Todaiki Candlestick Oni

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toodaiki, toodai ki 灯台鬼 Demon with a candlestick 


鳥山石燕 Toriyama Sekien


- quote -
Tōdaiki “spirit candlestick”
... According to Sekien, long ago, a government minister named Karu no Daijin was sent on a mission to Tang China. This was a period of great movement of culture and ideas between China and Japan, so nothing is strange about that. However, when the envoy failed to return to Japan long after they were overdue, the minister’s son, Hitsu no Saishō, began to worry.

Hitsu no Saishō traveled to China to search for his missing father. He traveled far and wide, and in one particular location he came across something he had never seen before: a tōdaiki — a candlestick fashioned out of a living human being! By some combination of strange drugs and sorcery, the man’s ability to speak had been removed. His body was covered in tattoos, and a large candle had been placed in his head. He had been installed on a fancy little stand like a piece of furniture.

As Hitsu no Saishō looked in puzzlement at the strange sight, the human candlestick began to shed tears. Unable to speak, the man bit into he tip of his finger until it began to bleed. He scrawled out a few characters in his own blood. Upon reading them, Hitsu no Saishō realized in horror: the tōdaiki was his own father who he had come to China to search for!



The people involved in this story are real.
Hitsu no Saishō was the nickname of Fujiwara no Arikuni, a Heian period noble who lived from 943-1011 CE. Although the story about the tōdaiki is a fabrication, it’s an interesting example of where fact and folklore intersect. Because this early urban legend involved real people who were well known to educated readers, it gives the story much more weight.
- source : matthew meyer -

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藤原有国　Fujiwara no Arikuni (943 – 1011)


南条範夫 Nanjo Norio
How he found the ningen toodai 人間燈台 "human candlestick"

- quote -
The Sudden Death of Fujiwara no Sukemichi, his Son Arikuni's handling of the Death Rites;
The Debate at Emma's Palace
- Religions of Japan in Practice -- By George Joji Tanabe
- source : books.google.co.jp -


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鬼百合や蛍火とぼす灯台鬼
oniyuri ya hotarubi tobosu toodaiki

tiger lily -
a candlestick demon glows
like a firefly


- On a summer evening, the tiger lilies in the late sunshine glow almost like candlestick demons.

. Kitamura Kigin　北村季吟 . (1625 - 1705)

. oniyuri 鬼百合 tiger lily, "demon lily" .
Lilium lancifolium - kigo

. hotarubi 蛍火（ほたるび） firefly glow .
kigo for mid-summer




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- reference - 灯台鬼　-

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. Tengu 天狗と伝説 Tengu legends "Long-nosed Goblin" .

. yookai, yōkai 妖怪 Yokai monsters .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

. Mingei 民芸　Regional Folk Art from Japan .

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