A monk-shaped yokai seen in Toriyama Sekien’s Edo-period work Konjaku Hyakki Shūi, depicted in the rain. Sekien notes it “wanders the mountains of Ōmine and Katsuragi on rainy nights, begging for alms,” portraying it as an apparition of the shugendō sacred peaks that appears on wet nights to solicit offerings. Beyond the image, its traits and origins are uncertain, and there is little evidence tying it to a specific regional oral tradition. Later writers emphasize a mendicant-monk character, but sources are limited.
Folklore & Legends
Guided by Sekien’s note, the common image is a monkly figure begging for food offerings on rainy nights in Ōmine and Katsuragi. Postwar yokai books often say it asks travelers for small amounts of food or coins, but this is frequently conflated with unrelated “Kosamebō” anecdotes from Tsugaru; scholarship treats the two lineages as unconnected. There are no well-attested tales of curses, banishment methods, self-introduction, or systematic firsthand accounts.
Yokai Cards1
Kosame-bō (Little Rain Monk) across multiple art-style decks
A reconstruction based on Toriyama Sekien’s image and brief note. It appears as a small monk drenched by rain, emerging on rainy nights in the mountains. It softly asks passersby for offerings due to a monk, but refusal does not necessarily bring harm. Its place is tied to the sacred Shugendō ranges of Ōmine and Katsuragi, yet no verified lore links it to specific temples or persons. Later sources that say it begs for food or small coins likely simplify Sekien’s term “sairyō” (offerings), with little direct oral backing. Its wandering is said to occur only on fine-threaded rainy nights, and reports from clear nights or downpours are uncertain. Methods to banish or summon it are unknown, and meetings on mountain paths are told merely as fleeting oddities.
Character Profile
This section is our own creative profile for storytelling. It is not historical fact or scholarship.
The diagram below is a diagnostic evaluation chart for Sekiens Iconography Edition. The higher the value of each item, the stronger that characteristic is expressed.
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