Wanyudo (Kyoto)

Wanyudo ("wheel priest") is an entity in the form of a flaming ox-cart wheel bearing a shaven-headed monk's face. Toriyama Sekien's Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki records that the figure rolls through the small lanes of Kyoto, attacking those who see it. Representative tales say that at night a fire-wheel comes rolling along the alleys muttering "kata-guruma, kata-guruma" (half wheel, half wheel); anyone who looks has their spirit drawn out or invites demons into the house. A charm, "Here is the village of Shobo" (Shoboshin no sato), written on a slip and posted at the door, was said to ward off the calamity. The figure connects with the hi-no-kuruma, a fire cart of hell carrying the sinful dead, in later belief. Toriyama Sekien's Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki (Anei 8, 1779) is the primary textual source; Edo ukiyo-e, kaidan, and later yokai studies refer to it. Murakami Kenji's Nihon Yokai Daijiten (Kadokawa, 2005) treats it as a discrete entry, and the International Research Center for Japanese Studies Yokai Folklore Database also records it.