An archaic image of the plague deity recognized in both court ritual and folk belief. Usually unseen, it gains force at seasonal turnings and when blossoms fall, entering through village bounds, crossroads, and riverbanks, spreading illness by seizing on household impurity and neglect. In paintings it appears as bands of oni-like or uncanny figures on the move, while tales say it stands at the door as a traveling old man or woman, disliking lapses in almsgiving or proper etiquette. Communal countermeasures include boundary festivals, rites of purification, offerings, displaying talismans, and sending off dolls, with porridge or other set foods prepared on fixed dates to ward it away. Its forms and names are not fixed, appearing in step with local customs and annual rites, so it varies by region, yet it is always told in connection with practices that “set the boundary and purge defilement.”