Shuten-dōji

According to the Ōeyama Ekotoba version, Shuten-dōji returned to his true form when he slept. He was 50 feet in height, had a red body and a five-horned head, with fifteen eyes; one leg was white and the other black, while his arms were yellow and blue.[21]

This version is vague about the time frame [lower-alpha 5][25] but in the capital city of Kyoto people are being abducted. A certain middle counselor[lower-alpha 6] seeks his daughter's whereabouts and summons a diviner named Muraoka no Masatoki (rather than Seimei, as in the older text).[lower-alpha 7][26] Masatoki names the demons of Mt. Ōe of Tanba Province as the culprits.

The Mikado[lower-alpha 8] commands the formation of a punitive squad, consisting of the standard six warriors, Minamoto no Raikō and his "four guardian kings" (shitennō) including Watanabe no Tsuna[lower-alpha 9] and Hōshō.

Because demons are shape-shifters and formidable enemies, the group decides to pay homage to three shrines: Yawata Shrine (Iwashimizu Hachimangū), Sumiyoshi Shrine, and Kumano Shrine.[27][lower-alpha 10]

Later, the group meet the gods of the three shrines disguised as old men.[lower-alpha 11] The gods give Raikō the "sake [which is] divine elixir, poisonous to demons" (神便鬼毒酒, jinben kidoku shu)[lower-alpha 12] which will rob the ogres of their ability to fly and stupefy them.[5]

Even though Raikō is already carrying his own vermilion helm in his back-pack chest (cf. §Named swords and arms), he receives from the gods another helmet (of a hoshi kabuto type, translated as a "hobnailed helmet") which he is instructed to wear when he decapitates the enemy.[31][32]

Just before reaching the lair, Raikō's group encounters the hostage working as laundress, who becomes their informant. Here, she is not an old woman as in the old text, but a 17 or 18-year-old daughter of a courtier.[lower-alpha 13] She reveals that the lair which is called Iron Palace (Kurogane no gosho, 鐵の御所) lies inside the Demon's Cavern (Oni no iwaya 鬼の岩屋), and forewarns the group about the four ogres who are Shutendōji's lieutenants.(cf. §Subordinates).[33][34]

As in the oldest text, Raikō's party pretending to be yamabushi ascetics gains entry at Shuten-dōji's dwelling-place. Raikō disarms the ogre's suspicion by explaining that they, as yamabushi, follow the ways of En no Gyōja, whom he says was compassionate and hospital towards demons.[35] The warriors drink up the blood sake and heartily eat the human flesh in order to gain further confidence.[36] At the height of the drunken revelry, Raikō offers Shuten-dōji the divine sake poisonous to demons.[37] Shuten-dōji begins to tell his life story (he is originally from Echigo Province according to this text), and also recounts how his henchman Ibaraki-dōji lost an arm in an encounter with Tsuna, one of Raikō's men.[lower-alpha 14][38]

As in the older text, the warriors equip their hidden armor and swords and raid Shuten-dōji in his sleeping chamber. The three gods have arrived to help and chain the ogre's limbs to the pillars. As Raikō positions himself with his sword Chisui (or "Bloodsucker"[39]) in hand, the ogre faults the warrior for his sneaky underhanded tactics, exclaiming: "How sad, you-priests! You said you do not lie. There is nothing false in the words of demons".[35][41][lower-alpha 15]

The warriors attack with their swords and sever Shuten-dōji's head, but as in the older text, the detached head attempts to get a bite at Raikō, and the hero is protected by two helmets stacked on his head: his Lion King helmet on top the hobnailed helmet (hoshi kabuto) given him by the gods.[42] Subsequently, Ibaraki-dōji and Watanabe no Tsuna engage in a prolonged fight and while they grappled, Raikō decapitated Ibaraki-dōji.[43] The female prisoners are liberated and the warriors return triumphant.[44]

In this version, Ibaraki-dōji, who is famous in his own right, plays the role of one of Shuten-dōji's henchmen. There are also four other underlings dubbed Shuten-dōji's "Four Divine Kings": Hoshikuma-dōji, Kuma-dōji, Torakuma-dōji, and Kane-dōji.

Shuten-dōji, after telling the story of his own life, recounts the famous episode where Ibaraki-dōji goes to the capital city and has his arm severed by Watanabe no Tsuna (one of Raikō's men).[45] Later on, Raikō decapitated Ibaraki-dōji who was wrestling with Tsuna.[45]

Shuten-dōji's "Four Divine Kings" (shitennō) are described by the laundress-girl, so Raikō's group is aware of their existence in advance. Their names, together with their meanings were: Hoshikuma-dōji (Star-Bear Demon), Kuma-dōji (Bear Demon), Torakuma-dōji (Tiger-Bear Demon), and Kane-dōji (Iron Demon).[35]

The warriors in their oi (portable chests; "pannier" according to Reider) conceal their armors and swords, many of which have proper names.[33]

Raikō's chest contained the sword Chisui (ちすゐ, assumed to be "血吸", thus "Bloodsucker"[39]), vermilion armor (hiodoshi) called randen gusari (らんでん鎖, Randen Chain[39]), and a vermilion helmet called Shishiō ("Lion King" or "Lion Lord".[46]) Hōshō's contained a two-foot halberd (ko-naginata) called Iwakiri (Cutting Rock or Stonecutter[39]). Tsuna had a sword named Onikiri (Cutting Demon or Demon Slasher[39]) and yellow-green set of armor and helmet.[lower-alpha 16][33][47]

A real existing tachi (Japanese long sword) named Dōjigiri, which is one of the Five Best Swords under Heaven and designated national treasure of Japan,[48] is associated with the tradition of being the sword that killed Shuten-dōji.[49][lower-alpha 17] Tada Shrine also has a tachi, Onikirimaru, which has a legend that it defeated Shuten-dōji.[note 1][51] Kitano Tenmangū Shrine owns tachi that has been handed down as Onikiri (also known as Higekiri) described in this tradition.[52]

In the Otogi Bunko text discussed here however, since many swords attack Shuten-dōji and sever his head, it is not clear who or which sword is to be credited with the decapitation.[42]

According to the Otogi Bunko version as previously described, Shuten-dōji originally came from Echigo Province (now Niigata Prefecture) and, had lived since the Heian period (8th century) when Dengyō Daishi and Kōbō-Daishi were active.[45] Local legends elaborate that he was a page of the Kokojou-ji (国上寺) (in Tsubame, Niigata) (at the base of Mt. Kugami, there is a Chigo-dō where he is said to have passed through).

One story is that he was the son of a blacksmith in Echigo, that he was in his mother's womb for 16 months, and that he had teeth and hair when he was born, was immediately able to walk, was able to talk on the level of a 5–6 year old, had the wisdom and physical strength of a 16-year-old, and had a rough temperament, and due to this unusually ready wit, was shunned as an "oni child". According to Zentaiheiki, afterwards, when he was 6 years of age, he was abandoned by his mother, wandered from place to place, and then walked the path towards being an oni.[55][56] There is also a legend that since he was scorned as an oni child, he was put into custody of a temple, but the chief priest of that temple was a user of unorthodox practices, and the child became an oni through learning those unorthodox practices, that he exhausted the limits of evil.[56]

In the town of Wanou (presently, Niigata, Niigata), it is said that when a pregnant woman eats a fish called "tochi", that child will become a robber if it is a boy, and a prostitute if it is a girl. It is also said that a woman who ate the fish, gave birth to a child after it stayed 16 months in her womb, and that child was Shuten-doji. In Wanou, there are place names like the Dōji estate and the Dōji field.[57]

Some versions of the legend localize Mount Ibuki in Ōmi Province (now Shiga Prefecture).

He, who was born from the large snake Yamata no Orochi (in its avatar as the myōjin of Mount Ibuki) and a human girl, was a page at Mount Hiei from an early age, and underwent training, but he drank sake which was forbidden by Buddhism, and in fact was a big drinker, and was therefore hated by everyone. One day, after a religious festival where he dressed in an oni costume, he was about to take off the costume, but he was not able to since it was stuck to his face, and reluctantly went into some mountain recesses where he started his life as an oni. He then met Ibaraki-dōji, and together aimed for Kyoto.[15]

He was a page for the Byakugō-ji in the Yamato Province (now Nara Prefecture), but found a corpse at a nearby mountain, and due to curiosity, brought that meat back to the temple, and made his priest teacher eat it without telling him that it was human meat. Afterwards, the page frequently brought back meat, not only from the flesh of corpses, but also by murdering live humans and returning with their flesh. The priest, who thought that it was suspicious, followed after the page, discovered the truth, harshly criticized the page, and abandoned him in a mountain. The page later became Shuten-dōji, and it has been said that the place where he was abandoned was thus called chigo-saka (page-hill).[58]

According to another theory, he was a child of the chief priest of Byakugō-ji, but as he matured, he grew fangs and a horn, and later became a child as rough as a beast. The priest was embarrassed by this child, so the child was abandoned, but the child later came to Mount Ōoe, and became Shuten-dōji.[58]

From the Heian period to the Kamakura period, he was an oni who lawlessly ran amok in the capital, and he was based in Mount in the Tanba Province, or the Ōe in Nishikyō-ku, Kyoto, also known as Oi no Saka (老ノ坂) (within the Rakusai district of Kyoto) as well as the neighboring Shinochōōji, Kameoka. For the legend of the Mount Ōe in Tanba Province, there is a theory that it was a misrepresentation of the bandits within Ōe who harassed passing travelers.[59]

According to local legend, Yorimitsu and the others returned with the head back to the capital, but at Oi-no-Saka (老ノ坂, "Slope of Aging") by the Mount Ōe on the south edge of Kyoto city,[lower-alpha 18] they were warned by a roadsize image of Jizō, "don't bring something unclean into the capital", and as the head was not able to move anymore, they all buried the head right there. Another theory is that when Dōji was dying, regretting his crimes until then, desired to help various people who had illnesses in their head, that he was deified as a great wisdom god (daimyōjin). As this is the Kubitsuka Daimyōjin of the Oi no Saka slope, according to legends, it would perform miracles for illnesses in the head.[60][61]

It has also been said that he was buried in Mount Ōe in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, which is the origin of the Onidake-inari-san jinja (鬼岳稲荷山神社).

Nariaiji temple in Kyoto Prefecture preserves the sake bottle and sake cup allegedly used to pour the Shinbenkidokushu (the sake that "poisoned" Shuten-dōji).[62]