Gagoze (Nara)

Gagoze (also Gagoji) is the oni said to have appeared at the bell-tower of Gango-ji in Nara. The Nihon Ryoiki (Kyokai, early Kounin period, early 9th century), upper scroll tale 3, records that in the reign of Emperor Bidatsu a child of extraordinary strength (later the priest Dojo Hoshi) was born of a thunder-deity's issue, and at Gango-ji he ambushed the oni that had been killing monks nightly at the bell-tower, tearing out its hair so that it fled, never to return; the hair was said to remain caked on the wall. The name "Gango-ji" (gagoze) was thence used in the early modern period as a generic yokai-word to frighten children. The Nihon Ryoiki, upper scroll tale 3, is the principal early text; the Konjaku Monogatari-shu volume 11 carries the tale forward; medieval setsuwa collections continue the lineage. Toriyama Sekien's Gazu Hyakki Yagyo also figures the yokai as "Gango-ji." Murakami Kenji's Nihon Yokai Daijiten (Kadokawa, 2005) treats it as an independent entry, and the Nichibunken Strange Phenomena and Yokai Folklore Database also records cases. Dojo Hoshi connects with the strongman-deity images at Gango-ji and with the Nara strong-man cult.