Japanese Demon- Oni

Hello everybody. Konnichiwa. In my videos, I already introduced two really scary ladies. Hannya and Okiku. Do you remember? Hannya originally is a mask showing face of a demon, which was a woman transformed by her jealousy and rage. Always female. There is no male Hannya. Okiku was once a pretty young girl who then turned into a ghost because she couldn't overcome her sadness and regret. So now, I guess it's time to introduce male demon too, right? Today's theme is oni, demon. Japanese folktales, there are many monsters and goblins that are feared by humans. But the most popular or powerful among them is probably the oni. Even many children's picture books with oni, as the main characters have been published in modern time. The most popular oni story recently is called Demon Slayer. Kimetsu no Yaiba. Did you watch the movie Kimetsu no Yaiba? It is the most successful Japanese movie of all time. All children love it. And not only children. Kimetsu no Yaiba is a comic and movie. But what are oni? Are they real? In China, demons were thought to be the soul of dead people themselves and were considered to be shapeless. This thought came to Japan and it was believed that the image of demons as something to be afraid of and something that would do bad things to people was created due to the fear and dread of death. The current image of demon in Japan is delivered from Buddhism and they are said to be hungry ghost and demons who torment the dead in hell. Hungry ghost, Gaki for example, stays in one of six realms. They suffer from eternal hunger and even when they get food or water, it turns into fire and they are never able to be satisfied. Demons in hell are also called the prisoners of hell who torture the diseased who have fallen for wrongdoing before their deaths. Surprisingly, Ashura, the guardian deity of Buddhism and the god of war and Rakshana, the Hinzu demon god who cooperated into Buddhism are also considered oni in Buddhism. Oni, which have existed in Japan since ancient times, are not just one goblin nor monster but are imagined various forms such as human grudge spirits, legendary gods, demons and religious beings and their definitions vary depending on the scene in which they appear. One day before the beginning of year in the old calendar in Japan, which is around 3rd of February, we celebrate Setsubun. Setsubun, it means seasonal division. We do a special ritual, the scattering of beans. We throw roasted soy beans either out of the front door or member of a family wearing an oni mask while shouting Poor dad, most of the time. The beans are thought to symbolically purify the home by driving away the evil spirit that brings misfortune and bad health with them. Then, as part of bringing luck in, it is customary to eat roasted soy beans. One for each year of your life, plus one more for bringing good luck for the year to come. How many do you have to eat? In my case, it's secret. There are numerous different kinds of oni. Some are funny, some are scary. Let's take a look at typical image of oni. Here they are. One or two horns on top of the head. Its hair is frizzy like it's been permed. The upper half of the body is naked and they wear a tiger patterned loincloth or pants. And many people imagine him carrying a metal rod in his hand. Oni's face and body come in various colors and each color actually has its own meaning. Representing greed. It means wanting something with all of your heart. As if you are thirsty and want water or being obsessed and attached to something. Ao oni, it shows wrath. The blue represents the human emotion of hatred such as anger and resentment. Yellow or white oni represent other worldly desires. This is the state of being agitated and restless or losing one's composure. It means that you are unable to make a calm decision and might regret it later. Green oni is lazy one. It means a lazy mind not doing what needs to be done or sleeping too long. I think we all can feel like them when the season turns towards the winter. The last one is black oni which means doubt and signifies a mind that doubts others, yourself and the teaching of Buddhism. Buddhism teaches that oni live in the vexation of human beings and are the source of misfortune. During Edo period, Buddhism spread among the common people and the event of Setsubun seems to have been established as a result. It is thought that the meaning of the festival was to ward off disasters and drive away the vexation that lurk in the human mind and that it changed into an easy to understand faith and form such as drive away the demons outside and let the good fortune enter. Oh by the way, why do we know oni is wearing tiger pattern underwear? It seems like a trivial question but the answer is quite logical. It comes from theory of yin yang and five elements. Do you remember that I talked about 12 animals of zodiac in this video? In this theory, the zodiac is arranged according to directions like a clock. The first animal mouse is north and the following animals are arranged clockwise. It is said that oni comes from the oni gate which is direction of northeast. So as you can see in this image, it's the direction of bull and tiger. That's why oni has horn like bull and is wearing tiger pants. So you know now what is oni. Oni is a legendary being generally considered to be a Japanese yokai goblin. They often appear in folk tales and local beliefs. Oni is very deeply connected not only in folklore and buddhism but also zen theory of yin yang. Some stories tell that they are born as oni already but others talk of humans turn into demon when they have uncontrollable negative emotion. Just like female turn to hannya. Is there female oni too? Yes, they are yokai goblin and can come in all sexes. Though you see powerful and scary male oni most of the time, there are female oni and kids oni too. One of the most famous oni actually is hannya. Here we go. Are oni only bad? Even though oni is the symbol of something to be feared, they are not only bad oni. Gentle-hearted oni and oni that bring good fortune to humans have existed since ancient times. What do you think about them? I hope to introduce individual oni in the future. What kind of oni do you have in your culture? Do you think you have oni mentality in yourself sometimes? Which color of oni feels familiar to you? Red, blue, yellow, green or black? Please let me know in the comment below. If you enjoyed the video, please like and subscribe my channel. Thank you very much for watching today and see you next one. Bye! Matane!