Ōkaburo

Ōkaburo
Ōkaburo (大禿 – Great Kaburo) is a type of Yōkai depicted in the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki by Toriyama Sekien.
Annotations alongside the Yōkai says that there was an immortal called Hōso who was some 700 years old and who called himself Yū-Jidō (Chrysanthemum Boy). Is this then what is meant by Ōkaburo?
Around Japan, there are toothless bald men called Ōkaburo in both Kōya and Nachi. Would this then make them Otoko-kaburi (man maidens)?1
External Links
- View the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki online here: Konjaku 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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