Yokai Parade! --- Hyakki-Yako in Kyoto

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(Translated and arranged by Saya)

Happy (early) Halloween everyone! I wanted to post something light-hearted for this occasion! I hope you enjoy it 🥰❤️❤️❤️

[What is Hyakki-Yako?]

Hyakki-Yako (or Hyakki-Yagyo) means "Night Parade of One Hundred Oni (Demons)." 

It is a parade composed of thousands of oni and yokai that is said to march through the streets of Japan at night!

Every year, in Kyoto , they hold an event which recreates this Hyakki-Yako.

People dress up as their favourite Oni or Yokai and parade through Ichijo-Dori Street. 

(Apparently, anyone can take part in it, but you will have to submit an application to the organizers first😁)

[Ichijo Hyakki-Yako 2019]

Legend says that during Heian period (794-1185), when Kyoto was the capital city of Japan, the real Hyakki-Yako would often take place on Ichijo-Dori Street in the middle of the night.

(All pictures are taken by Keiichuro Yasugi )

A female Oni.

This could be Gasha-dokuro.

Rokuro-kubi?

💎What would you have to do if you encountered Hyakki-Yako?💎

Encountering Hyakki-Yako can mean instant death, or at best, you get spirited away by them.😱

But fear not. There are some countermeasures!😆⭐ 

👾Carry a paper talisman (ofuda) from Shinto shrines.

👾Carry exorcism scrolls handwritten by onmyoji spellcasters." (Wikipedia)

👾Chant this famous mantra:

カタシハヤ、エカセニクリニ、タメルサケ、

テエヒ、アシエヒ、ワレシコニケリ

Katashi Haya, Ekaseni Kurini, Tameru Sake, 

Te E Hi, Ashi E Hi, Wareshi Konikeri

This mantra can be roughly translated as "I couldn't take part in the Hyakki-Yako today because I drank the sake (rice wine) stored in a tokkuri (sake container**) and got badly drunk."😆⭐

👾In some tales, people were saved because they wore kimono which had Sonsho-buccho (尊勝仏頂 Usnisavijaya) sewn on it. 

This one could be Inari.

Some sources say that the yokai and oni who participate in Hyakki-Yako are Tsukumo-gami who were originally tools such as umbrellas, fans, sandals, scissors, kitchen utensils, and musical instruments, which acquired spirits after a long passage of time (Tsukumo-gami is sometimes written as "九十九神" meaning ninety-nine gods, which comes from ninety-nine years, a period needed for tools to acquire spirits.)

Tsukumo-gami were tools which were abandoned or maltreated by humans, and therefore, they hold a grudge against them. So they gather at night like this to plot revenge on humans.

［Ichijo Hyakki-Yako 2022］

Ichijo Hyakki-Yako was held this month, for the first time in three years. (Source)

This is Nurari-hyon, who is said to be the leader of Hyakki-Yako.

This is Tengu.

Watch it directly on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/_5aCYpRRCPI

Those yokai and oni in the Ichijo Hyakki-Yako look so realistic that real yokai and oni could also be taking part in the event, unbeknownst to us! 😆💖✨

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Links:

**Tokkuri --- Tokkuri or Tokuri is a thin-necked bottle rounded at the bottom. It is now mainly used for pouring sake. (see more on japanese-wiki-corpus.org)

Tokkuri 

Traditional Sake Cups And Vessels To Use When Drinking Sake

Sake Etiquette 

⭐Kyoto Taishogun: Ichijo Yokai Street  (Official Website)