Abumi-guchi
Encyclopedia
An is a strange, furry yōkai
Yōkai
are a class of supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore. The word yōkai is made up of the kanji for "otherworldly" and "weird". Yōkai range eclectically from the malevolent to the mischievous, or occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them...
, or Japanese monster
Monster
A monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...
, that is illustrated in Sekien Toriyama's Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro
Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro
is the fourth book of Japanese artist Toriyama Sekien's famous Gazu Hyakki Yakō series, published ca. 1781. These books are supernatural bestiaries, collections of ghosts, spirits, spooks and monsters, many of which Toriyama based on literature, folklore, other artwork...
. It is a type of tsukumogami
Tsukumogami
Understood by many Western scholars as a type of Japanese yōkai, the Tsukumogami was a concept popular in Japanese folklore as far back as the tenth century, used in the spread of Shingon Buddhism...
formed from a stirrup
Stirrup
A stirrup is a light frame or ring that holds the foot of a rider, attached to the saddle by a strap, often called a stirrup leather. Stirrups are usually paired and are used to aid in mounting and as a support while using a riding animal...
, usually one that once belonged to a fallen soldier. It is said that the abumi-guchi will wait where it lies for the fallen soldier to return.