People in the Legends

Ueda Akinari

Writer and Kokugaku scholar
Japan
1734–1809

Ueda Akinari was a writer and scholar of Kokugaku (National Learning) in the mid-Edo period. He grew up in a merchant family in Osaka and also made a living as a physician.

Ugetsu Monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and Rain), published in 1776, collects nine tales of the supernatural based on Chinese and Japanese classics and is considered the masterpiece of Edo-period supernatural fiction. Its story “Shiramine” depicts the spirit of Emperor Sutoku, and “The Cauldron of Kibitsu” is based on the narukama ritual of Kibitsu Shrine in Okayama Prefecture.

Entries Related to Ueda Akinari

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Mysteries & Phenomena ★★★★★ Japan (Kagawa Prefecture)

Emperor Sutoku

The 75th emperor of Japan, of the late Heian period. Defeated in the Hogen Rebellion, he was exiled to Sanuki (Kagawa Prefecture) and died there. He is said to have vowed to become "a great demon of Japan" and turned into a tengu while still alive, and is counted with Sugawara no Michizane and Taira no Masakado as one of the Three Great Onryo of Japan.

Yokai ★★★★★ Japan

Narukama (Singing Cauldron)

A Shinto ritual at Kibitsu Shrine in Okayama Prefecture in which fortunes are told by the sound of a cauldron, and the supernatural tales around it. It is known from "The Cauldron of Kibitsu" in Ueda Akinari's Ugetsu Monogatari, and Toriyama Sekien also drew it as a cauldron yokai.

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