Pantheon: Japanese
Classification: Yokai
Translation: Eyes on Hands
Habitat: Open Fields, Graveyards at Night
Alternate Names: Human bones fresh from the body
*The picture used is from the American film "Pan's Labyrinth". While not explicitly Japanese in nature, the Pale Man is based upon the Tenome legend. It's a fantastic modern rendition of the creature and also goes to show the wide reach the legend has.
Key Points
- Looks like an elderly man but has no face, eyes on its hands and eats human bones
Brief Bio
Tenome’s true nature is not known, but they are most likely the ghosts of blind men who were robbed and murdered by thugs. This explanation can be traced to a folk tale, in which a man is attacked at night by a monster with eyes on its palms but none on its face. The man flees to a nearby inn for shelter. He tells the innkeeper what he saw, and the innkeeper replies that a few days ago, a blind man was attacked and robbed out in that field. As the man lay dying in the grass, he cried out with his last breath, “If only I could have had once glace at their faces! If I only had eyes that worked — even if only on the palms of my hands…!” The old blind man’s resent-filled death caused him to be reborn as a yokai — with eyes on the palms of its hands, just as he wished.
Tenome wander through open fields or graveyards at night, hunting for tasty humans. They wait until their prey is very close before attacking. By the time one is able to recognize that they are face-to-face with not a zato but a yokai, it is often too late to escape. Tenome can run very quickly, and while their vision is not particularly strong, they have a powerful sense of smell which helps them follow their victims in the dark.
Tenome 手の目
