true nature unknown", and was not given a name. But nowadays, this particularly famous monster is usually identified as a "nue". In a derived sense the word "nue" is also used to refer to entities of unknown true form. The

noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuri ...

play ''

Nue The Nue (鵺, 鵼, 恠鳥, or 奴延鳥) is a legendary yōkai or mononoke from Japanese mythology. Appearance In the ''The Tale of the Heike, Tale of Heike'', it is described as a Japanese Chimera (mythology), Chimera having the head of a Ja ...

'', by

Zeami Motokiyo , also called , was a Japanese aesthetician, actor, and playwright. His father, Kan'ami Kiyotsugu, introduced him to Noh theater performance at a young age, and found that he was a skilled actor. Kan'ami was also skilled in acting and formed a ...

, based on the

setsuwa ''Setsuwa'' () is a Japanese literary genre. It consists of myths, legends, folktales, and anecdotes. Among the , those that are full-length are generally referred to as . In Japan, the term is also applied to similar works around the world. '' ...

, the Heike Monogatari. They are a regular feature of the Kiri-noh (fifth performance of a noh). Nue-harai Matsuri ("Nue-warding festival") – a festival performed every year on January 28 at the Izunagaoka Onsen in

Izunokuni 270px, Izunokuni City Hall is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,579 in 21,257 households and a population density of 506 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Izuno ...

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

. Among other things the ''nue-odori'' (nue-dance) and the ''mochi-maki'' (

mochi A mochi ( ; Japanese ) is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain Japonica rice, japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The steamed rice is pounded into paste and molded into the ...

-scattering) are performed. At

Osaka Harbor is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third-most populous city in Japan, following the special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population o ...

, the Nue is used as a motif in its emblem design. From the legend of Nuezuka, it was selected for its relation to Osaka bay.

The slaying of the Nue

The ''

Heike Monogatari is an epic account compiled prior to 1330 of the struggle between the Taira clan and Minamoto clan for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180–1185). It has been translated into English at least five times. ...

'' and the '' Settsu Meisho Zue'' from the

Settsu Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or . Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Settsu's ...

, tell the following tale of the killing of the Nue: In the closing years of the

, at the place where the

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

(

) lived, the Seiryō-den, there appeared a cloud of black smoke along with an eerie resounding crying voice, making Emperor Nijō quite afraid. Subsequently, the emperor fell into illness, and neither medicine nor prayers had any effect. A close associate remembered

Minamoto no Yoshiie , also known as and his title , was a Minamoto clan samurai of the late Heian period, and '' Chinjufu-shōgun'' (Commander-in-chief of the defense of the North). The first son of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, he proved himself in battle with the Ab ...

using an arrow to put a stop to the mystery case of some bird's cry, and he gave the order to a master of arrows,

Minamoto no Yorimasa was a Japanese poet, aristocrat and samurai lord. His poetry appeared in various anthologies. He served eight different emperors in his long career, holding posts such as ''hyōgo no kami'' (head of the arsenal). As a general, he led the Mina ...

, to slay the monster. One night, Yorimasa went out to slay the monster with his servant Ino Hayata (written as 猪早太 or 井早太), and an arrow made from an arrowhead he had inherited from his ancestor

Minamoto no Yorimitsu , also known as Minamoto no Raikō, was a Japanese samurai of the Heian period, who served the regents of the Fujiwara clan along with his brother Yorinobu, taking the violent measures the Fujiwara were themselves unable to take. He is one of t ...

and the tailfeathers of a mountain bird. An uncanny black smoke started to cover the Seiryō-den. Yorimasa shot his arrow into it, there was a shriek, and a nue fell down around the northern parts of

Nijō Castle is a flatland Japanese castle, castle in Kyoto, Japan. The castle consists of two concentric rings (Kuruwa) of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace, the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, various support buildings and several gardens. The surface area ...

. Instantly Ino Hayata seized it and finished it off. In the skies above the imperial court, two or three cries of the

common cuckoo The cuckoo, common cuckoo, European cuckoo or Eurasian cuckoo (''Cuculus canorus'') is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the Geococcyx, roadrunners, the ani (bird), anis and the coucals. This species is a widesp ...

could be heard, and it is thus said that peace had returned. After this, the emperor's health instantly recovered, and Yorimasa was given the sword '' Shishiō'' as a reward.

The Nue's remains

There are several accounts of what was done to the nue's corpse. According to some legends, like the ''Heike Monogatari'', as the people in Kyoto were fearful of the curse of the nue, they put its corpse in a boat and floated it down the

Kamo River The is located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The riverbanks are popular walking spots for residents and tourists. In summer, restaurants open balconies looking out to the river. There are walkways running alongside the river, and some stepping s ...

. After the boat floated down the

Yodo River The , also called the Seta River (瀬田川 ''Seta-gawa'') and the Uji River (宇治川 ''Uji-gawa'') at portions of its route, is the principal river in Osaka Prefecture on Honshu, Japan. The source of the river is Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefectur ...

and temporarily drifted upon the shore of Higashinari County,

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, it then floated into the sea and washed up on the shore between Ashiya River and Sumiyoshi River. It is said that the people in Ashiya courteously gave the corpse a burial service, and built a commemorating mound over its tomb, the ''Nuezuka''. The ''Settsu Meisho Zue'' states that "the Nuezuka is between Ashiya River and Sumiyoshi River." According to the ''Ashiwake bune'', a geography book 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 ...

, a nue drifted down and washed ashore on the Yodo River, and when the villagers, fearful of a curse, notified the head priest of Boon-ji about it, it was courteously mourned over, buried, and had a mound built for it. It is further said that as the mound was torn down at the beginning of the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, the vengeful spirit of the nue started tormenting the people who lived nearby, and so the mound was hastily rebuilt. According to the ''Genpei Seisuiki'' and the ''Kandenjihitsu'' the nue was said to be buried at the

Kiyomizu-dera is a Buddhist temple located in eastern Kyoto, Japan. The temple is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto UNESCO World Heritage Site. History The temple was established in 778, during the late Nara period, by Enchin Shonin, who ...

in Kyoto Prefecture, and it is said that a curse resulted from digging it up in the Edo period. Another legend relates the spirit of the dead nue turning into a horse, which was raised by Yorimasa and named Kinoshita. As this horse was a good horse, it was stolen by

Taira no Munemori was heir to Taira no Kiyomori, and one of the Taira clan's chief commanders in the Genpei War. As his father Taira no Kiyomori laid on his deathbed, Kiyomori declared, among his last wishes, that all affairs of the clan be placed in Munemor ...

, so Yorimasa raised an army against the Taira family. As this resulted in Yorimasa's ruin, it is said that the nue had taken its revenge in this way. Another legend says that the nue's corpse fell in the western part of

Lake Hamana is a brackish lagoon in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Formerly a true lake, it is now connected to the Pacific Ocean by a channel. As an internal body of water, it is considered Japan's tenth-largest lake (by area). It spans the boundaries of th ...

, and the legend of the names of places in Mikkabi of Hamana-ku,

Hamamatsu is a Cities of Japan, city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In September 2023, the city had an estimated population of 780,128 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, with a population density of over the t ...

, such as Nueshiro, Dozaki ("torso"-zaki), Hanehira ("wing"-hira), and Ona ("tail"-na) come from the legend that the nue's head, torso, wings, and tail respectively fell in those locations. In Kumakōgen, Kamiukena District,

Ehime Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

, there is the legend that the true identity of the nue is Yorimasa's mother. In the past, in the era when the Taira clan was at its peak, Yorimasa's mother lived in hiding in this place that was her home land, and at a pond called Azoga-ike within a mountains region, she prayed to the guardian dragon of the pond for her son's good fortune in battle and the revival of the Genji (Minamoto clan), and thus the mother's body turned into that of a nue due to this prayer and hatred against the Taira family, and then she flew towards Kyoto. The nue, who represented the mother, upon making the emperor ill, thus had her own son, Yorimasa, accomplish something triumphant by being slayed by him. The nue that was pierced by Yorimasa's arrow then came back to Azoga-ike and became the guardian of the pond, but lost her life due to wounds from the arrow.

Landmarks

* Nuezuka (Near Hashin Ashiya Station, at Matsuhama Park,

Hyōgo Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to th ...

) : The mound where the nue that floated down the river in the ''Heike Monogatari'' was buried. The name of a nearby bridge, the Nuezuka-bashi originated from this Nuezuka. * Nuezuka ( Miyakojima-ku,

) : The mound where the nue that floated down Yado river in the ''Ashiwakebune'' was buried. The present mound was, as previously described, repaired in 1870 by Osaka Prefecture, and the small shrine was repaired in 1957 by the locals. * Nuezuka (

Kyoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture ...

) : Near the athletic field at Okazaki park. It is unknown how this is related to the legend of how the nue was buried at the Kiyomizu-deru in Kyoto. * Nue pond (

) : A pond at Nijō park, Chikara Town, Kamigyō-ku to the northwest of Nijō Castle. It is said that in this pond Yorimasa washed the blood-smeared arrow that went through the nue and killed it. Presently, the remains of this pond has been remodeled into a water garden. * Shinmei-jinja : Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto. It is said that Yorimasa made a prayer here before killing the nue and subsequently donated the head of the lethal arrow as thanks. The arrowhead is kept as the treasure of the shrine. A photo is permanently exhibited, with the actual arrowhead shown to the public during an annual festival in September. * Yane-jizō :

Kameoka is a city in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 87,518 in 29,676 households and a population density of 390 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Kameoka abuts Kyoto to the west and is locate ...

. When Yorimasa prepared to kill the nue, he offered a prayer to his proctive god, Jizō Bodhisattva. Jizō promptly appeared in his dream and instructed him to make an arrow with the feathers of swans at Mt. Tori in Yada. Related to this legend, Jizō has the appearance of holding an arrowhead, but it is usually not exhibited to the public. * Chōmyō-ji : Nishiwaki,

. This land was originally the territory of Yorimasa. The temple features a statue of Yorimasa killing the nue. The nearby bamboo grove ''Ya-takeyabu'' (lit. "arrow bamboo grove") is said to be the place where Yorimasa picked the bamboo used for the lethal arrow. Other than these, in

Beppu 270px, Beppu City Hall is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of November 30, 2023, the city had a population of 113,045 in 62,702 households, and a population density of 900 persons per km2. The total area of the ci ...

Ōita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Ōita Prefecture has a population of 1,081,646 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 6,340 km2 (2,448 sq mi). Ōita Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, K ...

, it is said that there was a mummy of the nue in a theme park, the "Monster House (Kaibutsu-kan)" at the Hachiman Jigoku (one of the no-longer presently existing hot springs at the Hells of Beppu), and it was also said to be a precious treasure without parallel, but this theme park no longer presently exists, and the mummy's present whereabouts are unclear.

References

External links

{{Japanese folklore long Mythological hybrids Yōkai