Variations: Horned Turban Shell Demon
The Sazae-oni was first formally described by Toriyama Sekien in his first volume on “The Illustrated Horde of Haunted Housewares”. He gives it a philosophical origin, stating that if sparrows become shells and moles become quails, surely it was possible for a sazae – a horned turban shell – to become an oni. So he dreamed.
Reference is made to the 72 Seasons, namely a mid-October season where “sparrows become clams” and a mid-April season where “moles emerge as quails”. The former is based on an old wives’ tale that sparrows become clams to hibernate in winter, while the latter is a poetic description of animals coming out of hibernation.
Sekien’s illustration shows a sinuous sluglike creature with humanoid arms emerging from a large horned turban shell. The head is a spiky shell with protruding eyeballs, and seaweed is draped around the neck.
References
Sekien, T.; Alt, M. and Yoda, H. eds. (2017) Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien. Dover Publications, New York.
A Book of Creatures 
Interesting! Isn’t there also information about Sazae Oni biting off pirates’ … *ahem* golden balls? And have somewhat siren-like behaviour? Or is that from sourceless Mathew Meyer’s imagination? I mean he drew them with breasts after all … but there was definitely a somewhat female element to the yōkai according to his entry over at yokai.com (he doesn’t individually cite sources though as far as I know) …
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I have no idea where that came from, I can’t read Japanese so I cannot dig further into or comment on those. The only thing I have is an annotated English translation of Toriyama Sekien’s books and that is my only source. For what it’s worth, Shigeru Mizuki’s sazae-oni isn’t especially female either.
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Have you tried asking him for sources?
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It’s fine, I leave the yokai for those qualified to write on them in detail.
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I was asking the person who said he didn’t have any sources
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The sources are given in his books…
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I heard you like shells, so I put shells inside of shells.
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His posture reminds me of a ferret. Hee hee.
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You don’t usually see a monster who is not just phallic in one direction, but in both.
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Oh look it’s nightmare Slowking
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why no mermaid category?
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Probably should have one…
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You already do. I am just saying this should be in it.
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Oh.
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Could this be the inspiration for the digimon Shellmon? Please look at it and tell me I’m right, this would be such a nice find.
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It absolutely is, Digimon and Pokemon take a lot of inspiration from Japanese folklore. It’s also the inspiration for Slowbro!
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