Koichi
Circa 1860
An oni (a type of household demon) cowers fearfully under a straw hat, its body is tightly folded and legs crossed as it tries in vain to fit its muscular body under the flimsy shelter. Several beans pepper the improvised covering, but one has found its mark and hit its head while another has landed on an exposed wrist. Its expression is one of comically pained suffering. The hat and oni are stained dark, the beans and horns in a lighter shade.
This depiction is refers to a mamemaki cleansing ritual performed on the day before the beginning of Spring (setsubun), when roasted soy-beans are flung out of the front door to ward off evil spirits and welcome good luck, accompanied by the cry “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi! (Devils out! Fortune in!). Following this each household member eats the number of roasted beans that match their age.
The carver is not the well-known late 19th century producer of monkey netsuke, but another about whom little is known.
