is an eerie reptilian bird featured in the Japanese collection of

Yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and Spirit (supernatural entity) , spirits in Japanese folklore. The kanji representation of the word comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply ...

pictures, the ''

Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki is the second book of Japanese artist Toriyama Sekien's famous ''Gazu Hyakki Yagyō'' tetralogy, published c. 1779. A version of the tetralogy translated and annotated in English was published in 2016. These books are supernatural Bestiary, best ...

'' by

Toriyama Sekien 200px, A , specifically a Miage-nyūdō, as portrayed by Toriyama , real name Sano Toyofusa, was a scholar, '' kyōka'' poet, and ''ukiyo-e'' artist of Japanese folklore. Early life Born to a family of high-ranking servants to the Tokugawa sh ...

published in 1779. Its picture has the explanatory text, "as explained more fully in the ''Taiheiki'', Hiroari shot the eerie bird that cries, 'itsumade itsumade'" (広有いつまでいつまでと鳴し怪鳥を射し事太平記に委し), so it depicts the odd bird that appears in the ''

Taiheiki The (Chronicle of Great Peace) is a medieval Japanese historical epic (see '' gunki monogatari'') written in the late 14th century and covers the period from 1319 to 1367. It deals primarily with the Nanboku-chō, the period of war between the ...

'' (circa 14c), volume 12, "Hiroari Shot the Eerie Bird" (広有射怪鳥事, "Hiroari Keteu wo Iru Koto").

The eerie bird in ''Taiheiki''

According to the ''Taiheiki'', around the fall of 1334 (in the

Kenmu was a Japanese era name of the Northern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after '' Shōkei'' and before '' Ryakuō.'' Although Kemmu is understood by the Southern Court as having begun at the same time, the era was construe ...

years), an epidemic illness was causing many deaths and almost every night, an eerie bird appeared on top of the Shishinden ( :ja:紫宸殿) crying "itsumade itsumade" (until when? Until when?) causing great fear. The nobility thought back to how the master of arrows

Minamoto no Yorimasa was a Japanese poet, aristocrat and samurai lord. His poetry appeared in various anthologies. He served eight different emperors in his long career, holding posts such as ''hyōgo no kami'' (head of the arsenal). As a general, he led the Mina ...

slew the

nue The Nue (鵺, 鵼, 恠鳥, or 奴延鳥) is a legendary yōkai or mononoke from Japanese mythology. Appearance In the ''The Tale of the Heike, Tale of Heike'', it is described as a Japanese Chimera (mythology), Chimera having the head of a Ja ...

and made a request to Oki Jirōzaemon Hiroari ( :ja:真弓広有) who splendidly shot down the eerie bird with a kabura-ya. It is said that the eerie bird had a human-like face, a curved beak, saw-like teeth, a snake-like body, talons as sharp as swords, and a wingspan of about 1 jō and 6 shaku (about 4.8 meters). In the ''Taiheiki'', the bird is merely written to be the "eerie bird" with no distinctive name. The "Itsumade" name in the ''Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki'' is considered to be a naming Sekien made upon illustrating this story in the ''Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki'' on the basis of the bird's cry. In various Edo Period illustrations of battle, this bird was depicted as a monstrous bird or black cloud in order to convey the idea, but among them none to be found that use the name "Itsumade."

Explanatory text starting in Shōwa

Yōkai-related literature starting in Shōwa began to also give the reading "Itsumadeten." They also sometimes come introduced with explanatory text that say things such as how this eerie bird stops nearby the corpses of those who died from battle or starvation and cry "itsumade itsumade" (Until when? Until when?), basically meaning "until when will this corpse be left here?" or how this eerie bird is the vengeful spirit (

onryō In Japanese traditional beliefs and literature, are a type of ghost () believed to be capable of causing harm in the world of the living, injuring or killing enemies, or even causing natural disasters to exact Revenge, vengeance to "redres ...

) of those who died that way, turned into a bird.

In popular culture

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, as he explores the Grand Line in search of the myt ...

, St. Marcus Mars, one of the Five Elders, can take the yōkai-like form of Itsumade.

Notes

{{Reflist

The eerie bird in ''Taiheiki''

Explanatory text starting in Shōwa

In popular culture

Notes

See also