Onmyōji Sex, Pathos, and Grotesquery in Yumemakura Bakus Oni

The common representation of oni (goblins, demons) in Japanese folklore is of evil, monstrous supernatural creatures malevolent to living beings. However, in recent popular depictions of onmyōji [Chinese characters], and by extension Abe no Seimei [Chinese characters] (921?-1005?), in fiction, manga, and film oni are presented as lonely and misunderstood, if still monstrous, creatures. Author Yumemakura Baku [Chinese characters] (1951) situates his representations of oni [Chinese characters] jfe in the Heian [Chinese characters] period (794-1192). His characterizations of people and oni are, however, informed by a much more modern pathos, evidently very appealing to contemporary Japanese readers and viewers. At a deeper level, the current popularity of onmyōji creatures and characters may well reveal latent Japanese interests in religion and the supernatural that reflect in turn people's existential anxieties about contemporary life and also their curiosity and interest in some form of afterlife.