Shōkira (or Shōkera) 精螻蛄

Shōkira (精螻蛄), the “Mole Cricket Spirit,” is the silent enforcer of the Kōshin night—a blue-skinned demon that peers through windows once every sixty days to find those who have sinned and hidden their shame from the gods.

Meaning and Origin

The name Shōkera comes from the kanji for “Mole Cricket Spirit.”

His origin is tied to the Kōshin Faith, an esoteric blend of Taoism and Japanese folk belief. According to this tradition, three spiritual “insects” (Sanshi) live inside every human body. Once every sixty nights (the Kōshin-machi), while the human host sleeps, these insects leave the body to travel to the heavens and report the host’s sins to the Great Deity Shōmen Kongō. If the reports are bad, the human’s life is shortened.

Characteristics

Shōkira is depicted as a muscular, dark-skinned (often blue or green) demon with three-toed feet and large, predatory claws. He is almost always shown in a crouching position on top of a thatched roof, leaning over the eaves to peer into a window.

He is not a spirit of the woods or mountains; he is a spirit of the roof and the ceiling. He represents the “Eye in the Sky,” the idea that even your most private nights are watched. He carries a tablet or a brush to record what he sees, and he is said to have the ability to smell a “shameful heart” even through thick wooden walls.

Legends

The “legend” of Shōkira is actually a survival ritual. To prevent the Sanshi insects from leaving your body and reporting your sins, you had to stay awake for the entire 60th night. People would gather for “Kōshin parties,” drinking tea and telling stories until dawn.

Shōkira’s role was to hunt those who tried to “cheat” the system by sleeping anyway. If he saw a person sleeping on the Kōshin night, he would drop from the roof and viciously attack them, or he would whisper to the Sanshi insects, telling them to report even the smallest white lie as a mortal sin. He represents the “Unblinking Justice” of the universe—the belief that you can never truly hide who you are from the shadows on your own roof.