Furi (Hiroshima)

Furi is a beast-form entity that appears with the wind, originally a strange animal recorded in Chinese natural history sources such as Li Shizhen's Bencao Gangmu (1596) as a creature of the southern mountains of China. The figure entered Japan through Edo-period natural-history works and was received as a yokai through illustration. Toriyama Sekien's Gazu Hyakki Yagyo, yo no maki (Anei 5, 1776) depicts "Furi" as a beast crouching in a tree. Terashima Ryoan's Wakan Sansai Zue (Shotoku 2, 1712) also carries a Furi entry, placing the figure between Edo natural history and yokai lore. In the Chugoku ranges and the Miyoshi basin of Hiroshima, brief mountain-pass tales link sudden gusts with the glimpse of a beast. The Edo yokai picture-scroll Ino Mononoke Roku is set in Miyoshi, framing the local Furi tradition. Murakami Kenji's Nihon Yokai Daijiten (2005) and the International Research Center for Japanese Studies Yokai Folklore Database organize the tradition.