Transformation of the Oni--From the Frightening and Diabolical to the Cute and Sexy

Abstract

Popularized through both oral and written Japanese folklore and religious traditions, early literary treatments of the oni rendered a hideous, demonic, ogre-like creature intent on terrorizing humans. While it is true that the shape-shifting powers of the oni made it possible for them to take on human form, their gruesome appearance would reflect their evil dispositions. The oni were often depicted with one or more horns atop their heads, wearing only a loincloth of tiger skin, and a toothy grimace that stretched from ear to ear. The oni were also feared because of their penchant for human flesh. Popular modern day literary treatments of the oni reveal several new renderings of this demon. Today's oni are much more eclectic in appearance and demeanor than their ancestral cousins. Some modern renderings even depict the oni as benign and, at times, benevolent beings. Although they are still shape shifters, today's oni sometimes assume the form of an alluring human female, exuding sexuality, sensuality, and a child-like naughtiness that is altogether absent in older mytho-historical and literary treatments. There is no doubt this change in the oni has been at least partially brought on by commercial interests imposed on writers and artists in the modern age. Moreover, the oni's transformation is reflective of Japan's own socio-economic transmutation into one of the major industrialized nations of the world. The A. delineates the oni's transformation.

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