The legend of Tenome

There was once a blind old man. One night, he was viciously attacked by a band of robbers. Unable to see an escape, or even defend himself, he was left for dead in the middle of a field. Angry, he cried out in frustration, “If only I had seen their faces! But my eyes can’t see! If only I had eyes on the palms of my hands!” This is the origin of Tenome.

The man lay dying, in pure agony and rage. Spirits of people who die in such states are almost always guaranteed to return as vengeful spirits. This man was no exception. He came back as a ghost, with eyes on the palms of his hands. He was reborn as a yokai, and became Tenome, which translates to “eyes on hands.”

Is there only one Tenome? That is up for debate. There is a belief that other blind men, robbed and murdered, have also come back as this vengeful spirit. 

The legend of Tenome was first mentioned in Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, a book on ghosts, spirits, beasts, and folklore. They look harmless, appearing at first to be an elderly old man, who happens to be blind. When approached, he reveals the eyes on the palms of his hands, and attacks. The Tenome lives on a diet of human bones, freshly taken from their victims. They run fast, and have an incredible sense of smell.

Tenome wander through villages, graveyards and open fields at night, hunting for those responsible for their demise. They hold their hands out in front of themselves to see, but since they never saw who attacked them, they kill whomever they come into contact with. 

There are many tales of Tenome. In popular culture, there’s the movie Pan’s Labyrinth. In that movie there is a character based on Tenome – The Pale Man. Today, however, we will leave you with one of the most popular tales out there.

In Shichi-jo, Kyoto, a young man was being tested for courage. He entered a graveyard. There, in the shadows he saw what appeared to be an old man. The old man silently approached him. The young man, seeing that he had no eyes, assumed he needed help. 

As the figure got closer, and the young man could see him more clearly, he saw that he had eyes on the palms of his hands, and was coming after him.

The young man took off at a sprint, racing to a nearby temple and begged the priest for sanctuary. The priest hid him inside of a long chest and locked the lid before hiding himself. 

The Tenome entered the temple moments later. The young man could hear him sniffing loudly, as though he were a hunting dog. The sniffing got closer and closer until it stopped right next to the chest he was hiding in. 

He heard strange slurping sounds, the sounds you hear when a dog is sucking on the bones of an animal. A long while later, the slurping stopped, all sounds vanished. The priest unlocked and opened the chest to let the young man out. He was not at all prepared for what he saw.

Inside the chest lay the young man, however he was nothing more than a sack of flesh. His meat and bones were gone, having been sucked out of his body.

Here’s a story we think might interest you: Kuchisake Onna: The Slit Mouthed Woman