Ibaraki-dōji
Oni (demon or ogre) from Japanese legend / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Ibaraki-doji?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Ibaraki-dōji (茨木童子 or 茨城童子 "Ibaraki child") is an oni (demon or ogre) featured in tales of the Heian period. In the tales, Ibaraki-dōji is based on Mount Ōe, and once went on a rampage in Kyoto. The "Ibaraki" in his name may refer to Ibaraki, Osaka; "dōji" means "child", but in this context is a demon offspring. Ibaraki-dōji was the most important servant of Shuten-dōji.[1][2]
As for the birthplace, there are theories that it may be Settsu Province (Mio, Ibaraki, Osaka, and Tomatsu, Amagasaki, Hyōgo) or Echigo Province (Niigata, formerly Tochio, now a settlement in Karuizawa, Nagano). Ibaraki-dōji had teeth since birth, and was feared for being a giant. After they became an oni, they met Shuten-dōji and became his subordinate, and together they aimed for the capital. Their gender is ambiguous, in some stories Ibaraki is a kijo (female oni), and in others a male.[3] The female version is theorized to be Shuten-dōji’s lover, son, or his son's lover.
The Shuten-dōji gang was based on Mt. Ōe (said to be in Tanba Province, but there are also theories that it may have been at Mt. Ōe, at the boundary between Kyoto and Kameoka). The gang ran amok in the capital, kidnapping families’ girls among other things, but they were destroyed by Minamoto no Yorimitsu and his four vassals, the Four Guardian Kings. However, Ibaraki-dōji was able to escape.
According to the legend, Watanabe no Tsuna cut Ibaraki Doji's arm with a tachi named 'Higekiri'. At present, Kitano Tenmangū Shrine owns a tachi 'Onikirimaru' (鬼切丸)[note 1] handed down as 'Higekiri', which is also called 'Onikiri', 'Onimaru'[note 2], 'Shishinoko' or 'Tomokiri' based on various legends.[4]