103 - Shuten-douji

【酒吞童子、shuten-douji】

[Lit. Sake-drinking boy]

A legendary oni said to have lived on Mount Ooe in the province of Tanba during the Heian period (794-1185), famous for appearing in the "Otogi-zoushi" and the song "Ooeyama".

Shuten-douji was already inhuman from the time of his birth, as evidenced by the fact that he remained in his mother's womb for three years.

He grew up in a mountain temple until he eventually stabbed a Buddhist priest to death, then moved to Mount Hiei, but he was driven out and settled in Mount Ooe, where he began appearing in the capital at night to kidnap women and children.

Angered by the wickedness of Shuten-douji and his minions, the emperor of the time ordered Minamoto no Yorimitsu (a.k.a. Minamoto no Raikou) to exterminate Shuten-douji. Yorimitsu headed for Mount Ooe with his four Heavenly Kings: Sakata no Kintoki (famously known as Kintarou), Watanabe no Tsuna, Usui Sadamitsu, and Urabe no Suetake.

On the way to Mount Ooe, Yorimitsu and his men, disguised as mountain priests, obtain a special sake, which is said to instantly intoxicate and knock out demons if consumed. Pretending to be lost, Yorimitsu and his followers enter the demons' territory and offer them sake in return for a night's lodging, which they drink without suspecting. In no time at all, the demons were drunk and fell asleep. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yorimitsu and his men defeated the demons one after the other, and even Shuten-douji was finally beheaded.

But their relief was short-lived, for the head of Shuten-douji, even after being severed, leaped at Yorimitsu. But it remained stuck to his hard armor, and eventually stopped moving.

It is said that the head of Shuten-douji stopped moving when it was about to be brought back to the capital and was buried in Mount Ooe, where it is still enshrined today as Kubizuka-daimyoujin. [Kubizuka is a specific type of burial mount where decapitated heads are buried.]

There are also various speculations as to the true identity of Shuten-douji, such as that he was a bandit who lived in Mount Ooe at that time, or that he was a ferocious mountain-dwelling creature, or that he was a pestilence-spreading god.