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What is
Oni-no-Kyoto x Cycling Around Kyoto Challenge?

This is a cycling event aiming to conquer the cycling around Kyoto route while exploring spots associated with Japan's Oni legends.
Join us on this unique journey through Kyoto!

Event Details(Japanese Page)

Character

Shuten-doji(酒呑童子)

He is a cheerful and sociable person who loves to drink, but he is always aloof, a shadowy young man with an eerie quality that makes it hard to read what he is thinking behind the scenes.Heavy drinker.

Gedomaru (外道丸)* is a boy who, after being expelled from a temple, arrives at Oeyama after a long and arduous journey.
He felt a deep sense of gratitude toward the blacksmiths of Oeyama who accepted him as a dying stranger, and he vowed to vanquish any misfortune that might befall Oeyama.
Gedomaru lived a tranquil life as a blacksmith, leveraging the monstrous strength he possessed. However, when his village fell victim to a band of thieves, and he lost his benefactor, he rallied the youth to defend Mt. Oe and began hunting down those who sought to harm the village.
While concealing his face behind a flamboyant war costume and an Oni mask, he wielded a hammer so heavy that no ordinary person could lift, smashing everything in his path.
He was feared as the most dreaded Oni, and a team was formed to defeat them, but one by one, they were repulsed.

They only remembers the scent of sake. From the testimony of survivors, who recalled a little boy instead of the expected giant, he came to be known as the "Oni of Oeyama", or "Shuten-doji", over time.

Thus, Shuten-doji protected the village for a long time, but was eventually deceived by Minamoto no Yorimitsu and met an untimely end.
And now, having learned that history has been altered, with the Oni being falsely depicted as evil, Shuten-doji has returned after a millennium to convey the truth.

*Gedomaru is the childhood name of Shuten-doji.

Ibaraki-doji(茨木童子)

A Oni who is close to and works together with Shuten-doji.
Usually takes on a small form.

He was originally one of the miners living in the mountains, headed by Shuten-doji.
Later, he escaped Yorimitsu's attack on Mount Oe and came to Heian-kyo.
Ibaraki-doji, waiting for an opportunity to humiliate Yorimitsu, ambushed Yorimitsu's retainer, Watanabe no Tsuna, at Ichijo Modoribashi Bridge.
Ibaraki-doji disguised himself as a Kijo(demoness) and met Tsuna, but when he took on the form of a Oni and grabbed Tsuna, his arm was cut off by a Higekiri a treasured sword.

He is good friends with Shuten-doji and has been working together with him since his resurrection in the modern age.
He is usually small in size, but has a transformable body that can grow to a gigantic size.
He treasures a bicycle given to him by Shuten-doji.

Hashihime(橋姫)

A Oni girl living in Uji.
She is winsome and jealous, but she also has a caring side.
Because of her past experiences, she cannot tolerate popular men and women.
She and Shuten-doji have been Oni friends for a long time.

Formerly the daughter of a nobleman, she became jealous when her husband was stolen from her and turned into an ogre by praying to the "Ushi no koku mairi(丑の刻参り)" at the Kifune Myojin shrine.
Cursing and killing her husband and future wife, Hashihime was feared throughout the capital and accelerated her evil deeds.
Her deeds did not last long, however, as her arm was cut off by Watanabe Tsuna, one of Yorimitsu's Four Heavenly Kings, and the capital returned to quiet night.

The resurrected Hashihime in the present day, although she has regained her composure and become somewhat milder, she is still as jealous as ever and becomes hostile when she sees a happy man and woman.
However, if she finds out that the couple is a sensible one, she will let them off the hook, saying, "You two should be happy".
However, she has not yet forgotten the bitterness she felt toward her husband and his future wife, and she is unable to control her anger when she is reminded of them, so she sometimes vent it by hitting the straw doll she is carrying on her back.
He is an old friend of Shuten-doji and seems to be interested in the bicycle he rides these days.

Ushi no koku mairi(丑の刻参り):
At the hour of the "Ushi no koku (1:00 to 3:00 a.m.)", people visit shrines and temples wearing an iron ring with three candles lit on their heads, and a straw doll in the shape of the person they wish to curse is struck against a sacred tree or other object. If the person can do this for seven days without being seen, he or she will turn into an Oni and take revenge.

Major Spots

Japanese Oni Exchange Museum

Address | 909 Busshoji, Oe-cho, Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto The nation's first museum specializing in Oni, which collects materials related to Oni from all over Japan and the world. Oni related materials and traditional performing arts are exhibited and introduced. In the garden, a huge Oni tile weighing 10t, a large Oni of Oeyama Heisei, sits and is popular as a photo spot!

Tateiwa Rock

Address | Taiza, Tango Town, Kyotango City, Kyoto The huge 20-meter-high "Tateiwa Rock" is a Oni spot that tells the second oldest " Oni Legend of Prince Maroko (麻呂子親王)" in the "Three Oni Legends of Oeyama".
Photo courtesy of Kyotango City

Kubizuka Daimyojin

Address | Oe Kutsukake-cho, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Minamoto no Yorimitsu and his men defeated Shuten-doji on Mt. Oe and were about to return triumphantly to the capital with the head, but were warned by a Jizo (Koyasu Jizo) on the roadside not to bring the impure thing into Kyoto. The head suddenly stopped moving and was buried here.

Route Map

Kyoto and the Legend of Oni

In Kyoto Prefecture, there are many legends of Oni, including the legend of Shuten-doji on Mt.Oe.
However, as we read through the legends of Oni in various parts of Kyoto Prefecture, we found that Oni are not necessarily evil, but rather, they are sad and sorrowful beings who have died an untimely death because they are "Oni".
We want more people to know the stories of these Oni, so we are organizing tours and events that trace the traces of Oni through bicycles.
Why are the "stories of Oni" passed down as legends in Kyoto?
What is the message of the legend of Oni?
See for yourself as you bike around the places of legends.