Yama-Oroshi - 山颪 - [Yokai]

Yama-Oroshi - 山颪 - [Yokai | Tsukumogami]

• About this Yokai: A worn-out grater, which was used to grate Daikon radishes into a fine garnish. It was left abandoned in the mountains; After decades of neglect, it came to life; but overtime its spikes had grown dull, it desperately kept trying to do what it was made for running wildly in the mountains scratching its porcupine like head on whatever it could! but sadly to no relief ..When a chill breeze runs down from the mountains, one must be close by...

• History & Early Appearances:  Yama-oroshi was as one of many Tsukumogami first named and depicted in "Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bokuro" [1784.] - Toriyamas included verse, goes roughly as follows:

"There is an animal known as the Gocho, also called Yama-oroshi: its fur is like needles. This yokai is so called because its name and appearance resembles the animal. So I dreamed" – [Translation: "Japandemonium" [2017]]

Toriyama does some more wordplay; first, This tsukumogami resembles a culinary grater for food called an ‘Oroshi’ - ‘Oroshi’ can also mean a ‘strong down wind from the mountains.’ Secondly the mentioned animal called the “Gocho” actually refers to an animal which today we know as the Porcupine or “yama-arashi” (山嵐) - (in short he doubled down on the puns.) -

Being an unfamiliar animal, not native to Japan; for a while, porcupines where mainly described in text books such as the “Sancai Tuhui” [1609] & "Wakan Sanzai Zue" [1712] where in it is vaguely described as "an animal with a needle-like hair or horns” - so; not knowing exactly what it looked like, for a while, people where only able to speculate, and so the porcupine was treated as something akin to a semi-mythical animal. - [for something of a similar situation; See also: “sea beast of kanezaki inlet.”]

[a spiny, porcupine-like yokai from earlier picture scrolls, speculated to be what Toriyama was referencing for Yama-oroshis design.]

[Another separate yokai called 'Yama-no-Arashi" "山あらし" drawn to represent the vague idea of a porcupine. - Interestingly; from what little i could find about it, this one is instead more often linked to tumbling yokai, such as Tsuchikorobi or Shirodokuuri. – I'd suppose you could say its a variant yokai from the same general idea.]

[see also: obake daikon]

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