Mekurabe - 目競 - [yokai]

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Mekurabe - "Staring Contest." - [yokai] - 目競, めくらべ

• About this yokai: Mekurabe are an immeasurable numbers of vengeful, ghostly broken skulls of those killed by Warlords; (either directly or indirectly) they roll around and pile up in massive skull-shaped mounds outside of their homes & constantly stare them down, their gaze is unrelenting. Eventually their numbers increase to a point where they can pile up and take the shape of a gigantic skull & they stare all at once. If you win the 'staring contest', the skulls will vanish without a trace. But; If you lose... Well, what happens was never recorded! 💀

• History: This yokai originates from a famous scene from 'The Tale of Heike' (Heike Monogatari, 平家物語) an epic account of the events which happened during the genpei war in the Kamakura period (1180-1185.) - in which, there is a chapter which talks about "Monokai-no-sha" (mysterious phenomena) one of which; titled "dokuro no kai" (the phenomenon of skulls.) tells a story about the Taira Clans young military leader; Taira no Kiyomori. (The ruthless warlord of the Taira clan who had conquered most of Japan and established the first samurai-dominated government across the country.) - The story goes a little something like this:

One early morning in the capital; Taira no Kiyomori awoke before dawn, suffering from a fever; needing some air, he took a step out onto his veranda and looked around his courtyard. He had a terrible haunting vision; vanquished enemies confronted him on all sides; an immeasurable number of skulls where rolling about outside of his mansion. Kiyomori raised his voice and called out to his retainers for help; but for some reason nobody came. - The countless skulls eventually piled up and formed into a gigantic skull (about 45 meters in size) it stared down at Kiyomori with countless eyes as though it where alive. Kiyomori realized that most people would lose their minds at such a sight, so he stared back, resolute; he slowly began to count them; its said that the skulls, fearing the power of his glare, disappeared as daylight broke, vanishing as suddenly as they had appeared & "melting away like a snowflake."

Notably; The name "Mekurabe" (staring contest) was absent from the original story, The name can be traced to various books & prints which popped up during in the Edo Period (1603-1868) – (During that time, many yokai's names where established by authors.) Perhaps most prolifically; Mekurabe is named in Toriyama Sekien’s Konjaku hyakki shūi[1781] (part of his Gazu Hyakki Yagyo.) – The breif entry goes as follows:

"One night the sovereign monk Kiyomori had a dream in which he was confronted by skulls on all sides; first two, then ten, then twenty, Fifty, A Hundred, Ten Thousand and then Millions of skulls. Kiyomori glared them down as though in a staring contest. Such is written in the Tale of Heike."

– "Japandemonium" [2017]

Another edo period print; 'Taira Kiyomori haunted by Strange sights' - Utagawa Hiroshige [1845.] - Notice that the skulls here are literally depicted as snow!

• Connection to Gashadokuro? - over the years many have theorized that the lore of Gashadokuro (a gigantic skeleton which supposedly spawns as the resulting 'grudge' from those in mass graves from villages where people where starving or otherwise died in combat, it drinks the blood of those it catches on trials at night.) - but this was perhaps more likely invented by modern folklorists & bestiary authors who either confused or mixed up the lore with Mekurabes. (Of course, conversely to that: lore having to do with big skeletons or "Odokuro" date all the way back to various stories from the 10th century!!) - However; the 'Gashadokuro' which has been associated with the legend which comes to mind; is famously featured in the print "Sōma no furu-dairi (相馬の古内裏)" better known as: "Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre." as painted by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) - In the story which this painting depicts; Takiyasha the sorceress, summons an 'Army of hundreds of Skeletons' to defend herself from the oncoming invaders (as depicted in the print) and later again to attack Kyoto." - Museums have said that It was most likely a stylistic choice or shortcut decided on Kuniyoshi's part as there is no giant skeleton described in the original story! - So, the truth is most likely that the artist likely took a shortcut! – Rather than drawing the described "Army of hundreds of Skeletons" he simply drew one very big one! - This print eventually became so iconic that the gigantic skeleton gradually got its own lore and the gashadokuro became its own yokai and legend. Because of the conflation; Today, many add to "Gashidokuro's lore" saying that "its the accumulated grudge of a mass grave which turns into the Gashadokuro" - (This feels much closer to what Mekurabe is.) - Modern Folklore (and oral rumours via word of mouth) did their thing and we have the gashadokuros lore as it is today. - Others maintain; "They're both giant skeletons?" - to which i say; indeed! - But its also important to note this distinction! - Perhaps Mekurabe could be seen as a precursor to Gashadokuro as Gashadokuro is much more 'aggressive' in its attacks than Mekurabe is afterall (mekurabe just stares,) a sign of 'scare intensity' changing with the times perhaps.

[Art sticker by samkalensky part of my Hyakki yagyo night parade of 100 yokai sticker collection. support my art and follow for many more!]

Mekurabe - 目競 - [yokai]

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