Tofu Kozo

Intro

Tofu Kozo is a lesser known Yokai (妖怪 meaning monster) who appears sporadically throughout history. Today, he is barely known. Yet Tofu Kozo is both unique and representative of Yokai, as he appears in liminal spaces, is not well understood, and is known through many rumors and folktales. This essay explores the manifestation and cultural meaning of Tofu Kozo.

Who is He?

Tofu Kozo (豆腐小僧) can be summarized by the translation of his name, which consists of two sets of Kanji, or Japanese characters. The first two kanji together simply translate to Tofu, a curd made from soybeans. The second two consist of the kanji which means small, and the kanji that means monk, or priest. So the compound can mean “young priest” or simply, “boy”. In the Edo time period, this boy would typically be some sort of errand runner or menial worker (Foster, 202). Thus Tofu Kozo is a Yokai that is closely related to a young human monk. In fact, some of the pictures of our Yokai you could barely tell that he was a Yokai at all (see picture to left). In many other accounts of Kozo, although still looking humanoid, he can have clawed feet, one eye, and a very long tongue. Unique to Tofu Kozo, is that he has a job, in many accounts, Kozo runs errands delivering tofu to more “major” Yokai and is almost always portrayed beuing harmless. As Michael Foster writes, “Tofu Kozo is never portrayed as being explicitly bad. Rather there is something a little lonely about him; he is often shown walking behind people who don’t seem to want to talk with him” (Foster Book of Yokai, 213).

Where and when is he from?

There has been no absolute confirmation of the very first time Tofu Kozo was created, but the earliest extant record is from the Edo period. At that time, Edo as a capital was teeming with people and many forms of Japanese-city-culture emerged. Ukiyo-e (woodblock prints), as well as kibyoshi and kusazoushi (different forms of what could be likened to early manga), were produced. A subgenre of these art forms covered more other-worldly subjects. Much was being produced about bakemono and yurei and we find Tofu Kozo first appear here alongside other Yokai. (Kabat, 1-3)

In more detail

In “江戸化物の研究” (Edo Bakemono no Kenkyu), Adam Kabat discusses the genesis of Tofu Kozo and he examines pictures from an Edo collection of prints (化競丑満鐘, 1800) that contain Tofu Kozo. This was not a Kibyoshi, but it was made at the same time, and shares many characteristics (Kabat, 3). He describes four pictures and explains the actions of the characters as well as the given expository text. There are Kappa, Tanuki, and other Yokai, and the distinct name “Tofu Kozo” appears. Drawing from the actions of the characters and the typical style of this type of art form, the conclusion Kabat makes is that Kozo was a literary creation. He was not made like other Yokai who were passed down through folk tales and told literally, but his form, explanation, and name come from Kibyoshi. He attributes this to the large quantities of usually low-quality fictional works dealing with sensational subjects “赤本” (akahon) floating around the period, and because Tofu Kozo within these mediums was able to be spread so easily, increased in popularity and became a known Yokai. Kabat also notices connections between Kozo and the Kappa (A mischievous, amphibious Yokai that loves cucumbers) within the kibyoshi created in the time close to 化競丑満鐘 that further complicate the unclear origins from which Tofu Kozo is created (Foster, Book of Yokai, 202-04). In these pictures, Tofu Kozo took the form that resembled a tofu merchant with his conical straw hat tofu platter, but also at times holding sake. The Kappa likewise would be drawn holding (and expected to be selling) sake, and the two would be compared. Also in Kabat’s findings, a merchant had a nightmare where a young Kappa and Tofu Kozo appeared to him in together in a dream and scared him greatly. (Kabat, 20）

Kabt concludes that this emergence of Tofu Kozo was not expected and can be problematic to the genealogy of this Yokai, but it shows the power “Edo’s imagination” (Kabat, 20).

Related Yokai and theories of what he evolved from

Adam Kabat relates Tofu Kozo to young Kappa, but Foster cites, and many others suggest a theory that he could have evolved from Hitotsume Kozo, a Yokai that resembles Tofu Kozo in many ways, and other theories also exist trying to explain Kozo’s creation. (Foster,213)

In（江戸化物の研究), Kabat presents his research on the Yokai of the Edo period. He draws a distinction between “older” folklore Yokai, and the Yokai created in the period of Edo. City culture (都市文化) in Edo produced many Yokai, and although the means of their creation can be similar to those of the past; whether it was some unexplainable phenomenon that birthed a Yokai or something else, these city Yokai were also created, and created in large quantities, for the purpose of personal gain. Many Kibyoshi and Kibyoshi-like books were being made and sold, and just like how the creators of pokemon games think up of new pokemon in order to sell more games, these authors created new Yokai to sell more literature (Kabat, (1-3,4-17). We do know that Tofu Kozo was one of these Yokai created within a literary context, and, although it has not been confirmed, it is thought that Tofu Kozo was created by a tofu shop owner as some sort of mascot, or a part of a marketing scheme to bring in more customers. This is a practice that is seen now in modern Japan; Yokai will be known as the “mascots” of certain towns and sometimes a statue of a Yokai will be put outside of a restaurant to attract customers.

The theory that Tofu Kozo is a derivation off of Hitotsume Kozo is an easy one to believe. Hitotsume Kozo is a yokai with one eye and sometimes one leg who, as his ‘last name’ (which is the same as Tofu Kozo’s) suggests, is a young monk who runs menial tasks and is described as being similar in behavior to Tofu Kozo. If Tofu Kozo has one eye, he could be described as Hitotsume Kozo holding a plate of Tofu, and being so similar, these two get confused and I have seen pictures blatantly of Tofu Kozo titled “Hitotsume Kozo”. Just as if you can not prove that a song was written because of the inspiration of another unless the writer explicitly announces so, it has not been proven that Tofu Kozo evolved from Hitotsume, as obvious as the evidence might seem. Tofu Kozo still remains a liminal Yokai, and his origins a mystery. (Foster, lecture)

Modern Appearances

豆

腐

小

僧

Since the Edo Period, Tofu Kozo has appeared intermittently in works in Japan and even China. Mizuki Shigeru, in his book with collections of stories and pictures of Yokai and Yurei, has a portion of an altered Tofu Kozo that still retains his base characteristics. Although the name of the Yokai appears as Hitotsume Kozo, he wears the conical hat and is seen with a long tongue out licking a plate of tofu. The presence of this story by Shigeru demonstrates the blurred lines between these two Yokai. The story is a spooky one telling about how a peddler stumbles upon Kozo and is astonished to find that he is a Yokai. This interpretation of Tofu Kozo is different from others that I have found but with all folklore, there is no set behavior of how a Yokai should be portrayed.

A T.V. show based on our Yokai, called “The Ghostly Adventures of Tofu Kozo” aired in Japan as one of the first 3D computer graphic television series by Warner Japan. The Japanese name of this show is simply “Tofu Kozo”, the main character is blatantly Tofu Kozo, and all of the many Yokai and references to Japanese folklore throughout the show are taken directly from Japanese culture, no attempt to disguise the fact is made. The characters even call themselves Yokai, and the plot revolves around the concept that Tofu Kozo is similar to humans. Unfortunately, it was not very successful and made only 4.4 million from April 29, to June 12, 2011. I cannot say whether this was because of the disinterest in Tofu Kozo himself or the show had other flaws, but according to a spotlight written about the show, there are still those interested in Kozo and reports that “‘Tofu Boy’ is still managing to attract strong interest abroad, with deals inked for China and Taiwan”. (Schilling)

Bibliography Short Story

Image sources:

Title background photo: From Mizuki Shigeru's Yokai ga-dan (水木しげるの妖怪画談), "はじめに section".

Tofu Kozo in the rain next to "Who is he?" section from Wikipedia, taken from 狂歌百物語.

3 photos next to "In more detail" section from Adam Kabat, "江戸化物の研究” (From his book; these are the referenced pictures that he draws his conclusions from that I talk about in the section)

Hitostume Kozo from Foster, Book of Yokai.

Large picture in "Modern Appearances" title from Shigeru, page 141.

"Little Ghostly Adventures of Tofu Kozo" from http://asianwiki.com/Little_Ghostly_Adventures_Of_The_Tofu_Boy

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