Ibaraki-doji- Japanese DemonDemon · Monster"Demon of Rashōmon"

The Demon of Rashōmon

Rashōmon, the great southern gate of the Heian capital, had fallen into disrepair by the late tenth century. Bandits sheltered in its timbers. Reports spread that an oni had taken up residence, terrorizing anyone who passed after dark. Watanabe no Tsuna, retainer of Minamoto no Raikō, rode to the gate alone at night.

As he crossed the bridge nearby, a hand reached from behind and seized his helmet. Tsuna wheeled around and found himself grappling with a monstrous oni. The struggle was fierce, but Tsuna drew Higekiri and severed the demon's arm at the elbow. The oni fled howling into the darkness. Tsuna brought the severed arm home, where the yin-yang diviner Abe no Seimei examined it and instructed him to seal it in a chest and observe ritual seclusion for seven days.

The Disguise and the Stolen Arm

On the sixth night, an old woman appeared at Tsuna's door claiming to be his aunt from the countryside. She pleaded to be let in, appealing to family duty and maternal concern. Tsuna resisted, but the woman's persistence and apparent frailty wore down his resolve. When he finally opened the door, the old woman entered, expressed curiosity about the severed arm, and asked to see it. The moment the chest was opened, the old woman's form dissolved. Ibaraki-dōji stood revealed. The oni seized its arm, crashed through the roof, and vanished into the night sky.

Shuten-dōji's Lieutenant

Ibaraki-dōji was the chief lieutenant of Shuten-dōji, the oni king of Mount Ōe. In the Otogizōshi account of Raikō's expedition against the mountain fortress, Ibaraki-dōji appears among the band of oni the warriors must overcome. The Rashōmon episode follows the mountain campaign: the demon that escaped the slaughter at Ōe continued to haunt the capital.