Sanmoto Gorozaemon (Hiroshima)

Sanmoto Gorozaemon is the demon-king (mao) of the actual-record kaidan Inou Mononoke Roku of Miyoshi, Hiroshima. The text tells of how, in Kan'en 2 (1749), the youth Inou Heitaro (later Butayu) of Miyoshi experienced thirty consecutive nights of varied yokai-apparitions in his residence, on the last of which Sanmoto Gorozaemon himself appeared, acknowledged Heitaro's courage, and withdrew. Together with Jinno Akugoro he is named as one of the two great mao of Japan. The canonical narrative places Inou Heitaro at a test of courage on Mount Hi-kuma, after which his residence is visited for thirty nights by a varied parade of yokai: a great hand, innumerable eyes, strange sounds, and processions of monsters. On the final night, Sanmoto Gorozaemon appears, acknowledges Heitaro's courage, leaves him a wooden mallet, and withdraws. The mallet is still transmitted. Manuscripts and printed editions of the Inou Mononoke Roku (late Edo to Meiji period in many forms) are the principal record; Hirata Atsutane's late-Edo commentary Inou Mononoke Roku Dan, modern strange-phenomena studies including Yumoto Koichi, and Murakami Kenji's Nihon Yokai Daijiten (Kadokawa, 2005) compile the text. The Nichibunken Strange Phenomena and Yokai Folklore Database records the case. With Jinno Akugoro as the contrasting figure within the Inou Mononoke Roku, the two mao stand in deliberate opposition. The transmitted relics and related temples remain regional cultural assets of Hiroshima and Miyoshi.