Ungaikyō
The ungaikyō (雲外鏡、うんがいきょう, "mirror beyond the clouds") is a yōkai in Japanese mythology depicted in the Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro, a collection of yōkai paintings by the Edo period ukiyo-e artist Toriyma Sekien.
In modern media they are often depicted as a tsukumogami in the form of a possessed mirror, where they have characteristics such as: manipulating people's reflections to resemble what they prefer, transforming any human who looks into the ungaikyō into a monstrous version of themselves as the reflection shown, or (for a human to use) to trap spirits in them.
Mythology
[edit]Sekiken depicts a mirror[1] with a face standing behind a slanting column and a tongue protruding from it, which is described in the side notes in Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro as follows.
- That called the shomakyo (照魔鏡, lit. "illuminate occult mirror") reflects the forms of many mysterious things, and as its shadow is reflect, when it moves I figured it was this mirror's yokai, or so I thought in a dream.[2]
The shomakyo is a legendary mirror that is said to reveal the true identity of demons. The reading-book (yomihon) Ehon Sangoku Yofuden by Takai Ranzan notes it to have revealed the true identity of the beautiful woman Daji who corrupted the Shang emperor King Zhou.[3] The ungaikyō in Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro is noted to be an original creation of Sekien Toriyama based on the shomakyo,[4][5] and the accompanying picture shows it to be a mirror with a monstrous and mysterious face floating on it,[6] as can be seen in the figure.
Books on yōkai since the Heisei era and beyond often consider it to be a tsukumogami (a yōkai transformed from a vessel) of a mirror that has become over a hundred years old, which offer varying interpretations on what it does, ranging from it reflecting one's own face in the mirror but transforming into a yōkai[6] or a vessel that the yokai reflected in the shomakyo.[6] The name “ungaikyo” is noted to possibly be a reference to the Chinese geography book Shanhai Jing Classic of Mountains and Seas, which describes a number of yokai.[7]
The mirror monster
[edit]In a book written by yokai manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, there is a legend that on the fifteenth night of the eighth month (Hazuki) of the lunar calendar, a crystal tray is filled with water under the moonlight, and when the water is used to draw the image of a yōkai on the mirror's surface, that yōkai will then dwell inside the mirror.[8][9]
A disguised raccoon dog
[edit]The ungaikyo in the 1968 film “The Great Yōkai War” (Daiei) is designed as a yōkai in the shape of a raccoon dog. It has the ability to inhale and puff out its belly to project images of various places like a television set, and it uses this ability in the film as well.[10]
In many yōkai illustrated books for children since the Showa period (1926-1989), it is often described as a yōkai that looks like a raccoon dog with a mirror on its belly, or as being able to project various things onto its own body.[4]
Notes
[edit]- ^ 諸橋轍次『大漢和辞典』7巻 大修館書店
- ^ 稲田篤信; 田中直日, eds. (1992). 鳥山石燕 画図百鬼夜行. 高田衛監修. 国書刊行会. p. 312. ISBN 978-4-336-03386-4.
- ^ 多田克己 (2005). "絵解き 画図百鬼夜行の妖怪". 怪. カドカワムック. Vol. 0018. 角川書店. p. 390. ISBN 978-4-04-883912-9.
- ^ a b 村上 2005, p. 52
- ^ 田神健一他, ed. (2006). アニメ版 ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 完全読本. 講談社. p. 51. ISBN 978-4-06-213742-3.
- ^ a b c 草野 1997, p. 49
- ^ 妖怪ドットコム 2008, p. 113
- ^ 水木しげる (2014). 決定版 日本妖怪大全 妖怪・あの世・神様. 講談社（講談社文庫）. p. 115. ISBN 978-4-062-77602-8.
- ^ 水木しげる (1984). 水木しげるの妖怪文庫. 河出文庫. Vol. 2. 河出書房新社. p. 145. ISBN 978-4-309-47056-6.
- ^ 甦れ！妖怪映画大集合. 竹書房（BAMBOO MOOK）. 2005. p. 72. ISBN 978-4-81242-265-6.
References
[edit]- 草野巧 (1997). 幻想動物事典. 新紀元社. ISBN 978-4-88317-283-2.
- 村上健司編著 (2005). 日本妖怪大事典. Kwai books. 角川書店. ISBN 978-4-04-883926-6.
- 妖怪ドットコム (2008). 図説 妖怪辞典. 幻冬舎コミックス. ISBN 978-4-344-81486-8.
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External links
[edit]- Ungaikyō at Yokai.com
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