ItsumadeThe Death-Bringer that Cries "Itsumade": Itsumade

This version, 'The Death Herald Crying Itsumade (Until When) / Itsumaden', goes beyond being a mere physical monstrous bird, highlighting its aspect as an 'ominous bird of prophecy' that embodies the anxiety of its era's society.

In the *Taiheiki*, the appearance of this monstrous bird coincides with the political upheaval of the Kenmu Restoration (1334). The bird's cry of 'Itsumade (Until when?)' superficially incites the fear of death from plagues. However, in a literary and historical context, it acts as a political allegory, representing the agonizing cries of the common people exhausted under Emperor Go-Daigo's direct rule: 'Until when will this war and suffering continue?' In medieval literature, a monster appearing on the roof of the Emperor's palace (Shishinden) signified a warning from heaven (heavenly punishment) against the instability of royal authority and a lack of virtue.

Furthermore, the sequence of exterminating this monstrous bird strongly mirrors the 'template' of Minamoto no Yorimasa's 'Nue extermination' in *The Tale of the Heike*. The structure—an unidentified chimera appearing at the night palace, its subjugation by a master archer, and the subsequent reward from the Emperor—served as an epic device to heroicize Oki Jirozaemon Hiroari as a 'new Yorimasa', thereby decorating the authority of the Kenmu government that commanded him. However, while the Nue cried with a voice 'like a bulbul', this bird uttered the clear, human-like words 'Itsumade', imbuing it with a much more direct curse upon its era.

During the Edo period, when Toriyama Sekien drew it in his *Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki*, he added the depiction of it breathing terrifying flames from its mouth. The original text of the *Taiheiki* contains absolutely no mention of it breathing fire. This is thought to be the result of overlaying the imagery of mysterious lights flying in the night sky and the 'Kasha' (fire chariot) that carries the resentment of the dead. The visual impact of this 'flame' and 'nocturnal monstrous bird' decisively shifted its interpretation in the later Showa period toward a vengeful spirit, described as 'a monster born from the resentment emitted by abandoned corpses.'

In this version, Itsumaden is not merely a bird of prey that attacks people; it is closer to an 'arbiter' that manifests using the resentment of those who died with no one to mourn them and the distortions of society as its energy. Therefore, its cry functions as a cold herald of death, striking directly at the listener's mind more than any physical attack could, questioning: 'Until when will your fate (or your sins) hold out?'

This yokai is included in the following collections:

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