Shuten-dōji

What it is

Shuten-dōji is an oni, a demon or ogre, in Japanese legend. He is presented as a leader of demons and is counted among the yōkai, or supernatural beings, that medieval Kyoto feared most. His story is a heroic extermination tale: the court diviner Abe no Seimei identifies him as the power behind abductions in the capital, and Minamoto no Raikō is sent to destroy him. The demon's lair is remembered as a mountain stronghold, and his severed head is still said to lunge at the hero. The tale survives in picture scrolls and printed storybooks.

Where it comes from

The oldest surviving account is the Ōeyama Ekotoba, a 14th-century picture scroll now held by the Itsuō Art Museum. The story later joined the Otogi-zōshi collection of companion tales and reached a wide readership through woodblock-printed Otogi Bunko editions, particularly those issued by Shibukawa Seiemon around 1720. A separate group of texts sets the fortress on Mount Ibuki. Those versions give the demon a honji, an avatar identity, as Dairokuten maō, the demon king of the Sixth Heaven. Most Mount Ōe versions do not, apart from the older Ōeyama Ekotoba.

How it is done

The legend describes a deception rather than a rite. Raikō's company poses as yamabushi, mountain ascetics, and gains lodging in the demon's stronghold. In the oldest account the disguised warriors carry armour and weapons in oi, the packs used by such travellers. They give Shuten-dōji sake supplied by deities; it leaves him helpless. The four deities pin his limbs while Raikō strikes. In the Otogi Bunko version the drink is named jinben kidoku shu, a heavenly brew that the tale says harms only demons, and it also stops the ogres from flying.

Tools and materials

The story is full of named gear. Raikō's pack holds the sword Chisui, glossed as 'Bloodsucker', vermilion armour called randen gusari and a vermilion helmet, Shishiō or 'Lion King'. Hōshō carries a short halberd, Iwakiri, and Tsuna has a sword, Onikiri, with yellow-green armour. The Otogi Bunko text adds a hobnailed helmet, a hoshi kabuto, given by the gods. Sake is the decisive substance: first the demons' own drink, then the divine brew that weakens their leader.

Peoples and places

The legend belongs to Japan and is especially tied to Kyoto and its surroundings. In the oldest narrative the demon's mountain is Mount Ōe northwest of the capital, and the party sets out from Kyoto in 995. Other texts move the stronghold to Mount Ibuki. A later scholarly view places the original at Mount Ōe (大枝山) on Kyoto's western edge, near Kameoka. The Otogi Bunko version names Tanba Province, while its demon says he came from Echigo Province.

What people believe

The tale assumes a world of oni, deities, shrines and court divination. Demons can change shape, which is why the warriors seek help from three shrines: Iwashimizu Hachimangū, Sumiyoshi and Kumano. Their gods appear as old men and supply the sake that is said to weaken the ogres. In the oldest account four deities, appearing as men, advise the party and later hold the demon down. Some texts identify Shuten-dōji's honji as Dairokuten maō, a Buddhist demon king. The story also mentions onmyōdō, the court divination tradition.

When it is done

The oldest narrative is set during the reign of Emperor Ichijō, given as 986 to 1011, and dates the expedition's departure from Kyoto to 995. Shuten-dōji says the ogres came to Mount Ōe in 849 after Enryaku-ji was built near their old home in the Hira Mountains. Masaaki Takahashi links the legend to the smallpox epidemic of 994.

How scholars and sceptics see it

Folklorist Kazuhiko Komatsu groups Shuten-dōji with Tamamo-no-Mae and Ōtakemaru as three yōkai medieval Kyoto particularly feared. He argues that their remains received special treatment: parts were kept as treasures by the ruling class around the emperor and stored at Byōdō-in in Uji, a treasure house built by Fujiwara no Yorimichi. For Komatsu these relics worked like victory trophies and showed military and ritual prestige. Historian Masaaki Takahashi reads the cave on Mount Ōe as a passage into the underworld and compares the demon's palace to the Dragon Palace. He also connects the legend with the smallpox outbreak of 994. Takeda Chōshū is cited on newer versions that move the lair to southern Mount Ōe.

Compare and confuse

Shuten-dōji is one of several oni in the Otogi Bunko tale. His underling Ibaraki-dōji has a famous story of his own, in which Watanabe no Tsuna cuts off his arm; in this text Ibaraki-dōji is later killed while wrestling Tsuna. Komatsu places Shuten-dōji in a trio with Tamamo-no-Mae and Ōtakemaru. The demon is also linked to several named swords, including Dōjigiri, Onikirimaru and Onikiri, though the Otogi Bunko text does not say which blade took his head.

Today

The story remains a textual tradition. The 14th-century Ōeyama Ekotoba scroll is kept at the Itsuō Art Museum. Otogi Bunko printed versions circulated widely in the 18th century, and the Shibukawa Seiemon edition of about 1720 is among them. English translations by Haruo Shirane and Noriko T. Reider make the Otogi Bunko text available to modern readers. Recent scholarship continues to debate which Mount Ōe was meant, and the real sword Dōjigiri is a Japanese national treasure associated with the killing.

Questions people ask about Shuten-dōji

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle

• Shuten-dōji on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data