KONAKI JIJI 子泣き爺
Pronunciation: KOH-nah-kee JEE-jee
Translation: Old Man Who Cries Like a Baby
Etymology: Ko (子) means “child,” naki (泣き) means “to cry,” and jiji (爺) means “old man.”
Similar to: Ogyanaki (オギャナキ), Gogyanaki (ごギャナキ), Keshi Bōzu (芥子坊主), Poppy Boy(s)
Overview
The Konaki Jiji is a seemingly innocuous—but ultimately deadly—yōkai who hails from the southern island of Shikoku. His tale is simple and almost always the same: He kills someone who’s just done a compassionate good deed. The target is out hiking alone when they hear crying. After a brief search, they find a child and pick it up. It’s then they realize (too late) the thing they are holding is no ordinary baby—it’s the Konaki Jiji. Unable to put it down, they are soon crushed by its increasing weight.
Two similar yōkai that are also found on Shikoku are the ogyanaki and gogyanaki. (In Japan, the onomatopoeia of a baby crying isn’t “waah” but “ogya” or “gogya.”) The two names might sound similar, but in fact, the creatures they describe are quite different. The ogyanaki cries but keeps itself invisible until the last minute. When it finally shows itself, it looks up at its victim and says, “Carry me!” The gogyanaki has an entirely different persona. It is a one-legged yōkai (see the Hitotsume Kozō entry for some other one-legged yōkai) that hops around aimlessly in the mountains crying, “Gogya! Gogya!” But you don’t have to worry about it wanting to be picked up and turning you into a pile of human goo—its purpose is to predict earthquakes. Hearing and perhaps spotting a gogyanaki foretells a coming temblor.
There’s one more rare yōkai that is somewhat related to the Konaki Jiji—the Keshi Bōzu. It’s not one but rather a gang of baby yōkai that swarm up on you, crying shrilly. Once they have you cornered, they deftly shave off all your hair except the very top, leaving you completely bald save for a small patch of hair on top. You end up looking like a poppy flower after the petals have dropped. Keshi Bōzu means “Poppy Boy(s)” and was an actual hairstyle for small children back in the Edo era (1603–1867).
Background and Popular Stories
The classic tale of encountering the Konaki Jiji goes something like this. An innocent person is out walking on a path or in a field, a forest, or the mountains. Wherever they are, they’re always alone—there is never anyone nearby to help when something goes awry.
At some point during their travels, they hear a baby crying. Their first thought is that it must be a child someone has abandoned. So, they hurry toward the sound, and sure enough, they see a baby just sitting there. They go over and scoop up the mewling babe and think, Poor thing. How lucky they just happened to be passing by.
But when they heft the little one up to get a good look at its face to make sure it’s okay, they gasp.
Instead of a sweet, rosy-cheeked baby, they see the face of a wrinkled old man. That’s when they realize their predicament: This isn’t some neglected child. It’s the Konaki Jiji! They know they’re in trouble and need to get rid of the creature immediately, but when they try to set it back down, they find it’s clinging to their clothes with enormous strength. They can’t pull or pry it off. What’s worse, it starts growing heavier and heavier. It increases in weight until the pitiful, kindhearted hiker is unable to stand up and falls to their knees. They know it is just a matter of time before they are completely crushed under the Konaki Jiji.
There is another series of similar folktales that also focus on the crying of a child but have a much bleaker history. They’re based on the word mabiki (間引き), which means “to weed.” If you plant a bunch of seeds and they all come up and start to crowd each other, you must sacrifice some of those seedlings so the others have room to grow.
The word mabiki and a macabre twist on its practice were prevalent during the Edo era (1603–1867). Drought, famine, disease, and disasters were common occurrences. When things were at their worst and parents had trouble feeding their families, sometimes mabiki was practiced on babies so that other children could survive.
The ghosts of these unfortunate babies—sacrificed so their siblings could have a better chance at living—have appeared all over Japan through the years, howling in the night and causing their own kind of creepy havoc.
In Modern Stories
Manga artist Mizuki Shigeru can be credited for gathering these obscure myths and folktales about the Konaki Jiji and introducing this sinister man baby into modern pop culture via his well-loved and long-running manga and anime GeGeGe no Kitarō.
In Mizuki Shigeru’s depiction, however, the Konaki Jiji isn’t the bad guy; he’s part of the main character Kitarō’s family. This Konaki Jiji helps protect Kitarō by clinging to enemies and turning to stone. Or, sometimes, he uses his cane or his head-butting skills to foil nasty opponents. He’s also not a baby in Mizuki Shigeru’s rendering but rather a little old man who claims to be 3,100 years old.
More recently, you’ll find the little fighter in the game Nioh 2, and there, he’s grown horns!