No.038

Amanojaku

THE CONTRARY IMP

Japanese name: 天邪鬼（AMANOJAKU）
Type: Contrary imp
Found in: Villages, and beneath the feet of temple statues

◆ The legend

A twisted little imp that peers into people's hearts and then does the very opposite of what they want. Hope it goes right, and it goes left; wish it would stay, and off it goes. It can see straight into your feelings, yet it never uses that gift in a straightforward way. In folktales it appears as the villain who tricks people, and in temples as the little demon being trampled under the feet of Buddhist guardian statues.

A well-known theory traces its name to Ama-no-Sagume, a deity in Japanese mythology. True to her name, which contains the word "to search," she could search out what was in people's hearts. The myths tell how, hearing the cry of a pheasant sent down from heaven, she urged that it be shot as a bird of ill omen. Seeing into hearts, and moving people with crooked advice: that figure is said to have gradually merged into the amanojaku we know.

◆ Stories about this yokai

October 20, 2026Princess Uriko and the Feet of the Guardians: The Two Faces of the AmanojakuThe contrary imp known as the amanojaku has two famous faces: the villain who tricks a girl home alone in the folktale "Princess Uriko," and the little demon trampled beneath temple guardian statues. A gentle look at both.