Thursday, March 1, 2012

Ushioni the Cow Demon


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Ushioni, demons with the head of a cow, appear in legends and stories all over western Japan.

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Probably the most well-known nowadays are the ushioni of Uwajima in Ehime on Shikoku.

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In the third week of July the Ushioni Matsuri takes place involving a parade of 5-8 meter long figures with these heads atop tall poles.

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In Uwajima they function as protection in a similar way to Shishi.

1 comment:

  1. Reminds me of Okinawa's Shisa. Like many things in Japan, interesting variations on a theme.

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