Otoroshi
Frightening
other names: Odoro-odoro , Ke-ippai

A monster appearing in the Gazu Hyakki Yakō and various Edo Period yōkai picture scrolls. No description of it is known, but its name seems to be related to terms like odoro-odoroshii, an adjective describing something terrifying or eerie, as well as words like odoro-gami, a term denoting disheveled, bramble-like hair like that which covers the creature's body. Otoroshii is also a Kansai dialect corruption of the common adjective osoroshii, or "frightening".

Today, children's yōkai books often describe the otoroshi as dwelling on top of the gates to temples and shrines, waiting for impious and evil-intentioned people to pass below so that it may pounce upon them. This behavior seems to stem from a fictional account in Yamada Norio's 1974 book Tōhoku Kaidan no Tabi, and was likely inspired by Toriyama Sekien's depiction of the beast perched atop a torii gate with a bird in its claw.

Citations
Murakami 2005 p. 72, Inada p. 81, Tada 2000 p. 153.
Images:
Otoroshi おとろし
by Toriyama Sekien 鳥山石燕
from the Gazu Hyakki Yakō 画図百鬼夜行
Odoro-odoro おどろ〱
signed Toba Sōjō 鳥羽僧正
from the Bakemono Zukushi 化物づくし
Otoroshi おとろし
by Sawaki Sūshi 佐脇嵩之
from the Hyakkai Zukan 百怪図巻
Ke-ippai 毛一杯
by Oda Yoshi or 尾田淑 or Oda Yoshitarō 尾田叔太郎
from the Matsui Bunko Hyakki Yakō Emaki 松井文庫・百鬼夜行絵巻
Otoroshi おとろし
by Unknown
from the Bakemono Emaki 化物絵巻

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