Keukegen

Overview

Keukegen is represented as a large mound of streaming hair, with round eyes and a small mouth emerging near the top. Dense parallel lines cover the apparent body and spread outward across its outline. The figure appears beside an open sliding screen, a hanging lantern, a lidded container and several plants. Only its face remains sharply distinct from the hairy mass.

The printed label 毛羽毛現 supplies the named witness. Household objects establish the scale and location of this strange form, but the plate does not show a documented illness, a victim or a method of attack. The creature’s conspicuous hair is directly visible; theories about its effects on damp rooms or human health require additional sources. This profile preserves the historical visual pun and apparition without converting it into an unsupported medical or zoological explanation.

Origins & earliest records

Toriyama Sekien, Konjaku Hyakki Shūi (first published 1781), volume 3; the named plate was directly inspected in the digitized institutional copy. This dates a selected representation, not an earliest oral belief.

Records & interpretation

Printed label 毛羽毛現 and creature composition directly checked in the enlarged primary scan. The cursive explanatory commentary has not been fully transcribed; detailed popular narratives are excluded unless supported separately.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Konjaku Hyakki Shūi

   Toriyama Sekien · 1781

   Volume 3; IIIF canvas index 8 (zero-based); HyakkishuYiV3Tori_0009.jp2. Named illustration directly inspected.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Institutional primary-book recordKonjaku Hyakki Shūi — Smithsonian Libraries digitized volume 3Research access: 2026-10-05
2. Primary illustrated plate / institutional digitizationKeukegen (毛羽毛現) — exact inspected primary plateResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

Keukegen, named plate by Toriyama Sekien

Printed label 毛羽毛現 and the pictured composition directly inspected at enlarged resolution. Keukegen is a shaggy, round-eyed apparition almost completely covered by flowing hair. The exact image URL comes from the returned IIIF manifest, not a guessed page ID.