Tenome

The core pictorial source (Toriyama Sekien's emaki) supplies no explanatory text; later regional setuwa and compilations supply origin narratives. In several local tales the tenome is presented as the transformed or vengeful spirit of a blind person who was killed or robbed and who, in death, acquires eyes on the palms of the hands in order to look for or at those wrongdoers. Other emaki/companion manuscripts offer variant or playful origins tied to visual-wordplay rather than a single uniform birth legend.

Typically shown as an aged, humanoid figure (often zatō-like or robed) who raises its hands to display an eyeball embedded in each palm; the face appears lacking normal eyes. Sekien-style prints place the figure in nocturnal settings (moonlit plain, grasses). Some emaki label variants teme-bōzu (手目坊主). Related motifs (distinct but comparable) include kurayami me with eyes on the fronts of the knees.

Primary folkloric motifs attest that the palm-eyes are functional: they enable the creature or transformed blind person to 'look' in darkness or to search (Iwate tale: 'these eyes seemed to be looking for something'). Regional anecdotes portray vengeful seeking behavior tied to grievance against criminals. At least one anecdote (Shokoku Hyaku Monogatari) records a gruesome act: after a victim hid in a chest, the victim was later found with all the bones removed, body reduced to skin. Modern roleplaying or film adaptations expand these traits, but such adaptations are derivative and not original folkloric documentation.