Love the creepy side of Japan? On the surface, all that people hear about Japan is their rich culture, and how weird some of their customs and inventions are. But aside from that, there is a darker side of Japan, including their unsettling urban leg...
Tenome, which roughly translates to "eyes on hand", are bloodthirsty yōkai that have manifested from angry spirits of the blind.
The legend of Tenome was first mentioned in Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, a book on ghosts, spirits, beasts, and folklore. There were many other legends brought to light in this book that I have previously mentioned in other chapters. This includes Jorōgumo, Kappa, Yuki-onna, and Kurozuka. Besides that, its origins aren't well known.
At first, a Tenome looks like an elderly man that is blind. There are no traces of eyes on its face, but instead two unblinking eyes on the palm of its hands. Although it looks like a human, it is termed more often as a creature due to its inhumane behavior. They are known well to feed off of humans and eat their flesh.
The backstory of a Tenome is cloudy and not completely known. However, they are mainly depicted as the spirits of blind men that were robbed and brutally murdered by thieves. This is supported by a tale concerning one. In the tale, a man goes to a field and gets attacked by a creature, later identified as a Tenome. The man survives the terrifying encounter and rushes to an inn to take shelter at. While there, he talks to the innkeeper about the ordeal, to which the innkeeper mentions an incident that happened a few days ago in the field.
According to the innkeeper, an elderly blind man was walking along the country lane and passed through the field. While passing through the area, he was suddenly approached by a group of robbers. They viciously attacked him until he was battered and bruised, then left him to die. As the man laid in the grass and slowly succumbed to his injuries, he burned with anger and frustration. He cried out, "If only I could have had one glance at their faces! If only I had eyes that worked..." Then, with his cry vanishing into thin air, he died.
Festering with grief and fury, the man was reborn as a yōkai and his wishes were fulfilled; eyes were on the palms of its hands, just like he wished for before dying. With a new set of eyes and hatred on his mind, he began roaming roads and fields, looking for his attackers. Because he never saw their faces, his rage caused him to attack anyone he came across with the belief that he would find his attackers someday.
Tenome are known to hunt fields and cemeteries during the nights, looking for humans to devour and feast on. Often, they are able to use their appearances to their advantage, having sympathetic people walk towards it to offer help. By the time the person realizes the eyes on its hands, it is too late for them escape from the Tenome's clutches. They can run surprisingly quickly and have an excellent sense of smell, although they have poor eyesight. In order to see properly, the creature will hold its hands in front of its face, directing its palms forwards.
There are many tales of Tenome, a popular one being Bakemono ni Hone wo Nukareshi Hito no Koto. The tale goes as follows:
Once, a young man went on a test of courage to a graveyard at Shichijogawara. From the shadows, what seemed to be an old man approached him in silence. At first, the young man noticed his lack of eyes and assumed that he needed guidance. However, once the figure got close enough, the young man noticed the eyeballs on his palms. Frightened beyond belief, the man fled the scene and ran to a nearby temple. He came across a monk and told him about what happened, begging him for help. The monk led him to a chest and locked the lid of it to ensure his safety. Then, the monk hid as well to avoid being killed.
The Tenome entered the temple, sniffing loudly as it hunted. The man was unnerved by this, but what unsettled him further was that the creature's footsteps were slowly shuffling closer to his location. He didn't dare to breathe as the monster sniffed from right outside of his chest. Then, a loud slurping sound filled the air. It was almost like the noise of a dog sucking on an animal bone, but with darker intentions. After what seemed like an eternity, the sounds faded away and disappeared. The monk let himself out from his hiding place and was glad that they survived the encounter. However, when he opened up the chest to let the young man out, he discovered that the man was no longer inside the chest. Instead, all that was inside were loose flaps of skin. The Tenome sucked his bones and meat completely out of his body, leaving nothing but his skin behind as proof of what happened.
In the film Pan's Labyrinth, it is theorized that the Pale Man is based on Tenome as they both share eyes on their palms as well as homicidal characteristics. The picture below this paragraph is a depiction of the Pale Man. Tenome has also been referenced in Cuphead, a video game released in 2017. One of the bosses the player faces is Blind Specter, which shares a striking resemblance to Tenome.
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I'm not sure what lessons could be taught with this legend. If any of you have ideas, please let me know because so far "blind men might be cannibals that slurp out your organs" doesn't have a good ring to it.
