Wanyūdo

Wanyūdo

Wanyūdo (輪入道 – Wheel Monk) is a type of Yōkai depicted in the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki by Toriyama Sekien. The creature itself takes the appearance of a huge wheel with the face of a monk upon it, the creature known to roll about the ground but also the sky.

It is said that anyone who sees the Wanyūdo would forfeit their soul. There are, however, way to keep it at bay.

To do so one must post a paper talisman upon their door with the words

kono-tokoro-shōbo-no-sato
this is the town of Shōbo.

The town of Shōbo is apparently a reference by Sekien to a Confucious monk who refuses to enter a place known as Shōbo due to the fact that the town uses Kanji which could be read as ‘victory over one’s mother.’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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