A hawk-like monster, trailing flames, which appears in the
Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro. True to its name, its limbs appear to be burning bundles of straw or sticks. Sekien gives the following explanation:
松明の名はあれども、深山幽谷の杉の木ずえをすみかとなせる天狗つぶての石より出る
光にやと、夢心におもひぬ。
Although its name is Taimatsu, it is the light which comes from the rocks thrown by the tengu which makes its home in the sugi
trees of deep mountain valleys, I did not see it in my dreaming heart.
A similar creature, which may have been the basis for Sekien's creation, appears in some picture scrolls, such as a
Hyakki Yakō Emaki in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, and the
Ihon Hyakki Yakō Zu, where it is labeled
ma-en.
Citations
Inada p. 288, Murakami 2005 p. 197.