A yokai depicted by Toriyama Sekien in Hyakki Tsurezurebukuro. It appears like a creature halfway between animal and human, shown with a shallow wooden clog (asa-gutsu) set atop it. The name is understood as an ateji blend of “kutsu (clog)” and “tsura (face).” Sekien alludes to the Chinese proverb Guatian lixià (“in the melon patch, under the plum tree”) and cites a tale of a melon-field monster driven off by a talisman, suggesting this entity belongs to that type. Beyond Sekien’s illustration and citation, concrete traits or locales are uncertain and later tradition is sparse.
Folklore & Legends
Sekien quotes a Chinese-origin anecdote: “A monster appeared in a melon field and ate the melons. When monks of Lingyin Temple placed a charm in the field, the creature fled; upon it were the five characters ‘Lixià bu zheng guan’ (‘Do not adjust your hat under the plum tree’).” Kutsutsura is drawn as a counterpart to that monster. No distinct oral traditions are known across Japan; scholars only note its resemblance to a beast bearing a shallow clog seen in Muromachi-period Hyakki Yagyō picture scrolls.
A version organized from Toriyama Sekien’s anecdotes and imagery, presenting a beast-man figure bearing a symbolic clog (kutsu) to signify an animated implement. In Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro, paired with the opposing page’s Long Crown, it allegorizes the proverb “Do not put on shoes in a melon patch, nor adjust your crown beneath a plum tree,” depicting caution against suspicion through a yokai image. No concrete sightings or harms are recorded; it is loosely linked to tales of creatures that eat melons in fields, and banishment is mentioned only via talismanic precedents. No firm association with specific Japanese locales is attested, and its design likely references Muromachi-period yokai scrolls featuring beast forms bearing shallow clogs.
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 Iconographic Critical Edition. The higher the value of each item, the stronger that characteristic is expressed.
Meet your guardian yokai at the shrine
Draw an omikuji fortune and discover the yokai watching over you today.
