Inari spirit that protects a household from evil

Oman Inari

The wife's lips move with an unfamiliar voice: "I am Oman Inari, guardian of this house." The demon still stands in the garden, but the spirit leaves one protection: Myoho.

Danger and Rarity

Combat

No direct means of harming people is recorded.

Hostility

Little or no hostility toward people is recorded.

Rarity

Known as a single, document-bound, or one-off apparition.

Overview

Oman Inari is a miraculous Inari spirit recorded in the Edo miscellany Kokon Zodan Omoide Zoshi. Around the Kyoho era, it protected the Ishino household from an inherited evil spirit by speaking through the wife.

Encounter

In the Ishino home, the wife is possessed and a demon-like figure begins to haunt her day and night. Through her mouth, the spirit identifies itself as Oman Inari and explains how to drive away the household evil.

Lore

The tale appears in "Nakahashi Inari Reigen no Koto" in Kokon Zodan Omoide Zoshi. Dates vary between Kyoho 11 and Kyoho 12 in later references, but the core is a household guardian's miracle tale.

Traits

The spirit watches over the house and instructs the family to recite the Lotus Sutra for seventeen days. Later it appears again on the way to Oji Inari and leaves the two characters Myoho as a treasure.

Basic Facts

Region: Edo, Tokyo
Place: Ishino family residence in Koishikawa
Form: Inari spirit speaking through a possessed wife

Timeline

Kyoho 11, April; variant Kyoho 12 In the Ishino household at Koishikawa, the wife is possessed and Oman Inari explains how to expel the family evil spirit.
May 15 of the same year After seventeen days of Lotus Sutra recitation, the spirit appears again and writes the characters Myoho.
Edo period Kokon Zodan Omoide Zoshi records the miracle tale in "Nakahashi Inari Reigen no Koto."