NURIBOTOKE

Lore

Nuribotoke belongs to the class of tsukumogami—spirits that form when man-made objects grow old, are taken for granted, and lose the reverence they once enjoyed. In this case the object is usually a lacquered household altar or a mortuary tablet—the very centerpiece of ancestor veneration.

In old picture scrolls, most often it appears as a pitch-black monk whose bulging, sagging eyes all but spill from their sockets. Those eyes became its trademark; they underscore rot and desecration, turning what was once sacred into a stark reminder of a broken duty to the family altar. Early images sometimes add odd touches: a long hair-like tuft down the back, or a silhouette that hints at a fish tail.

Nuribotoke’s sole function is to herald spiritual decay. If the butsudan—the ancestral tablets and ritual implements that bridge living and dead—is neglected or no longer receives daily offerings, the altar is said to come alive, but twisted. The creature’s appearance in the home reads as an indictment: the owners have slighted their ancestors and the Buddhist rites that honor them.