Kyōkotsu
Kyōkotsu
Kyōkotsu (狂骨 – Crazy bones) is a type of yōkai depicted in the Konjaku Hyakki Shūi by Toriyama Sekien.
The creature is a skeleton in a well, though it is portrayed as quite ghost like.
The depiction of a skeletal looking bamboo pole against withered tall grass can evoke the proverb:
yūrei no shōtai mitari karebana
What I though to be a ghost was simply dried grass.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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