Himamushi-nyūdō
Himamushi-nyūdō
Himamushi-nyūdō (火間蟲入道 – Firebug Monk) is a type of yōkai depicted in the Konjaku Hyakki Shūi by Toriyama Sekien.
They are also called Himamushi-yonnyūdō.
This creature is said to form from the spirits of people who had floated through their lives and wasted them, transforming after death.
They are a bothersome creature, licking oil from lamps at night to annoy the night time workers.
The concept behind the yōkai was Sekien’s combination of an idiom for wasting time (himamushi) and a ‘doodle’ known as Hemamushi.
Additionally, in Sekien’s drawing the yōkai is also depicted near an oven (kama) which can also be read as hima linking it to the creature.1
External Links
- View the book online here: Konjaku Hyakki Shūi Online.
Footnotes
1. Yoda, H. and Alt, M. (2016) “Japandemonium: Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopaedia of Toriyama Sekien.”. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
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