Ryōmen Sukuna
Ryōmen Sukuna
Ryōmen Sukuna Seen Through Official History and Temple Tradition
Demons & GiantsHida Province (present-day northern Gifu Prefecture); Hida Senkōji and Zenkyūji; Nichiryūbu-ji in Mino Province
An extraordinary figure from Hida Province described in the Nihon Shoki as having one body, two faces, and four hands that used bow and arrows. After being put to death by Naniwa no Neko Takefurukuma for defying the imperial command and plundering the people, Sukuna was remembered in Hida and Mino traditions as Senkōji’s founder, Zenkyūji’s manifestation of Kannon, and Nichiryūbu-ji’s dragon-defeating figure. Enkū’s devotional image sets the two faces side by side.