What is a sarugami?
A sarugami is a yokai in the form of an aged giant monkey living in the mountains, or a god in monkey form. It has been told of as a fearsome being that speaks human language and makes villagers offer a young girl as a sacrifice every year. Giant monkey yokai are also called hihi.
The defeat of the sarugami in Konjaku Monogatarishu
The Heian-period tale collection Konjaku Monogatarishu contains the story of the sarugami of Mimasaka Province (today’s northern Okayama Prefecture). Every year, a village girl had to be offered to the sarugami as a sacrifice. One year, to save the girl chosen, a hunter from the eastern provinces took her place and stormed the sarugami’s shrine with his trained hunting dogs. He captured the sarugami, punished it and made it swear never to demand a sacrifice again, it is said. The tale of the warrior Iwami Jutaro slaying a hihi is a well-known legend very similar to it.
Monkeys as divine messengers
On the other hand, monkeys have also been revered as messengers of the mountain gods. At Hiyoshi Taisha in Shiga Prefecture, monkeys are called masaru (“divine monkeys”) and treasured as lucky messengers, since the word sounds like “evil leaves” and “to win.” The sarugami has two faces: a fearsome yokai and a sacred messenger.
