A yokai depicted in Toriyama Sekien’s Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki as an old man with a cane who appears out on the wild plain. Sekien left its true nature “unknown,” but noted it assumes the form of an elderly man in the open fields, approaches travelers, and those who encounter it fall ill. The name likely blends baby-talk terms like “momon-ga” and “gagoji,” and has been discussed in relation to momonji—words for flying squirrels or for wild game/meat. Its abilities and origins remain unclear in folklore.
Folklore & Legends
Late-night sightings describe an old man appearing playfully in windswept, foggy moors; those who meet him are said to become sick, according to Edo-period scroll notes. Around the Kanto region, “momonji” was used in children’s speech for bogeymen in scolding phrases. Some later sources equate him with, or treat him as a variant of, the field-creature Nobuzumi/No-buzumi (often linked to the flying squirrel yokai). Specific local anecdotes or place names are not well attested.
Based on Toriyama Sekien’s image and notes, this version frames the entity as an old man–shaped specter appearing on open fields at midnight. Its name is taken as a blended form of child language like “momon-ga” and “gagoji,” embodying generalized fear of monsters. The belief that witnesses fall ill aligns with older notions that contact with the uncanny brings impurity and sickness, with no concrete acts of harm described. Early modern taboos against eating game and the euphemism “momonjii” may have encouraged its visualization through name association. Later readings place it as dwelling in mountains yet appearing at street corners to startle people, or as the city-going form of the nobusuma, but primary tradition is scant and no broad folktale type is attested. Accordingly, this version treats specifics as unclear, emphasizing its scenic traits—encounters on nighttime fields, fog, and wind—and its feared power to bring illness.
Character Profile
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The diagram below is a diagnostic evaluation chart for Iconographic and Textual Standard (Sekien Line). The higher the value of each item, the stronger that characteristic is expressed.
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