Sazae-Oni - [yokai]

Sazae-Oni - [Yokai] - 栄螺鬼 

• About this yokai: A gigantic monstrous turban snail which has reached the advanced age of thirty (though, some say at least a century old) they have reached the age to become shape changing yokai. Other stories say that Sazae-oni are the spirits of lustful young women who where murdered and thrown into the ocean. - Either way, These massive horned molluscs are said to disguise themselves as beautiful woman who dance on the sparkling waves on moonlit evenings, or otherwise act as a drowning damsels in distress, in order to steal sailors treasures & 'family jewels.' - Other stories about Sazae-Oni say that they wander into seaside inns disguised as humans, devouring the innkeepers, before disappearing with the light of dawn, while other fishing related folklore says that Sazae-Oni make the seas so rough that it's impossible for fishing boats to set sail!

...The most famous folktale which has been passed around for decades, [earliest recorded in the 1970's, but supposedly originates from orally spoken local folklore from along the shorelines of Kishu, Wakayama & Mie prefectures. - (Once known as the Kii peninsula, an area once said to have once been a pirate hot spot.) - Goes something a bit like this: 

...One moonlit evening, after a successful raid near Kishu, a band of notorious pirates saved a woman who was seemingly shipwrecked & drowning off the isolated coast. – Though, being pirates; it was of course not out of kindness, nor for any noble reason, however, the woman, also had her own agenda – That night, every pirate on the ship had their way with her, but at some point during the act, the woman robbed the entire crew of their testicles!! – The pirates, who where obviously very upset, threw her back into the sea, where she revealed her true form; a gigantic, hideous, Sazae-Oni. She bartered with the captain for the crews testicles and offered to sell the pirates back their "jewels" in exchange for all of their treasure! And so... The crew traded all of their plundered gold, for the return of their own "golden balls" or 'kintama' as they're often called...

• History & Early appearances: This yokai has appeared in many picture scrolls & books as early as the Edo period (1603-1868) during which It was most famously illustrated in Toriyama Sekeins, Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro (1784) - According to Japandemonium [2017] Sekien's commentary roughly translates as follows: 

"If Sparrows dive into the sea to become shells [for winter] and moles emerge as quails [in spring], perhaps the ways of creation could transform a Sazae snail into an Oni. So i dreamed."

[Sazae-oni as it appears in Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro (百器徒然袋) [1784]

In a nutshell, Toriyama is quoting a couple of the fancier poetic entries in "The 72 seasons." – Short sentences that represent changes in animals, plants, and nature according to each season, which would often be used for descriptions in poetry. – He is basically saying: "if such wondrous things are possible in this world, then why couldn't a Sazae-snail turn into an Oni!?" –

... in a few earlier, Edo period Bakemono-e picture scrolls [Below[1][2] A sazae-shelled-headed yokai appears with a "clam shell kid" (Kachigo?) among other Tsukumogami.) t's often said that Toriyama was inspired to base many of his yokai on those which featured in these earlier scrolls, although they are often presented without names or context, they are often based on various folklore & legends which would have been very well known at the time.

--

[Art sticker by Sam Kalensky part of my Yokai collection! Follow and Support for many more.]