Ryōmen-sukuna

※This story is one of the inspirations behind Ryomen Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen.

452 ：Part 1：2005/09/21(水) 16:10:58 ID:GJUzoiep0
I work in the construction industry, and recently, I was assigned to demolish an old temple in Iwate Prefecture.
It was a temple that no one used anymore.
While we were tearing down the temple, one of my coworkers called me over. "Hey, come here for a second," he said.
When I got there, I saw a long, blackened wooden box lying at his feet.
I asked, "What's this?"
He said, "I'm not sure... It was in a sealed room at the back of the main hall. I'll call the company managing this site and ask them."

The box was about two meters long. It looked extremely old, and the wood was probably rotting.
There was a piece of white paper stuck to the surface with some writing on it.
I could tell it was very old writing, and it seemed to include some Sanskrit characters, but the paper was so tattered that it was almost unreadable.
The only part we could barely make out said something like:
『In the year Taisho ??, in July, by means of a ritual, Ryōmen-sukuna was sealed within.』
The box was nailed shut, so we couldn't open it.
The management company said, "We'll ask the former head priest tomorrow," so for that day, we decided to leave the box in a nearby prefab building.

453 ：Part 2：2005/09/21(水) 16:31:26 ID:GJUzoiep0
The next day, before arriving at the demolition site, I got a call from the company.
The manager said,
"About that wooden box... the former head priest is extremely upset, yelling 'Never open it!!'
He said he'll come and take it himself, so please wait."

I thought I should call the site supervisor before arriving, so I said,
"Hey, about that box from yesterday..."
The supervisor said,
"Oh, that! You know the two Chinese workers (exchange students) you're employing?
They opened it without permission! Please come quickly."
I had a really bad feeling and rushed to the site.

Around the prefab building, a small crowd of 5–6 people had gathered.
The two Chinese workers were sitting in front of the building, staring blankly.
The supervisor said,
"Apparently they opened it last night, messing around for fun.
The real problem is what's inside... could you take a look?"

To put it bluntly, there was something like a mummified human, standing in a box, with its hands raised like a boxer.
But what was bizarre... was that it had two heads.
At first, I thought it might be something like conjoined twins or a fake model.

The supervisor added,
"After seeing this, they must've been so shocked — these two won't speak a word."
No matter how much we tried talking to them (they usually spoke decent Japanese), they remained completely catatonic.

459 ：Part 3：2005/09/21(水) 17:07:49 ID:GJUzoiep0
Oh, I forgot to mention — the mummy had two heads joined at the sides, four arms (two on each side), and two legs like normal.
It was such an abnormal form.
I've seen plenty of photos of deformities online and on 2ch, so while I was surprised, I figured, "Ah, must be a deformity or some fake."

Later, we decided to drive the two Chinese workers to a hospital.
While discussing whether we should contact the police, the former head priest (over 80 years old) showed up, driven by his son.
The first thing he shouted was,
"You opened it!! You idiots, once you open it, it's over!!"
We were stunned by his sheer anger.
Then he turned and started yelling at his son.
He spoke in a heavy Iwate dialect, but I'll write it in standard Japanese:

"You promised to send Ryōmen-sukuna to that temple in Kyoto!
You didn't send it, you fool! Idiot!"

The old man’s shouting was unbelievably powerful for someone over 80.
He said,
"Who opened it? The hospital? Those people are probably beyond saving, but I'll at least purify the rest of you."

Honestly, we were scared, so we just went along with whatever he did.
He chanted some sutra-like thing, and hit our backs and shoulders pretty hard with a scripture scroll.
It lasted for about 30 minutes.

The head priest loaded the wooden box into his car, and as he left, he said:
"I feel sorry for you... but you won't live long."

Afterward, one of the two Chinese workers died from a heart attack that even the doctors couldn't explain, and the other was transferred to a mental hospital.
Three of the demolition workers came down with mysterious high fevers.
As for me, I stepped on a nail and had to get five stitches.
I still don't know the full story, but in my opinion,
that thing was a real human deformity — someone who died harboring deep resentment from discrimination.
The expression on its face was terrifying.
There used to be a buraku settlement in that area, so maybe that has something to do with it.
Or maybe not.
Anyway, I hope I can still live a long life.

468 ：Part 3：2005/09/21(水) 17:40:58 ID:J0sPTefW0
Since I sometimes browse the occult board, I was really curious about the whole situation.
I tried contacting the head priest multiple times to find out the truth, but he completely ignored me.
However, I managed to get in touch with his son (he’s over 50 and runs a real estate business).
He’s a relatively cheerful and flashy guy, so I thought maybe I could get some information out of him.
I made an appointment to go drinking with him late tonight.
If I find anything out, I’ll post it tomorrow.

476 ：Anonymous：2005/09/21(水) 18:24:34 ID:K2+tPFpq0
Regarding Ryōmen-sukuna — I remember seeing it appear in the manga "Munakata Kyōju Denkikō".
It suggested that the Sukuna people were likely foreigners who came to ancient Japan and brought culture with them.
This led to the formation of culture in the Izumo region.
The legend of the White Rabbit of Inaba and the story of Ōkuninushi's nation-building were likely based on this influence.
Later, the Yamato court invaded Izumo, and the Sukuna people fled, eventually arriving in what is now the Hida region.

According to the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan),
there was a monster called Sukuna in Hida who killed people, and soldiers were sent to defeat it.
In other words, "Sukuna" might refer to foreigners who brought culture to Japan before the Yamato era —
possibly ancient Indian metallurgists who introduced ironworking technology.
The manga said that in a cave found somewhere in Izumo, they discovered a statue of Ryōmen-sukuna.

477 ：476：2005/09/21(水) 18:40:24 ID:K2+tPFpq0
It was written that the Sukuna people came to Japan on a "Rama ship" (Kagami no Fune),
a boat that gleamed black like a mirror.
"Rama" supposedly refers to a type of ebony wood.
Considering the story of the long blackened wooden box, maybe that was "Rama" too...?

If that's the case, perhaps Ryōmen-sukuna was a descendant of the Sukuna people who fled and ended up in Iwate.
...Though I realize this might not quite fit the typical vibe of the occult board, I thought I’d write it anyway.

491 ：452：2005/09/21(水) 22:27:34 ID:ERc7KoX60
Sorry.
At the last moment, he said something like, "Actually, meeting directly might not be a good idea..."
So I suggested, "Then at least by phone?" and under the condition that we could talk "as much as possible,"
I managed to get some information.
We talked for about 30 minutes — he was actually a pretty talkative guy.
Here’s a summary of the main points:

Son: "Sorry about this. My dad really warned me not to talk. Honestly, even this phone call is risky."
Me: "No, it’s me who’s pushing. By the way, what exactly was that thing?"
Son: "It was a deformed human who had been exhibited at a sideshow during the Taishō era."
Me: "So, they lived in that fused state, like conjoined twins?"
Son: "Yeah. Apparently, they lived in a certain buraku settlement in Iwate for a few years after birth,
but their parents, struggling to survive, sold them to human traffickers.
That’s how they ended up in the sideshow."

Me: "I see... but why was it mummified like that?"
Son: "Strictly speaking, it became a sokushinbutsu (a self-mummified monk)."
Me: "Wait, you mean they chose to become that?"
Son: "...Hey, you’re probably going to tell someone about this, right?"
Me: "Honestly... yes, I want to."
Son: "Good, you're honest. (laughs) Well, I’m not going to tell you everything, but...
It wasn’t voluntary.
At the time, there was a crazy cult, way worse than anything today.
Please don’t ask for the name. I think they're still quietly active."

Me: "Would I recognize the cult if you told me the name?"
Son: "No way, (laughs) it was an extremely secretive, real heretical sect."
Me: "I see..."

499 ：Part 2：2005/09/21(水) 23:25:00 ID:ERc7KoX60
Son: "The leader of that cult was insane. He only practiced geho (forbidden magic)."
Me: "What’s geho?"
Son: "In simple terms, it's doing things you're absolutely not supposed to do.
Recently, the Shingon Tachikawa school got bashed as a heresy, but this was way beyond that."

Me: "...Like what, specifically?"
Son: "There are no surviving documents, fake names were used, and he was never a public figure.
Even if the cult exists today, it’s probably completely different.
Still, I’ll tell you the name:
Mononobe Tengoku. That was the leader's alias."

Me: "Mononobe Tengoku. Definitely a fake name, right?"
Son: "Yeah, definitely fake.
Apparently, this Tengoku guy went to the sideshow and paid a fortune to buy several deformed people,
including the conjoined twins."

Me: "...And then?"
Son: "Do you know what kodoku is? It’s an old curse involving venomous insects."
Me: "You put a bunch of poisonous bugs in a jar, let them fight, and use the survivor for magic, right? (I saw it in a manga once, lol)"
Son: "Exactly! I'm impressed you know that."

Me: "Yeah, well... and then?"
Son: "Tengoku did that — but with humans."
Me: "You mean he locked humans together in a room!? That's insane."
Son: "(Sounding a bit annoyed) Look, I’m just repeating what my father told me.
I don’t believe 100% either.
Want me to stop?"

Me: "Sorry! Please continue."
Son: "Okay.
So he confined several deformed people in some underground room — maybe at the cult headquarters —
and forced them to fight for survival.
Eventually, only the conjoined twins survived."

Me: "How long were they locked up?"
Son: "I don't know the exact details,
but it was long enough that they had to eat the flesh of the others and even their own waste to survive.
You can imagine."

Me: "Honestly, I’d rather not imagine..."

503 ：Part 3：2005/09/21(水) 23:47:39 ID:ERc7KoX60
Son: "It seems that Tengoku had rigged it from the beginning so the conjoined twins would survive.
He injured the others beforehand, using knives or something, leaving them half-dead.
They were deformed, like statues of Asura —
I guess Tengoku was drawn to their 'divine' (or 'cursed') appearance."

Me: "I see..."
Son: "But even though they survived, Tengoku only saw them as tools.
He immediately isolated them again, locked them alone, and left them to starve to death.
Then he embalmed them and turned them into a sokushinbutsu."

Me: "So that’s the creation of Ryōmen-sukuna?"

※Unlike the detailed explanation from >>476,
the son said:

"In ancient mythology, there was a monster called Ryōmen-sukuna — a being with two faces and four arms.
So we decided to call the conjoined twins by that name."

Me: "I see..."
Son: "Tengoku made Ryōmen-sukuna the cult's principal deity. As a curse Buddha (jubutsu).
He believed it was a terrifying figure that could kill others through curses — maybe even curse and kill large groups of people."

Me: "Who was the target of the curse?"
Son: "...The nation itself, according to my father."
Me: "Japan as a whole? Tengoku was completely insane."
Son: "Yeah, he probably was. But it wasn’t just about the curse.
Inside Ryōmen-sukuna's belly, he placed something..."

Me: "What was it?"
Son: "The bones of ancient people — rebels who had been crushed by the Yamato court, considered traitors at the time.
He ground their bones into powder and placed it inside."

Me: "Where did he even get those...!?"
Son: "You know when ancient ruins and graves get excavated, right?
Security back then was pretty lax, so apparently he stole them from those sites."

[kijinai]

511 ：Part 4：2005/09/22(木) 00:13:22 ID:mdYgh3LB0
Me: "It's hard to believe this story..."
Son: "I know, right? I thought so too.
But during the Taishō era, look at all the disasters that happened:

1914 (Taishō 3): Sakurajima volcanic eruption (9,600 injured)

1914 (Taishō 3): Akita earthquake (94 dead)

1914 (Taishō 3): Hōjō coal mine explosion (687 dead)

1916 (Taishō 5): Great fire in Hakodate

1917 (Taishō 6): Major flood disaster in eastern Japan (1,300 dead)

1917 (Taishō 6): Kirino coal mine explosion (361 dead)

1922 (Taishō 11): Train accident due to an avalanche in Oyashirazu (130 dead)
And then, on September 1, 1923 (Taishō 12): the Great Kantō Earthquake — 142,800 dead and missing."

Me: "So what?"
Son: "All these disasters supposedly happened in areas where Ryōmen-sukuna had been moved."
Me: "Come on! Are you saying the cult had branches all over Japan? That's just coincidence. (I actually laughed at that.)"

Son: "Yeah, it sounds ridiculous to me too.
But on the day of the worst disaster of the Taishō era — the Great Kantō Earthquake —
Tengoku died right before the quake struck."

Me: "He died?"
Son: "Suicide, apparently.
There’s a rumor he wasn't a pure-blooded Japanese, but who knows."

Me: "How did he die?"
Son: "He slit his own throat with a Japanese sword, right in front of Ryōmen-sukuna.
He even left a bloody message..."

Me: "What did it say?"

日　本　滅　ブ　ベ　シ
(Japan must perish)

515 ：Part 5：2005/09/22(木) 00:27:58 ID:mdYgh3LB0
Me: "...And that was right before the Great Kantō Earthquake?"
Son: "Exactly."
Me: "...It’s just a coincidence, right?"
Son: "Probably just coincidence."

Me: "Where were Ryōmen-sukuna and Tengoku at that time?"
Son: "Somewhere near the coastline of Sagami Bay, close to the epicenter."

Me: "...And how did Ryōmen-sukuna end up in that abandoned temple in Iwate?"
Son: "That, my father never told me."

Me: "I remember the head priest shouting something about 'why didn't you send it to the Kyoto temple?' What was that about?"

Son: "Oh, you heard that... About 30 years ago, I was supposed to inherit the temple and become a monk.
Because of my own negligence, things went wrong...
After that, the temple was abandoned for a long time."

Me: "I see... So where is Ryōmen-sukuna now?"

Son: "I have no idea.
Actually, I haven’t been able to reach my father for the past few days...
Since he took Ryōmen-sukuna back, he said strange cars have been following him."

Me: "I see...
But you originally said you wouldn't tell me everything. Why did you tell me this much?"

Son: "Remember what my father said?
'I'm sorry for you, but you won’t live long.'"

Me: "..."

Son: "Anyway, that’s it. Please don't call me again."

Me: "...Thank you very much."

This is the summary of what I heard over the phone.
To be honest, I don't believe all of it.
I'm feeling a bit sick, so I'll sign off for today.