Ushi-no-koku Mairi (Cursing Rite at the Hour of the Ox)（OO-shee-noh-KOH-koo MY-ree）
Ushi-no-koku Mairi (Cursing Rite at the Hour of the Ox)
OO-shee-noh-KOH-koo MY-ree
Ushi-no-koku Mairi (Cursing Rite at the Hour of the Ox)
OO-shee-noh-KOH-koo MY-ree
Basic Description
A nocturnal cursing ritual performed at the Hour of the Ox (around 1–3 a.m.). The practitioner nails a straw effigy modeled after the hated target to a shrine’s sacred tree, petitioning for a deadly curse. By the Edo period the rite had a fixed costume and toolkit: white funeral garb, an iron trivet (kanawa) with lit candles worn on the head, one-toothed clogs, a mirror, and five-inch nails. Completing seven consecutive nights was said to fulfill the vow. If witnessed, the spell fails; encountering a black ox promises success—if one mounts it. Scholars trace its roots to ancient doll-substitution curses and Onmyodo katashiro rites.
Folklore & Legends
Originally called “Ushi-no-toki Mairi,” it once meant any late-night visit to pray to deities, later narrowing to a malediction rite. At Kyoto’s Kifune Shrine, traditions speak of late-night petitions coming true. The Uji ‘Hashihime’ legend and the Noh play Kanawa depict the red costume and flaming iron trivet motif. In the Edo period, the straw doll and five-inch nail became standard props. Variants across Japan feature seven-night visits, failure if seen, and encounters with a mysterious black ox; details differ, but the core pattern remains the same.
Yokai Cards1
Ushi-no-koku Mairi (Cursing Rite at the Hour of the Ox) across multiple art-style decks
A codified image of the classic Ushi-no-koku mairi centered on Edo-period etiquette. Clad in white burial garb with disheveled long hair, the practitioner inverts an iron trivet as a crown with three candles lit, hangs a mirror on the chest, and moves toward the shrine on single-toothed geta to muffle steps. At the sacred tree, a doll bearing the target’s name is pinned and a five-inch nail is hammered in each night. The witching hour is strictly the third quarter of the Ox Hour, with fulfillment said to come on the seventh night. If witnessed, the rite loses its power, so silence and care to leave no tracks are prescribed. In art, a black ox sometimes accompanies the figure; lore holds that straddling it on the final night brings success, while shrinking back means failure. Straw-doll usage became common in the early modern era, with roots in ancient scapegoat effigy piercings and Onmyodo katashiro rites. Folklore often stops short of asserting curses as real, instead telling that breaking taboos or exposure nullifies the act.
Character Profile
This section is our own creative profile for storytelling. It is not historical fact or scholarship.
relentless, brooding, rigid about procedure and taboos
Compatibility
prefers secrecy and strict taboo observance, shuns prying eyes and impurity
Abilities
focusing malefic intent by tying a name to an effigystrengthening taboos through strict timing and secrecyritualized trespass on forbidden grounds and sacred trees as a binding
Weaknesses
nullified if seen by others, loss of efficacy from flawed procedure or acting outside the appointed hour, failure tales where fear prevents straddling the black ox
Habitat
traditions around Kifune in Kyoto Prefecture, shrines and shrine groves across Japan, shrine precincts on urban fringes
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