Movie
Description
Abura-Sumashi appears as a squat yōkai with a potato-shaped head, typically half-closed or closed eyes, and a gentle smile. Clad in a straw coat, he carries a large walking staff, with some depictions adding a topknot. His design echoes the Kane-kubi Bunraku puppet, occasionally incorporating its back hair and top knot.
He displays a peaceful nature, coexisting harmoniously with other yōkai and harboring no hostility toward humans. Often assisting the Kitarō family, he serves as a wise village elder figure. He enjoys shogi, regularly inviting others to play—including Konaki-Jijii and visitors—and calmly warns of dangers, such as alerting Nezumi-Otoko to Yama-Jijii.
Across adaptations, his roles vary: In manga, he emerges among protesters during The Great Yōkai Trial, later residing in GeGeGe Forest to aid the Kitarō family by extracting human-body oil or countering spells. He joins Kitarō’s journey to Jigoku (Hell), sharing crucial knowledge of the realm. Anime portrayals include him as a resident of Yōkai Apartments (1996), mayor of Yōkai Yokochō (2007), and appearing in "The Strange, Forbidden Forest" (2018), where he emerges from a tree trunk to interact with Kitarō and Neko-Musume before warning Nezumi-Otoko. Non-Kitarō media features include "NonNonBa," where he dances and sings alongside Azuki-Arai and Azuki-Hakari to entertain humans, and "The Great Yōkai War," acting as Nurarihyon’s implied second-in-command to inspect the Dai-Tengu Sword and locate Ippon-Datara using the Ungaikyō. Though initially refusing to join the war, he participates in the final battle.
His abilities encompass near-180-degree neck rotation, oil manipulation (including body transformation and target intaking), and soul transferring.
Folklore traces his origins to Amakusa in Kumamoto Prefecture as the ghost of an oil thief—punished for stealing this pre-electricity commodity from temples or shrines—known to startle travelers on the Kusazumigoe mountain pass. He appears as a minor character in "GeGeGe no Kitarō: Nippon Bakuretsu!!."
He displays a peaceful nature, coexisting harmoniously with other yōkai and harboring no hostility toward humans. Often assisting the Kitarō family, he serves as a wise village elder figure. He enjoys shogi, regularly inviting others to play—including Konaki-Jijii and visitors—and calmly warns of dangers, such as alerting Nezumi-Otoko to Yama-Jijii.
Across adaptations, his roles vary: In manga, he emerges among protesters during The Great Yōkai Trial, later residing in GeGeGe Forest to aid the Kitarō family by extracting human-body oil or countering spells. He joins Kitarō’s journey to Jigoku (Hell), sharing crucial knowledge of the realm. Anime portrayals include him as a resident of Yōkai Apartments (1996), mayor of Yōkai Yokochō (2007), and appearing in "The Strange, Forbidden Forest" (2018), where he emerges from a tree trunk to interact with Kitarō and Neko-Musume before warning Nezumi-Otoko. Non-Kitarō media features include "NonNonBa," where he dances and sings alongside Azuki-Arai and Azuki-Hakari to entertain humans, and "The Great Yōkai War," acting as Nurarihyon’s implied second-in-command to inspect the Dai-Tengu Sword and locate Ippon-Datara using the Ungaikyō. Though initially refusing to join the war, he participates in the final battle.
His abilities encompass near-180-degree neck rotation, oil manipulation (including body transformation and target intaking), and soul transferring.
Folklore traces his origins to Amakusa in Kumamoto Prefecture as the ghost of an oil thief—punished for stealing this pre-electricity commodity from temples or shrines—known to startle travelers on the Kusazumigoe mountain pass. He appears as a minor character in "GeGeGe no Kitarō: Nippon Bakuretsu!!."