#abumi-guchi

[briefbestiary]

Awaiting the return of the dead, an abumi-guchi seems unlikely to ever leave its own resting place.

[archivist-crow]

Yōkai of Japan

Abumikuchi (Stirrup Mouth Demon)

In his book A Futile Bag of Illustrations of a Horde of Utensils (Gazu hyakki tsurezure bukuro) published in 1784, the painter Toriyama Sekien (1712-88) features several tsukumogami (lit. "tool spirit"), demons that become embedded in 100-year-old tools, household items, and accessories. Among them is the abumiguchi (lit. "stirrup mouth"), a small furry creature formed from the type of stirrup used on a horse's saddle in premodern Japan.

The poem states that the spirit once belonged to a warrior who was wounded in battle and is waiting for him to return. This might be the samurai Minamoto Tomonaga (1143-60), second son of Yoshitomo (1123-60), a general in the clan wars of the 1150s. According to the war epic The Tale of Heiji (Heiji mono-gatari), during the Heiji Rebellion of 1159 the Minamoto clan led by Yoshitomo were defeated by the Taira clan and Tomonaga was wounded. An arrow had pierced his left thigh making it impossible for him to step up into his horse's stirrup. As Tomonaga's condition worsened, thus jeopardizing the retreat of the Minamoto clan, he asked his father to kill him. In the early fifteenth century, the playwright Kanze Motomasa (1394?/1401?-32) wrote a Noh play about Tomonaga's final moments, but he altered the ending of the story so that Tomonaga committed suicide instead.

Text from Japanese Yokai and Other Supernatural Beings by Andreas Marks (Tuttle Publishing, 2023)

[tailing-sun]

Touhou OC: Chūgu Hiroguchi

Another hypothetical character for Faceted Imperial Treasures, this time the stage 1 boss. She’s an abumi-guchi, which is a tsukumogami born from the stirrup of a dead soldier. As is the case with most Touhou characters who have a more tragic backstory, her chipper and good-intentioned personality belies her sad past. She is one of many tsukumogami and youkai affected by the so-called “treasure incident” that is at the centre of this hypothetical fangame’s plot.

Profile

Undyingly Loyal Stirrup Youkai: Chūgu Hiroguchi 広口 忠具

Species: Abumi-guchi

Ability: Imbuing courage and safety

Theme: “Requiem for a Fallen Soldier”

“Is that you, my precious master?”

-A tsukumogami born from a dead soldier’s stirrup.

-Though a mere tool of war, she loves and misses her master dearly, but being a youkai, she probably ate their body without even realizing.

-Wants to become a treasure, in the hopes that her subsequent fame and notoriety will bring her soldier back to her.

-Even after being defeated, she offers her powers of courage and security to the heroines, and seems genuinely depressed when she’s politely declined.

Spell Cards

Stage 1 - Boss Fight

Stirrup Sign “Foot in Mouth” (E/N/H/L)

Mounted Soldier “Hobbyhorse Charge”(Easy/Normal)

Cavalry “Rocking Horse Rides Into Battle” (Hard/Lunatic)

Protect Sign “Wide-Mouthed Support” (E/N/H/L)

[lpbestiary]

Abumi-guchi are a type of tsukumogami from Japanese culture. They come from stirrups belonging to warriors who fall in battle, and their name translates as "stirrup mouth."

Once the stirrups are abandoned on the battlefield, they will transform, and having lost their purpose, wait fruitlessly in the field for a master that will never return for them.

Image source.

Monster master list.

Suggest a spook.

[yokaizin]

鳥山石燕画『百器徒然袋』より「鐙口」

An abumi-guchi as depicted in Toriyama Sekien's Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro

[o-bakemono]