is a Japanese yà Âkai that appears in yà Âkai emaki in the Edo Period, among other places. They are depicted as a beast with clawed hands and a very hairy face covered with dark clouds, but its full body appearance is unknown. In its opened mouth is a big tongue. Sekien did not attach an explanatory note about this yà Âkai, but its origins are identifiable as Akaguchi which appears in older Edo period yà Âkai scrolls such as Bakemono no e. This yà Âkai is known interchangeably as Akaguchi and Akashita.
Usually, they are not depicted accompanied with anything other than a black cloud, but in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyà  by Toriyama Sekien, they are depicted on top of a sluice. However, there is no accompanying explanation, so details about it are unknown. Concerning the name "akashita", the modern literary scholar Atsunobu Inada among others suggest that they are related to the shakuzetsujin (赤èÂÂç¥Â) and shakuzetsunichi (赤èÂÂæÂÂ¥), who protect the western gate of Tai Sui (Jupiter) as explained by onmyà Âdà Â.
In the Edo Period e-sugoroku, the Jikkai Sugoroku (at the National Diet Library) and the emakimono Hyakki Yagyà  Emaki (Oda Gà Âchà Â, 1832), they are depicted by the name "akashita", but in depictions closer to the later mentioned "Akaguchi", it is depicted differently from Sekien's picture, and there is no depiction of a sluice.
Concerning how there is a sluice depicted in the picture in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyà  by Toriyama Sekien, the yà Âkai researcher Katsumi Tada and yà Âkai journalist Kenji Murakami posit that this is one kind of picture explanation by Sekien. According to them, the "aka" (red) can be understood as "aka" (æ·¦, bilge water, the water that collects on the bottom of ships) and "aka" (å¢, filth), so it is a metaphor for dirtiness, and the "shita" (tongue) can be understood as "shita" (ä¸Â, down, in this case meaning the depths of one's mind), so it can be understood as the popular saying "the tongue (shita) is the gate to calamities", so the akashita is a type of rasetsu god, so the picture is likely saying that as long as one's mouth is open, one will never be blessed with good fortune.
In the Edo Period yà Âkai emaki Hyakkai Zukan (Sawaki Suushi, 1737), the Bakemonozukushi (author and year unknown, held by Kagaya Rei), the Bakemono Emaki (author and year unknown, at the Kawasaki City Museum), there is a yà Âkai depicted called the "akaguchi" (赤å£ or ãÂÂãÂÂå£) that appears to be modeled after the "akashita" drawn by Sekien. They have a wide open red mouth (including the tongue), the clawed hands, the hairy face, which are points of commonality with the beast depicted as covered with black clouds in the Jikkai Sugoroku and the "akashita" of Sekien. They do not depict a sluice.
According to the Edo Period writing Kiyà « Shà Âran (å¬ÂéÂÂç¬Â覧), it can be seen that one of the yà Âkai that it notes is depicted in the Bakemono E (Ã¥ÂÂç©絵) drawn by Kà Âhà Âgen Motonobu is one by the name of "akaguchi."
Concerning "akaguchi", Katsumi Tada favors the idea that they come from the shakkà  / shakku (赤å£) of the rokuyà  (å ÂæÂÂ, a system of lucky and unlucky days).
In literature starting from Shà Âwa, several explanations about the akashita have come up in publications, but other than by appearance, they all appear unrelated to the one in the emakimono and by Sekien. The following is a rough summary of these.
In the Yà Âkai Gadan Zenshà « Nihon Hen (å¦Âæªç»è«Âå ¨é æÂ¥æ¬ç¯Â) (1929) by the folklore scholar Morihiko Fujisawa, besides Sekien's picture of the "akashita" published for illustration, there is the following caption:
essentially stating that it washes away the fields of evildoers. This caption does not come from Sekien or any old literature, but is Fujisawa's own original interpretation of the picture.
In the illustrated yà Âkai references Yà Âkai Daizukan (å¦Âæª大å³éÂÂ, Big Illustrated Yà Âkai Reference) (1973) and Yà Âkai Daizenka (å¦Âæª大堨ç§Â) among others by Arifumi Satà Â, there is the explanation that they are a yà Âkai that would stick out their tongues from the red sky on evenings and kidnap people. They state that the families of those people kidnapped by an akashita would later prosper, among other things, but nothing that indicates such a legend exists can be found from Sekien or old literature.
The Tà Âhoku Kaidan no Tabi (1974) by Norio Yamada writes that an Akaguchi appeared at a farming village in the Tsugaru region in the Aomori Prefecture and resolved a dispute over water for the fields. Starting in the Shà Âwa era, the story about an Akaguchi appearing in the Tsugaru region was widely used in yà Âkai illustrated references or yà Âkai themed books among other publications, and all of them refer back to this story.
It is understood that the story about an akashita resolving a water dispute is based on a legend at this place of a water dispute that got resolved, but with Sekien's "akashita" later retrofitted into the story.
Akaguchi has association with the use of water in farming country. Though some sources say Akaguchi is simply an omen of bad luck, others represent Akaguchi as a protective spirit. During droughts, water is carefully controlled and distributed equally to farmers in the area. As a form of warfare, some would siphon above the allotted amount of water for their personal fields. This was a great crime and could cost neighboring farmers their livelihood. It was believed that the perpetrators of this crime not punished by law would be punished by Akaguchi. If these criminals came near the floodgate Akaguchi would appear and swallow them, scooping them up with its giant red tongue.
The name Akashita may be correlated to which guards the western gate of Jupiter. It may also be related to the , a day of bad luck in Onmyà Âdà Â.