Amikiri

Amikiri (網(あみ)切(きり)/網剪; lit. "net cutter"[1]) is a Japanese yōkai depicted in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Toriyama Sekien.[2][3][4]

Concept

The illustration of the amikiri in Toriyama Sekien (1712‐1788)'s Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (published 1776) depicts a scorpion-like creature[1] (or a cross between a serpent, bird or a lobster with pincer claws similar to that of a crab or a scorpion[5]), but since Sekien supplies no explanatory text, it is not certain what kind of yōkai it is.[1][5] It may be an off-shoot based on another similar yōkai named kamikiri ("hair-cutter"), which Sekien does not include in his series,[1] but occurs in predecessor Sawaki Sūshi (1707‐1772)'s emaki painting scroll Hyakkai zukan (1737), from which Sekien is known to have borrowed heavily.[5][6]

In various writings from the Shōwa period and beyond,[9] or describes the amikiri to be a yōkai that cuts mosquito nets, sudare blinds,[10][11] or nets/meshes hung out to dry.[12][13]

There may be no authentic folkloric tradition about amikiri, and this yōkai may merely be Sekien's invention,[3] perhaps based on play on words or some allegory more easily recognizable to people at the time.[1] The yōkai researcher Katsumi Tada hypothesized that Sekien perhaps seized on the pun (double entendre) between "ami" (meaning nets) and "ami" (meaning mysid shrimp) when he invented the creature.[4][a]

Legend

In Norio Yamada's Tōhoku Kaidan no Tabi ("Ghost story journey to the Tōhoku region", 1974), there is a story taking place in the Shōnai region, Yamagata Prefecture about a fishing village whose fishing nets were repeatedly cut into pieces, which got blamed on the amikiri. One person preemptively brought back his nets early and hid at home to avoid the trouble, but his mosquito nets all got cut to tatters (no doubt by the amikiri) and the residents got bitten all over the body by mosquitos.[15] The yōkai researcher Kenji Murakami was unable to corroborate such a story from any other source in Yamagata Prefecture, and concluded it must have been Yamada's invention.[4]

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ But since mysid shrimp do not possess pincer forearms, some question the notion that mysid shrimp could inspire the drawing.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Foster, Michael Dylan (2024). "Village and City". The Book of Yokai, Expanded Second Edition: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore. University of California Press. p. 261. ISBN 9780520389557.
  2. ^ Toriyama, Sekien (1805). "Amikiri" 網剪（あみきり）. Hyakki yakō 3-kan 百鬼夜行 3巻 (in Japanese). Vol. 1. Naganoya Kankichi. Also {Konjaku gazu zoku hyakki 今昔画図続百鬼』 Vol. Ame 雨巻 (Vol. 1 and 2), 14th frame. Kyushu University collection (digital)
  3. ^ a b Toriyama, Sekien (2021) [1779], "Amikiri" 網剪（あみきり）, Edo yōkaiga taizen 江戸妖怪画大全（鳥山石燕 全妖怪画集・解説付き特別編集版）, Edo rekishi Library
  4. ^ a b c Murakami, Kenji [in Japanese] (2000). Yōkai jiten 妖怪事典 (in Japanese). Mainichi Shimbunsha. p. 25. ISBN 978-4-620-31428-0.
  5. ^ a b c Inada, Atsunobu [in Japanese]; Tanaka, Naohi, eds. (1992). Toriyama Sekien Gazu hyakki yagyō 鳥山石燕 画図百鬼夜行. Supervised by Mamoru Takada. Kokusho Kankokai. p. 41. ISBN 978-4-336-03386-4. ndljp:13633184.
  6. ^ Kyōgoku, Natsuhiko; Tada, Katsumi [in Japanese] (2000-06-01). "Amikiri" 網剪. Yōkai zukan 妖怪図巻. Kokusho kankōkai. pp. 171–172. ISBN 978-4-33-604187-6.
  7. ^ Fujisawa, Morihiko [in Japanese] (August 1926). "Yōkai henge no ningen-ka to sono kōin no keishiki" 妖怪變化の人間化と其交婚の形式. Densetsu 伝説. 1 (3). Nihon densetsu gakkai: 197–205. ndljp:1486696.
  8. ^ Fujisawa, Morihiko [in Japanese] (1929). Yōkai gadan zenshū: Nihon-hen 妖怪画談全集 日本篇. Vol. 1. Chuo Bijutsusha. p. 83. ndljp:1240641.
  9. ^ In the early Shōwa (1920s), Morihiko Fujisawa (1926) mentions amikiri but only in passing, while listing a number of Sekien's monsters.[7] either passingly mentions the amikiri,[8]
  10. ^ Kasu, Sanpei (1973). Obake zue お化け図絵 (in Japanese). Haga Shoten. p. 180. ndljp:12714578.
  11. ^ Chiba, Mikio [in Japanese] (September 1995). "Yōkai orinpikku" 妖怪オリンピック. Taiyō 太陽 (in Japanese). 33 (10/cumul. 412): 72. ndljp:1792294.
  12. ^ Mizuki, Shigeru (2014). Nihon yōkai taizen 決定版日本妖怪大全 妖怪・あの世・神様. Kodansha. p. 59. ISBN 978-4-06-277602-8.
  13. ^ Kusano, Takumi (1997). Gensō dōbutsu jiten 幻想動物事典. Shinkigensha. p. 18. ISBN 978-4-88317-283-2.
  14. ^ Yōkai dotto com (2008). Zusetsu yōkai jiten 図説 妖怪辞典. Gentōsha Comics. p. 85. ISBN 978-4-344-81486-8.
  15. ^ Yamada, Norio [in Japanese] (1974). Tōhoku kaidan no tabi 東北怪談の旅. Jiyu Kokuminsha. p. 186. NCID BA42139725.

See also

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