Jun 10, 2013
鐙口 (あぶみくち) or Abumi-kuchi = (Stirrup Mouth)
A strange furry creature formed from a stirrup, illustrated in the Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro. The accompanying poem suggests that it once belonged to a man who has fallen in battle, and now shares in his misfortune:
膝の口をのぶかにいさせてあぶみを越して おりたゝんとすれども、なんぎの手なればと、 おなじくうたふと、夢心におぼへぬ。
translation: An arrow is shot deep into the knee, and he falls from his stirrups, and the hand of suffering is dealt, and such a song is sung, I saw it not in my dreaming mind. Citations 1. Murakami 2005 p. 17 2. Inada p. 287
information from obakemono.com