A dodomeki is a Japanese yōkai that’s depicted as a human woman who is cursed with having long arms covered with hundreds of bird eyes due to her habit of stealing money. It is also called the todomeki. Dodomeki were first described by the 18th century Japanese scholar Toriyama Sekien. The long arms of a dodomeki reflects the Japanese belief that a person with long arms has a tendency to steal. The bird eyes that grows on the dodomeki’s arm are a reference to the Japanese dōsen, a copper coin with a hole in the middle of it that’s commonly known as the chōmoku (Bird’s eye). The creature first appears in the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki by Toriyama Sekien. Here he states the origins of the creature are found in the Kankan-gaishi, a book which may never have existed. It may have instead been inspired by the Dōmeki (百目鬼).
Description A dodomeki is a Japanese yōkai that’s depicted as a human woman who is cursed with having long arms covered with hundreds of bird eyes due to her habit of stealing money. It is also called the todomeki. Dodomeki were first described by the 18th century Japanese scholar Toriyama Sekien. The long arms of a dodomeki reflects the Japanese belief that a person with long arms has a tendency to steal. The bird eyes that grows on the dodomeki’s arm are a reference to the Japanese dōsen, a copper coin with a hole in the middle of it that’s commonly known as the chōmoku (Bird’s eye). The creature first appears in the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki by Toriyama Sekien. Here he states the origins of the creature are found in the Kankan-gaishi, a book which may never have existed. It may have instead been inspired by the Dōmeki (百目鬼).
