Uwan
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by Sawaki Suushi by Sekien Toriyama (化物之繪, c. 1700), Harry F. Bruning Collection of Japanese Books and Manuscripts, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. An is a Japanese yōkai depicted in Edo Period pictures such as the Hyakkai Zukan by Sawaki Suushi and the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Sekien Toriyama.
by Sawaki Suushi]] by Sekien Toriyama]] (化物之繪, c. 1700), Harry F. Bruning Collection of Japanese Books and Manuscripts, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.]] An is a Japanese yōkai depicted in Edo Period pictures such as the Hyakkai Zukan by Sawaki Suushi and the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Sekien Toriyama.
Concept
They were depicted to be a teeth-blackened yōkai with grotesque features who were waving both hands, and appeared to be looking threatening by raising their voice, but there was no explanatory text, so their true identity is unknown. Teeth blackening was performed in medieval Japan among males of the nobility (kuge) and warrior class (buke), so it is inferred that they may be a yōkai of someone from this class, or alternatively they may come from how monsters in Omine, Aso District, Kumamoto Prefecture are called "wanwan" and how monsters in Taniyama, Kagoshima Prefecture (now Kagoshima) are called "wan". In the background of the picture in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, there is the interpretation that they are a paranormal phenomenon that appears from the walls of a deserted residence. Also, in yōkai depictions, the uwan only has three fingers on its hands, so it is theorized that this refers to how oni have three fingers.
Notes
Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1321425675 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.