◀ Back to the Yokaipedia PIXEL YOKAI

No.074

Inugami Gyobu

THE TANUKI GENERAL OF MATSUYAMA

Inugami Gyobu
Pixel artOriginal art by Pixel Yokai
Japanese name
隠神刑部（INUGAMIGYOBU）
Type
Animal spirit
Found in
The mountains of Matsuyama, Iyo (Ehime)
Where the legend lives
  • Ehime — Chief of the 808 tanuki of Matsuyama, said to be enshrined as Yamaguchi Reijin in the Kutani area of the city

◆ The legend

In Matsuyama, in the old province of Iyo (today's Ehime Prefecture), there once lived a great chief who commanded eight hundred and eight tanuki, or so the story goes. His name was Inugami Gyobu. He was one of the oldest and most powerful tanuki in all of Shikoku, and some tellings say he first served as a guardian of Matsuyama Castle and its lands. "Gyobu" was an old title for a government official, so this tanuki went by a very grand-sounding name.

But in the Edo period, the legend says, when a family feud broke out in the Matsuyama domain, Gyobu sided with the schemers. He led his 808 tanuki to bewitch and throw the castle into chaos, until at last he was defeated and sealed away with his followers inside a mountain cave. The tale spread through storytellers' performances and popular books, and today, when people speak of Shikoku's tanuki bosses, his is usually the first name they mention.