Amikiri ( or 網剪) is a Japanese

yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as suc ...

depicted in the ''

Gazu Hyakki Yagyō is the first book of Japanese artist Toriyama Sekien's famous ''Gazu Hyakki Yagyō'' e-hon tetralogy, published in 1776. A version of the tetralogy translated and annotated in English was published in 2016. Although the title translates to "The ...

'' by

Toriyama Sekien 200px, A Mikoshi-nyūdō, specifically a Miage-nyūdō, as portrayed by Toriyama">Miage-nyūdō.html" ;"title="Mikoshi-nyūdō, specifically a Miage-nyūdō">Mikoshi-nyūdō, specifically a Miage-nyūdō, as portrayed by Toriyama , real name Sano ...

Concept

It is depicted as a cross between a serpent, bird or a lobster. It has claws similar to that of a crab or a scorpion, but since there is no explanatory text within the book, it is not certain what kind of yōkai it is. Many yōkai depicted in the

were done in reference to predecessor works like the

Hyakkai Zukan is a picture scroll by Edo period Japanese artist Sawaki Suushi. Completed in 1737, this scroll is a supernatural bestiary, a collections of ghosts, spirits and monsters (Yōkai), which Suushi based on literature, folklore, other artwork. These i ...

, so it can be seen that perhaps it is based on the one that is closest to it in those predecessor works, the kamikiri. It uses its claws to cut fisherman and mosquito nets, which it has a bad habit of, and this behaviour leads to people regarding it as a pest. In various writings from the Shōwa period, Heisei period, and beyond, the amikiri is explained to be a yōkai that cuts meshes and mosquito nets. According to the yōkai researcher

Katsumi Tada is a common Japanese given name used by either sex. Possible writings Katsumi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: ;as a given name *克己, "overcome, self/oneself" *克巳, "overcome, sixth earthly branch" *克美, "ov ...

, "ami" (meaning nets) can lead one to think about "ami" (meaning

mysidacea The Mysidacea is a group of shrimp-like crustaceans in the superorder Peracarida, comprising the two extant orders Mysida Mysida is an order of small, shrimp-like crustaceans in the malacostracan superorder Peracarida. Their common name opo ...

) due to being homophones, interpreting it as an invention that Sekien created as a result of playing around with words. However, mysidacea do not possess claws on their front limbs, so there are some voices questioning the idea that mysidacea was ever thought about in the drawing.

Legend

In a book titled '' Tōhoku Kaidan no Tabi'' by author

Norio Yamada Norio (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or in hiragana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese rower * Norio Hayakawa (born 1944), American activist *, Japanese speed skater *, J ...

, there is a story taking place in the Shōnai region,

Yamagata Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Yamagata Prefecture has a population of 1,079,950 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 9,325 km² (3,600 sq mi). Yamagata Prefecture borders Akita Prefecture to the nor ...

about how there was a fishing village where an amikiri repeatedly cut the fishing nets into pieces, and when one person prevented this by taking the net back home quickly and then hiding it, that person found the mosquito nets hung in the rooms all cut by the amikiri, leading to mosquito bites all over this person's body. The yōkai researcher

Kenji Murakami Kenji may refer to: *Kenji (given name), a masculine Japanese given name, and list of people & characters with this name *Kenji (era), a Japanese era spanned from 1275 to 1278 * ''Kenji'' (manga) (拳児), a 1980s manga by Matsuda Ryuchi * "Kenji" ...

was unable to confirm the existence of a legend about a yōkai called "amikiri" from any other source in Yamagata Prefecture, making it likely that this "legend of the amikiri" was simply Yamada's invention.

Concept

Legend

Notes

See also