Episode 287 – The Drunken Demon

May 3, 2019
Sumiyoshi Hironao’s Shuten Doji decapitation scene. It’s…quite something.
Toriyama Sekien’s take on Shuten Doji.
A scene from the Oeyama Ekotoba, the original source of the Shuten Doji legend (or at least one version of it).
Utagawa Yoshitsuya’s take on the battle between Shuten Doji and Minamoto no Raiko and friends.
Raiko and friends bring back Shuten Doji’s head.

This week, we’re taking a look at a specific oni tale, and probably the most famous one; the story of the Demon King of Mt. Oe, Shuten Doji. What’s his story? How did he get punked by five of Japan’s most famous warriors? And why are we still talking about him so many years later?

Sources

Reider, Noriko. Japanese Demon Lore

Addis, Stephen. Japanese Ghosts and Demons: Art of the Supernatural

Reider, Noriko. Tales of the Supernatural in Early Modern Japan

Images