Itsumade
Itsumade(Japanese: 以津真天) is a Japanese birdlike monster or yōkai depicted in the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki, an art collection published in 1779 by Toriyama Sekien. Itsumade originally appears in the Japanese historical epic Taiheiki vol. 12 (circa 14c) as an ominous bird with no distinctive name. It's thought that Sekien gave it the name.
An ominous bird in Taiheiki
According to Taiheiki, around the fall of 1334, an epidemic was raging and causing heavy casualties. At the same time, an ominous bird materialized on the roof of the Shishinden(ja:紫宸殿), a basilica-like structure almost every night and was chirping "Itsumademo. Itsumademo," literally means "eternally, eternally," and scaring people. The aristocracy decided to ask a master of bow to get rid of it, which is the same way when Minamoto no Yorimasa slayed Nue or a monkey-like yōkai. Then Mayumi Hiroari (ja:真弓広有) was requested and he bagged the bird. It says the bird has a human-like face and saw-like teeth on its bent beak, and its body is shaped like a snake and has razor-sharp talons and its wingspan is measured 4.8 meter.[1]
In Taiheiki, this monster is just called as ominous bird and has no distinctive name. Itsumade, which is the name given alongside of the illustration Sekien drew, is considered to be given from its call by Sekien himself.[2] Although there are some illustrations handling the same theme before him and they are depicted in the same way with him like monster bird with dark cloud,[3] none of them has the name Itsumade.
Notes
- ^ 山崎正和訳 (1990). 太平記. 河出書房. pp. 180–181. ISBN 978-4-309-00647-5.
- ^ 村上健司編著 (2005). 日本妖怪大事典. Kwai books. 角川書店. p. 35. ISBN 978-4-04-883926-6.
- ^ 鈴木重三 監修『生誕200年記念 歌川国芳』 日本経済新聞社 1996年 227頁