Instrument (Living Weapon) Species List

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List of types of Instruments (Some, not all.)

Hasamidachi
Furuougi, Hasamidachi鋏裁
はさみだち

Translation: scissors cutter

Appearance: Hasamidachi is a small yōkai with wild hair, buggy eyes, and a pair of scissors sprouting from its head.

Origin: Hasamidachi appears in the earliest yokai scrolls, and has been copied many times from these early depictions, appearing over and over again in many different scrolls. Despite this, no name or description has ever been recorded. The name hasamidachi was given to it in recent years by yokai researcher Aramata Hiroshi, however it is also known by less descriptive names such as hasami no bakemono (scissors monster) or just hasami (scissors).

Koto furunushi
琴古主
ことふるぬし

Translation: old koto master

Appearance: The Koto furunushi looks like a koto—a long, harp-like instrument that is the national instrument of Japan—transformed into a wild beast.

Behavior: A koto which was once played frequently but later forgotten about and stored away can transform into the koto furunushi. These yōkai may look like wild beasts, but they remember every song that was ever played on them. Koto furunushi play when no one is around, causing everyone to wonder where the music is coming from. They prefer to play old, forgotten tunes that have fallen out of style and vanished from people’s memory.

Kura yarō
Furuutsubo, Kurayarou, Abumiguchi

鞍野郎
くらやろう

Translation: saddle rascal

Appearance: Kura yarō are saddles whose masters have been slain. They take on lives of their own and act like warriors.

Legends: The most famous kura yarō was once the saddle of Kamata Masakiyo, the first and foremost retainer to Minamoto no Yoshitomo, general and head of the Minamoto clan. After losing a battle during the Heiji Rebellion (1160 CE), he and his lord fled from Kyōto. But they were betrayed and murdered by an ally. Kamata Masakiyo’s wrath at being betrayed remained after his death and became attached to his saddle, which transformed into a tsukumogami. Afterwards, his saddle would pick up sticks and prance about like a warrior, fighting everything it could. Even after his death, Masakiyo’s weapons were a loyal to his cause.

Mokugyo daruma
木魚達磨
もくぎょだるま

Translation: wooden fish gong Daruma
Habitat: temples

Appearance: Mokugyo daruma are the tsukumogami of mokugyo—fish-shaped wooden gongs used in Buddhist temples. After years of service helping monks to focus on their meditations, these gongs have also achieved enlightenment.

Origin: Mokugyo have multiple purposes in a Buddhist temple. They are used to keep the rhythm when chanting sutras. They are also used to keep people awake during meditation. Because fish sleep with their eyes open, in old times it was believed that fish did not sleep. Thus the wooden fish gong represents avoiding falling asleep while meditating.

Toriyama Sekien describes mokugyo daruma in Hyakki tsurezure bukuro. He says that a mokugyo might possibly gain a soul and take on the features of Daruma (aka Bodhidharma), the founder of Zen Buddhism, after nine years of being used by ascetic practitioners. Like mokugyo, Daruma is a symbol of wakefulness. Daruma is said to have meditated for nine years straight without sleeping. Due to their shared symbolism, Sekien combined these two figures of wakefulness into one tsukumogami.

Nyoijizai
Nyoijizai如意自在
にょいじざい

Translation: a pun meaning both “free staff” and “exactly as you please”

Appearance: Nyoijizai is a nyoi, a kind of priest’s staff, which has turned into a yokai after existing for many many years. It also bears a very strong resemblance to a mago-no-te, (literally “granchild’s hand”) a backscratcher. Its only power is its ability to scratch that itchy spot on your back which you just can’t seem to reach, no matter how hard you try.

Origin: Nyoijizai’s name is a play on words. While nyoi is a term for a priest’s staff, it can also mean “as you wish;” and jizai means “freely” or “at will.” While this name evokes an animated staff, its also literally means, “exactly as you please.” Thus, nyoijizai is an animated back-scratching staff that allows you to freely scratch any place you wish, exactly as you please.

Shami chōrō
三味長老
しゃみちょうろう

Translation: elder shamisen

Appearance: A shami chōrō looks exactly like the shamisen it transformed from, a three-stringed guitar-like instrument.

Origin: Musical instruments, because of their high value, are often kept around long enough to turn into tsukumogami. Instruments which were once played by masters are the most likely to develop into yōkai. These instruments no longer receive any use—either because their master died or because they started using other instruments—and transform into yōkai, longing to be played again.

Shami chōrō’s name is a play on words, written with characters meaning shamisen master. The name also invokes the old Japanese proverb, “Shami kara chōrō ni wa nararezu,” meaning, “One cannot skip from novice to senior.” In other words, only through many years of practice can one become a master.

Shōgorō
Shougorou鉦五郎
しょうごろう

Translation: “Gong-goro,” or ghost gong, depending on the reading

Appearance: A shōgorō is a kind of tsukumogami, a spirit which inhabits a household item. In this case, it is an animated shōgo (鉦吾) — a small, bowl-shaped gong that is struck with a mallet and used in Buddhist services. A shōgo gets a lot of use, being used multiple times every service. It is made of metal, and so can last a long time before breaking. A gong which has long worn out and stopped playing its note pleasantly, and gets put into storage until it is forgotten (or perhaps one is the witness to some horrible crime) is an ideal candidate for awakening into a yokai.

Behavior: Like nay tsukumogami, shōgorō are not dangerous. At most, they are startling, as they wander around at night like some kind of metal turtle, striking their bodies and ringing their notes out into the night. It is enough perhaps to cause loss of sleep, but not much else.

Origin: The name shogorō is a pun. It is a combination of shōgo, the gong, and gorō, a very common part of a boy’s name. The word can also be read as a combination of shōgo and goryō (御霊), the ghost of a noble or an aristocrat from ages past. Goryō are a grade of ghost above yūrei, and play a large part in many Japanese ghost stories.

Legends: In the early 18th century, there was a wealthy merchant family called Yodoya living in Osaka. For many generations, the Yodoya were the kings of the rice trade, raking in unbelievable amounts of cash. The 5th generation boss, Yodoya Tatsugorō, had so much money and lived a life of such extreme opulence that he attracted the attention of the bakufu (regional shogunate officials, something like military police).

The bakufu decided that the Yodoya family had accumulated too much wealth. They were only a merchant family, and it was improper for a lower class to hold so much wealth. Their economic power was above their station in life, and so the bakufu stripped Yodoya Tatsugorō of everything he had: his rice, his business, his house, his every last possession. The Yodoya family fell into ruin, and Tatsugorō became destitute. Even his favorite possession, an unbelievably rich and indescribably splendid golden chicken called kogane no niwatori (金の鶏, literally “golden chicken”), was taken from him. The loss of his precious golden chicken caused Tatsugorō so much grief that he died, and because of the unhappy circumstances of his death, his ghost was unable to pass on.

Normally, when a ghost lingers like this, it attaches itself to the object of its desire, be it a person, a place, or (in this case) a thing. Tatsugorō’s soul meant to attach itself to his precious kogane no niwatori. In Japanese, the words for “gong” and “golden” can both be read “kane.” Poor Tatsugorō’s ghost must have gotten confused and attached itself to a nearby shōgo instead of his chicken, and the instrument turn into a tsukumogami.

Abumiguchi

Translation: stirrup mouth

Appearance: Abumiguchi were once stirrups belonging to a warrior who fell in battle. The stirrups were left on the battlefield, forgotten. Upset at losing their purpose, a soldier’s implements can transform into tsukumogami. Like faithful hounds, abumiguchi wait in the fields for their masters, who will sadly never return.

Bell

Silver Bells

Spoiler:

Holy Bell

Doombell

Waniguchi
Waniguchi鰐口
わにぐち

Translation: crocodile mouth; shrine bell

Appearance: Waniguchi is a tsukumogami which comes from the circular, hollow bells found at shrine entrances which are rung when praying to the shrine’s gods. When one of these bells becomes a yokai, it sprouts a reptilian body and tail, and the bell becomes the creature’s head, opening and closing just like a real crocodile’s mouth.

Origin: The bells at shrines are called waniguchi due to the wide split along the bottom rim, which gives them the distinct look of an crocodile’s mouth. This yokai first appeared in tsukumogami picture scrolls as a pun based off of the word for shrine bell.

Suzuhiko hime
鈴彦姫
すずひこひめ

Translation: bell princess
Habitat: Shintō shrines
Diet: none

Appearance: Suzuhiko hime are tsukumogami which possess kagurasuzu—the bells used in Shintō rituals. They look like young women wearing the robes of an ancient princess or a shrine maiden. They are decked with bells, and have a larger bell for a head.

Behavior: Suzuhiko hime do not cause harm to humans. They merely dance about in wild and ritualistic movements like the dances in which they were once used as holy instruments.

Origin: Bells have been used since ancient times in Shintō rituals to calm the human soul as well as repel evil spirits. Most importantly, they are meant to attract the attention of the gods and call forth their presence. Although it is not specifically stated, it is possible that suzuhiko hime, like other tsukumogami, are born out of old tools that are no longer in service, animating themselves from the desire to be useful once again.

Suzuhiko hime is a creation of Toriyama Sekien, and first appears in his book Hyakki tsurezure bukuro. Everything about this yōkai, from the meaning of its name, to what Sekien intended for it to do, can only be inferred from his brief description of it.

Sekien’s description of suzuhiko hime refers to a famous scene from Japanese mythology. Amaterasu, the sun goddess, had a violent quarrel with her brother Suzano’o, the god of storms, and hid herself from the other gods in the cave Ama no Iwato. Without the sun, everything became cold and dark. The gods gathered outside of the cave and begged Amaterasu to come out, but she refused. Eventually, Ame no Uzume, the goddess of dawn and revelry, came up with a plan. She stood upon an upturned tub and performed a wild, erotic dance, stripping naked and baring herself to the other gods. Their loud, uproarious cheering could be heard by Amaterasu deep inside the cave. Eventually her curiosity got the better of her, and she left the cave to see what the commotion was about. The other gods quickly blocked the cave entrance so she could not go back inside, and light was returned to the heavens and the earth.

Ame no Uzume’s performance is said to be the origin of kagura, the sacred music and dance of Shintō rituals. And kagura in turn indirectly serves as the origin of this yōkai.