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Original file
About This Work
The image depicts a grotesque, hairy demon with sharp horns, a wide, toothy mouth, and unkempt fur, seated inside the dark hollow of a rock formation. The creature has prominent claws and is gripping a small, limp animal—likely a monkey or small mammal—in its lap. The surrounding environment consists of jagged rock faces and clusters of bamboo-like foliage, with a human-like skull resting on the ground near the entrance of the cave.
This print is from the 1779 collection 'Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki' (A Hundred Demon Portraits Continued), a seminal work in the Japanese yōkai tradition that cataloged various folkloric spirits and monsters. Sekien's work was instrumental in standardizing the visual iconography of the oni, drawing upon the concept of the 'ushitora' (ox-tiger) direction associated with demons in Japanese geomancy.
Inscriptions(Japanese)
鬼 世俗に丑寅の方を鬼門と云い、今世の鬼を画くには牛の角をとり、それに虎の皮をまとわせ、丑と寅の二つを合せてこの形をあらわすという。
Translation
Oni (Demon). It is said that in common custom, the ox-tiger (northeast) direction is called the 'demon gate' (kimon). To depict the demons of this age, one takes the horns of an ox and clothes the body in the skin of a tiger, creating this form by combining the two: the ox and the tiger.
Connected Texts
Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki
This print is a direct illustration from the second volume of Sekien's famous yōkai compendium.