The Figure of Oni in Japanese Culture

The Figure of Oni in Japanese
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The Figure of Oni in Japanese
Japan is popularly known for its conservative nature of its culture and remains one of the few countries that are yet to fall to Western influence by a significant extent. Ghosts, which are known as obake or yurei in Japanese, are frequent elements of ancient Japanese folklore and literature (Ogura, 2002). In modern Japan, they are incorporated as moral tales with the intent being to warn and entertain. However, the most important element is that of ancestor worship. In the Japanese culture, failure to honor the deceased members in society would be disastrous as they could cause undaunted havoc to their daily lives. The Japanese were helpless when it came to avoiding goblins, demons, and ghosts. The only profound place they would be safeguarded against any harm was reliance on Shinto gods or prayers to the Buddha. In essence, the spirits were not always evil and even in such circumstances their powers could be negated. This procedure would happen if the subjects were subjected to proper spells and rituals. The subsequent discussion offers more insight into the demonic and malevolent spirit called Oni, its potential origin, its primary ontological features in regards to its looks and actions, its visual representation in art, and its premediated symbolism in different periods.
The Potential Origin of Oni
As mentioned above, demons, which are creatures without morals and are more likely cause mischief and disaster, can be averted to be of a great cause to living beings. This sentiment defines Oni. Consequently, they are of two types, those that have good intentions and ones with ill objectives. The diverse roles they hold implies that many will formulate diverse theories on their origins. The proliferation of Buddhism into Japan from the 6th Century is believed to be the cause of the increase in the number of Oni (Cartwright, 2017). According to scholars in this academic field of mythology, Japanese Oni belonged to purely Buddhist mythology, which was a view put forth by Anesaki Masaharu. However, Komatsu Kazuhiko provides a differing view where he asserts that Oni was a mere term used in onmyodo to relate to any type of evil spirit whose objective was to harm human beings (Reider, 2010). These sentiments fail to provide the genesis of Oni. Some refer to it as a societal shadow or an individual while others are vehemently concerned that it is an epidemic deity. The bottom line is that Oni is attributed to negative forces.
The convoluted perceptions lead to the assertion that the origin of Oni is a consequence of people’s fear. People are afraid of the destructive power of phenomenological occurrences such as earthquakes, storms, lightning, and thunder. The Japanese believed that evil and dark forces resided in the mountains it is the primary reason the Oni was strongly associated with thunder and lightning (Reider, 2010). Although the rise of Buddhism in Japan primarily coincided with a significant increase in the perceived roles of the Oni, religion only takes a portion of the blame. This assertion comes about because of the Oni concept and beliefs in dark forces existed way before the inception of Buddhism in Japan.
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