Got my Dojo Working.

清姫 きよひめ Princess Kiyo is a true demon, one of the three most powerful types of demons, who can turn into a serpent and breathe fire.

Kiyo hime is one of the most famous antagonists in Japanese literature, and an example of a honnari hannya—a demon woman who has attained the maximum level of power. She appears in The Legend of Anchin and Kiyo hime, or Princess Kiyo, an ancient tale from Wakayama prefecture. Versions of the story appear in a number of ancient books. Her tale is retold in the famous noh play Dōjō-ji.

 Kind of spooky looking!

 

Sing along!

ントンお寺の道成寺
釣鐘下（お）ろいて 身を隠し
安珍清姫 蛇（じゃ）に化けて
七重（ななよ）に巻かれて 一廻（まわ）り 一廻り

Knock, knock, knock, under the bell of the Dojoji temple, Anchin and Kiyohime
hide themselves,
disguised as a snake, coiled
seven times, round and round

That song is but a taste of the story. Be sure to click the link far above for the lengthy tale that I shan't copy here.

When you have a problem with Demons, who do you call? Hint: you may need to say his name three times.

If you guessed this guy, you'd be right.

The movie was okay, way too many subplots to carry out properly, but it kept me amused and that's good enough for me.

Here are a couple of Post Cards and a Clear File.

I am disappointed in the complete lack of Gatcha Goods related to Betelgeuse. Here's another snake instead.

I wasted much of the day today watching some classic anime that I'd never seen before, such as:

Vampire Hunter D (1985), 

 Night Warriors: The Curse of Kazuo Umezu (Junji's mentor)

A Dirty Pair Halloween episode. 

and Wicked City (1987) which is rather naughty in parts.

For an actual Junji Ito tale involving a snake, you should check out Souichi's Beloved Pet. I haven't had a chance to watch this video yet, though since it features the author critiquing his story, it probably does spoil at times.

 

Here Brother Voodoo battles a serpent:

And I like this issue of Chamber of Chills.

I caught up on some tv shows today and I finished this blog early, so I'm going to treat myself to a few beers and a movie. (Details about what I watched tomorrow...)

Speaking of movies, this fellow blogger shows off a few cinematic masterpieces, Cinema Crazed.

Caught Red-handed!

According to Yokai Finder, there are two other Miyagi-based Yokai but when I read their respective articles, I couldn't pinpoint where exactly and they were relegated to other prefectures. Soooo, I've decided to move onto Miyagi's neighbour to the south, Fukushima. Not only had I lived there for three years, I visit there at least thrice a year. Most recently a few weeks ago when I had a wedding in Aizu-Wakamatsu, home of the Akabeko. 

Click the Akabeko link above for a whole herd of that Red Cow's pals. 

While I was there though, I visited the birthplace of Ultraman's creator, Eiji Tsuburaya, once again. I arrived too late to visit the Museum in Sukagawa but I did get a chance to wander around places I'd never seen before. Such as this big building with a Ultra-bus outside.

There were several statues around though not a sole to talk to. Must have been closing time.

I snapped a pic with a friend and reminisced with a few of his pals on the street.

Inside the City Centre is a library and a few more statues. Such as, Baltan 

King Joe, 

and Red King, who isn't red (?).

I popped into a few neighbouring shops that were still open and looked at their wares.

So much cool stuff though all I picked up were a couple of Post Cards and some Apple Juice.

I'll definitely return there someday.

So, onto Fukushima's first Yokai which alphabetically is Akateko. 

As you can see, it's a red disembodied child's hand that dangles from Japan's honey lotus trees.

Akateko drops down from trees as people pass underneath them. Aside from giving its victims a nasty surprise and the general creepiness of a disembodied red child’s hand, it is not known for causing any great harm.

Most Akateko are from Aomori, though some have their roots in Fukushima and Kagawa Prefectures as well. 

These Akateko sometimes work together with another yokai called Aka-ashi. They grab at the feet of pedestrians, causing them to stumble and fall. It has also been suggested that Akateko and Aka-ashi are two forms of the same yokai.

She has gained some popularity of late and even stars in a videogame.

I found another Junji Ito book, this time something called Gyo, about stinky fish with metal legs that attack. Here's a few representative pages.

This is near the end of book One. I dunno what else transpires, I didn't buy any other volumes. There is an Anime I may track down.

I don't have many fish to choose from though I did catch this Pokémon critter called a Clodsire. It seems to be more amphibious (Giant Salamander) than piscine but it is cuddly.

 This fellow Countdown blogger, Orrin Grey, has some interesting articles on his site so go check him out.