<- Back to Soga no Tojiko | [Back to the Table of Contents] | Forward to Nitori Kawashiro -> Part III The Past and Present of the Youkai, and Truly New Youkai

Miko | When you speak of classical youkai, things like tengu and kappa come to mind, right? In the past, they'd be living in every mountain and pond.
Marisa | There are still a bunch even now.
Kanako | In Gensokyo anyway. But they've changed a lot from the tengu and kappa of the past.
Miko | That surprised me. To think the tengu would create an advanced society, or that the kappa would have an advanced civilization... They may have the same name, but they seem like completely different youkai.
Byakuren | That's right. In the past, I was told that tengu were monks who had lost their way.
Miko | In that case, are you going to turn into a tengu too?
Byakuren | I am not lost. Rather, I think you're closer to a tengu than I am.
Miko | Oh?
| The Past and Present of the Tengu
--- | ---
Byakuren | Tengu live in mountains and cause many strange events. In the beginning, they were beings that could only think of harming humans.
Miko | Like dropping rocks on them, stealing their babies, startling them with eerie noises...
Byakuren | But once Buddhism started spreading Shugendou, tengu became objects of mountain worship. They were like spirits that alternately helped and hindered the mountain priests(*1) who were crowding the mountains for training. From the ordinary person's perspective, the monks undergoing intense training were no different from the tengu, and soon they were conflated. Because of that, modern tengu still have a monk-like appearance. 1: A Trainer of Shugendo. They are members of the mountain musical band who hangs fluffy hair-balls from their neck and play a conch horn.
Marisa | How detailed.
Byakuren | Because youkai knowledge is my specialty. Since great mountain ascetics are called hermits, I believe that there must also be tengu who have become hermits.
Marisa | Definitely, it seems like there are some hermit-like folk among the tengu.
Byakuren | Incidentally, the long-nosed tengu that humans often picture seems to have started in the Edo Period. I believe the image comes from the masks that the monks would wear while training and during rituals.
Miko | Are there any long-nosed tengu in Gensokyo? It feels like I only see crow tengu.
Kanako | The crow tengu are the newspaper reporters and deliverymen, so they're the only ones who come down from the mountain, but there are lots of other tengu deep in the mountains. The long-nosed tengu are clerks, so they don't get out much.
Miko | That's odd.
Kanako | Eh? What's odd?
Miko | The image of the long-nosed tengu is the image of Sarutahiko(*2), right? Sarutahiko is a god of guideposts, and therefore you could also consider him a god of travelers(*3), so shouldn't they have to go outside? 2: A god who appears in Japanese mythology. He is thought to be a handsome guy since he is popular of being tall and having a high nose, but the fly in the ointment is that his eyes are shining red. 3: A god that prevents evil-gods and illness from coming in through roads. He suffers from identity-disorder, because most humans can't distinguish him from a jizou statue.
Byakuren | That is odd...
Kanako | Since the current job of the long-nosed tengu is to make maps, doesn't that match the image? They've finally created the ideal guidepost system where they don't even have to go outside. They call it GPS(*4) or something. 4: Gottsui Positioning System.
Miko | What a lazy Sarutahiko (laugh).
Byakuren | Well, it's not as if they are Sarutahiko himself. In the end the tengu are probably just trying to imitate him.
Kanako | Please apologize to the real Sarutahiko.
Marisa | So because tengu have so many images associated with them, they ended up with the appearance they have now?
Byakuren | Well... no, it was only like that until the Edo Period. However, their current assembly of images is perhaps a bit different.
Marisa | Oh?
Byakuren | The tengu of the past used to help out the mountain monks with their training, and would sometimes also take a leadership role during festivals. But then because of the Westernization of Japan, folklore became superstition, shugendou gave way to secularism, and they were forgotten about along with humanity's fear of the dark. The tengu who depended on working together with humans could no longer come outside. For this reason, the existence of the youkai was endangered. This isn't limited to tengu, all youkai were...
Miko | And to deal with that crisis, Gensokyo became an isolated world.
Byakuren | That's right. I wasn't here at the time so I don't know how this came about(*5), but when Gensokyo entered its current state, youkai were released from the spell of human imagination and obtained true freedom. Those whose form was never fixed could now develop their own originality. I don't really understand what kind of transformation occurred, but probably because the tengu were originally a strictly hierarchical youkai, they've built up the kind of society they have now. 5: The birth of Gensokyo is quite new, in what the outside world would call the Meiji Era (1868-1912). Meaning a lot of youkai in Gensokyo would have been living from that period, but obviously there are no humans who know that time.
Marisa | I get it. To put it all together, in the past, youkai's forms were influenced by human imagination, but now youkai have their own originality, is that it?
Byakuren | I believe so. That's why there is currently so much variety among youkai.
| Youkai That Disappear After Birth
Miko | Hmm, wait a moment. Upon consideration, I don't think all current youkai are like that.
Marisa | What do you mean?
Miko | There should still be youkai being born from human imagination. Thinking about the origins of youkai, the process of their birth is automatic and irrational. So even things that started fictional would naturally create the conditions for a youkai.
Byakuren | I see. A youkai whose nonexistence is obvious... right?
Kanako | As expected, Ms. Miko has a good grasp of human psychology. Naturally, there are also those sorts of youkai. For example, things like the "youkai of hidden remote controls".
Marisa | Youkai of hidden remote controls?
Kanako | Even though we use it all the time, for some reason it always ends up in a place that makes no sense. It must be the work of a youkai. That type.
Everyone | What's a remote control?
Kanako | Ah, um, well, it's a small tool(*6). For an easier to understand example, how about a youkai of drowsiness? 6: I heard that a remote control is a geta. I doubt that anybody would lose a such thing though.
Byakuren | You mean when it's a time when you can't fall let yourself asleep, you suddenly get sleepy?
Kanako | Yeah, that kind of youkai is born in the outside world every day. Every time this happens, it's also born in Gensokyo.
Byakuren | But, since its substance hasn't yet been decided to the point where it would have an ego, it immediately disappears. That's what makes it different from the classical youkai who can develop their originality after being forgotten.
Kanako | That's because they're all childish prank youkai(*7) (laugh). Like the famous "whenever you drop a piece of toast it lands butter side down" youkai, or the "what you're searching for is always in the last place you look" youkai, or the "if you talk about how you're getting married before the battle, you're going to end up dying" youkai. 7: These kind of mini-youkai are collectively called Murphy's youkai.
Marisa | Um, I don't think that last one is a childish prank (sweat).
| The Youkai of the Myouren Temple
Miko | In the past, whenever a troublesome or mysterious event occurred it would become the fault of some existing youkai. And now those youkai are going around maturing and changing. If we looked into all the youkai currently in Gensokyo, they'd probably mostly be like that.
Kanako | You still some of the more classical youkai living at your temple, right?
Byakuren | Let's see... there's an umbrella tsukumogami(*8), a shore-bound ship yuurei(*9), a yamabiko proud of her loud voice(*10), and um... a giant nyuudou using nyuudou-user(*11)..... what else.... 8: Kogasa Tatara. Unknown. 9: Minamitsu Murasa. A normal youkai. 10: Kyouko Kasodani. A noisy youkai. 11: Ichirin Kumoi. A normal youkai.
Miko | Hmm.
Kanako | Well, those are pretty classical youkai.
Byakuren | Thank goodness.
Marisa | For what?
Byakuren | If they weren't classical, everyone would disappear, wouldn't they?
Marisa | I've got it. We can make them disappear by forgetting about them, right? I see, I see. I see, I see. After today I should serve Japanese ginger cooking(*12) to people. 12: A cuisine that when eaten lets you forget anything. Tastes excellent.
Byakuren | As we've said, as long as they live in Gensokyo, classical youkai won't disappear that easily...
Marisa | Damn.
Kanako | Oh yeah, about that yamabiko, hasn't she been caught up in something weird lately?
Byakuren | Eh?
Kanako | Well, until a short while ago she's been chanting sutras in a loud voice, which is pretty annoying on its own, but recently at night I've been able to hear a mysterious and strange voice shouting something that I'm pretty sure aren't sutras.
Byakuren | A mysterious and strange voice... she has a talent for repeating things like a parrot, so maybe she's just imitating someone else's strange voice?
Kanako | I dunno... they sound like someone's dying in agony.
Marisa | Oh, you're talking about Kyouko. Lately she's been up to something with a bad youkai, night after night. Something about a Youkai Punk concert(*13). 13: I rather like it. It's the roar of the soul.
Kanako | Concert? Punk?
Byakuren | Oh, that girl, it seems she fell in with the wrong crowd. If she starts bothering other people she'll be disqualified from training as a monk. I suppose I need to punish her. So, who is this bad youkai?
Marisa | Ah, a night sparrow named Mystia. Could you get her too? She's so noisy. I can't sleep.
Byakuren | I understand. If I find her, I'll punish her with all my might (laugh).
Kanako | A concert... and that kind of song. They should have practice to be on key more. If they did, it'd attract more of an audience.
Miko | That's the problem?!
Byakuren | That's right. In reading sutras, being on key and a sense of rhythm are very important. Sutra chanting has a nice feeling, right? You have to practice for that.
Marisa | Next time it's going to be a youkai sutra concert, isn't it? (sweat)
| Whether Youkai Can Train
Miko | I've been wondering, how exactly do the youkai at Myouren Temple train?
Byakuren | Let's see... In the foundation of Buddhism there are six varieties of ascetic practices known as the Six Perfections, and....
Miko | Ooh, I know these, I know these. Generosity, Discipline, Forbearance, Diligence, and um...
Byakuren | The others are Concentration and Wisdom. Now that you mention it, Ms. Miko also practiced Buddhism in the past, right?
Miko | Only publicly. Man, Buddhism sure is the best for taking hold of human nature.
Byakuren | ...Let's have a talk about that later.
Marisa | Could you explain any of this? The six whatevers?
Byakuren | The Six Perfections. "Generosity" means to give donations.
Marisa | Have you gotten anything from the temple youkai then?
Byakuren | In regards to that, there's something called Muise, which means you can fearlessly donate your entire life. Our youkai are putting that into practice.
Marisa | They attacked me though. A while ago.
Byakuren | Well, since they're still in training, please be a bit magnanimous... Next is "Discipline". No killing, no stealing, no adultery, no lying, no drinking... It's a vow to uphold those things.
Marisa | They attacked me with intent to kill though. A while ago.
Byakuren | ..."Forbearance" is to withstand humiliation or pain from others. "Diligence" is the effort exerted to continue training.
Marisa | Everyone does that, not like you have a choice.
Byakuren | "Concentration" is stabilizing your mind and cutting off doubt. "Wisdom" is seeing through to the truth.
Kanako | Those last two are pretty abstract.
Byakuren | But when you think of ascetic training, everyone always imagines people meditating while cross-legged or sitting under waterfalls. Those are are easy to understand trainings, but they lead to those last two.
Marisa | I can't see those guys doing anything like that. I feel like I often see them partying. I also recall seeing them eating meat and drinking alcohol...
Byakuren | Let's just put that out of our minds.
Miko | I think I've also seen a nyuudou partying. And things like a an umbrella ghost spinning a skull on her umbrella.
Kanako | Or a ship yuurei filling the Sanzu River ferry with water.
Byakuren | Eh? What exactly have they been doing when I'm not looking...?
Marisa | In the end, youkai are youkai.
| Youkai Who Are Denied Entry
Miko | Hey, hey, earlier you said that the youkai who joined the temple shouldn't bother people, but isn't that how youkai keep their individuality?
Byakuren | Is that so?
Miko | I mean, since most youkai are born as the enemies of humans, if they stopped bothering people there'd be nothing left.
Byakuren | Hmm, overcoming that is the purpose of the training, but... there are certainly youkai who cannot overcome it. Recently I had to refuse some youkai from joining the temple...
Marisa | Oh? This is the first I've heard of that. So it's not like any kind of youkai is OK. So, who from where?
Byakuren | The Earth Spider Ms. Yamame Kurodani and the Kasha Ms. Orin(*14), and other youkai from the underground. 14: Rin Kaenbyou. An ominous cat.
Kanako | Eh? Aren't most of the youkai at your temple from the underground?
Byakuren | Yes, but only because they were unjustly sealed down there... Originally they should have been surface youkai. They're not youkai who live underground.
Kanako | Nowadays, most of the youkai who live underground wish to live there. Disliking the rules of the surface Gensokyo, they took over the abandoned Former Hell and are enjoying it as a lawless district. Because it's a world where might makes right, I don't think they could come to understand the tentatively rule-bound temple youkai.
Marisa | Might makes right.... yeah, it definitely felt like that. The underground was terrible.
Byakuren | The earth spider I just mentioned, Ms. Yamame, said her reason for joining the temple was that "the humans that come to the temple with their worries look so delicious(*15)," and Ms. Orin said "the temple has so many graves that it's like corpse heaven." So I had to refuse them, right? (laugh) 15: She means she wants to eat humans with illnesses. Because illnesses act as seasonings. Mental illnesses are spicy.
Miko | Right? (laugh)

<- Back to Soga no Tojiko | [Back to the Table of Contents] | Forward to Nitori Kawashiro ->