With a bright red face, long nose, a black kite's wings on its back, and a feather fan in its hand, this creature of legend is said to possess powerful divine powers and inhabit the mountains.
In the past, many mysterious phenomena in the mountains were attributed to the work of tengu, such as a loud sound of a tree being felled sounding out in the mountains without a corresponding event actually occurring, called a "tengu toppling (tengu-daoshi)", or the sudden flying of rocks seemingly without motive, called "tengu stones (tengu-tsubute)".
However, the appearance of tengu has changed over time.
The first written mention of the tengu is in the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan).
The tengu described there is said to have looked like a star that floated down from the east with a thunderous roar, and the image of the tengu flying in the sky seems to have come from that time.
Originally thought to be invisible, tengu were eventually depicted as black kite-like figures that used magic to kidnap people and taunt monks as Buddhism became more stylized and extravagant.
In addition, under the influence of the Shenxian and Shugendou thoughts (Chinese and Japanese mountain ascetic philosophies, respectively), it came to be popularly believed that among the monks, those who had lost their original path due to wicked knowledge would enter the mountains and become tengu. Of course, it is this image of the mountain ascetic that gave rise to the tengu's typical attire.
On the other hand, for Shugendou practitioners, tengu were thought of as spirits of the mountains, and this is how tengu came to have two sides, one good and one evil.
Kurama Tengu, the high priest of Kurama Mountain who is said to have instructed Ushiwakamaru (A.K.A. Minamoto no Yoshitsune) in the art of war and protected him, may also represent this aspect of the tengu.
The red face and red nose, known as tengu characteristics, are thought to have come from Sarutahiko (the leader of the earthly gods), who is said to have led Ninigi-no-Mikoto (the grandson of Amaterasu Ookami) in his descent from heaven in Japanese mythology, and whose nose was seven feet long and whose face shone like a red lantern plant.
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