Aobōzu


Aobōzu is a Japanese yōkai. Legends under this name can be found in many parts of Japan, but exactly what it is can vary. There is also a picture under this name in the picture collection Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Toriyama Sekien.

In folk legends

In legends, the aobōzu does not have a fixed image or perception in all areas and legends, and is often expressed as a kind of large human figure or large thing shaped like a bōzu. In Minabe, Hidaka District, Wakayama Prefecture, it is said that a large blue aobōzu appeared, while in Kaneyama, Ōnuma District, Fukushima Prefecture, a weasel disguised as an aobōzu and in Gifu Prefecture and Hiroshima Prefecture, a tanuki disguised as an aobōzu were said to have appeared. In Haibara District, Shizuoka Prefecture, there is also a story about aobōzu despite not having many details.
Nagano Prefecture
Shizuoka Prefecture
Okayama Prefecture
Yamaguchi Prefecture
Kagawa Prefecture

In urban legends

Starting in the Shōwa period, urban legends have been told under the name of aobōzu.
Yamagata Prefecture
Fukushima Prefecture

In the ''Gazu Hyakki Yagyō''

The picture by Sekien depicts what appears to be a one-eyed priest standing next to a thatched hut, but the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō did not come with any explanatory text, so it is unknown exactly what kind of yōkai this is, but it is considered to be based on the mehitotsu-bō depicted Edo Period pictures before Sekien, such as the Hyakkai Zukan by Sawaki Suushi.
There is the idea that "ao" can refer to immaturity, so perhaps Sekien drew an insufficiently trained priest as a yōkai.