Gedo (ゲド, ゲドウ, 下道, or 外道, Gedo or Gedō) is a dog or cat-like yōkai.
Appearance[]
Gedo is a orange, mammalian creature with large, pointy ears, small, round eyes, long whiskers, and a smiling mouth.
History[]
Video Games[]
- Gedo appears in GeGeGe no Kitarō: Yōkai Yokochō as an A-Rank yōkai.
Legend[]
Illustration of Gedo
Gedo is a type of tsukimono (spirit possession) from the San'in region of Chūgoku, specifically Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, and Shimane Prefecture, as well as parts of Shikokou. These spirits look and function similar to the Inugami and Kitsune-Tsuki, but aren't tied to a specific animal. The general appearance of the Gedo is that of a weasel-like creature, often about the size of a cat or mole, with gray or mottled fur.
Families that use Gedo are called gedo mochi (ゲド持ち, Gedo Owners), and are the only ones that can see the spirits. Gedo become friendly towards the gedo mochi, often bring prosperity and good luck to them. In return, gedo mochi would honor the Gedo by feeding it azuki bean rice, and would keep the spirits under the floor of the houses kitchen or barn. On the other hand, if the house of the gedo mochi falls into ruin, the Gedo grows more aggressive and willing to posses their owners. Like most tsukimono, Gedo are often used to curse and terrorize the owner’s enemies, often people who steal supplies of rice. When possessed by a Gedo (often from the spirit biting them), the person (often a woman) turns insane. If a new child is born into a gedo mochi, the Gedo multiplies by 75 if they're a girl, and follows them into marriage. As a result, women suspected of being born into gedo mochi families were mistrusted for their unnatural abilities and feared by their neighbors.
In Hibara Town, Kanoashi District, Shimane Prefecture, Gedo are said to resemble moles, possessing split mouths. In Miyoshi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Gedo have short limbs and are dark-brown in color. In Toyoura County, Yamaguchi Prefecture, the Onryō of dogs are called Inu-Gedo (犬外道). In Tokushima Prefecture, Gedo are said to be the souls of those who died untimely deaths, making frog-like "Gugugu" and "Utsu Utsu" cries. Since Gedo aren't specific to any animal, they are also often conflated with other possessing spirits. In the Genroku era book "Honcho Koji In'enshu" (本朝故事因縁集), Gedo are simply considered a synonym of Inugami, while in Miyagi Prefecture, they're considered a synonym of Kuda-Gitsune. In some areas, Gedo are considered a type of Toubyou, which is a separate type of possessing spirit from Shikokou and Chūgoku that resembles a snake.
The word "Gedo" came from the Japanese name for the Buddhist term "tīrthika", which roughly refers to heretics. As a result, these tsukimono were most likely called Gedo as an insult used by outsiders.