monster-figures

Updated: May 1, 2025

For, on either side of the entrance, stand two monster-figures, nude, blood-red, demoniac, fearfully muscled, with feet like lions, and hands brandishing gilded thunderbolts, and eyes of delirious fury; the guardians of holy things, the Ni-O, or "Two Kings."

Lafcadio Hearn - Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan : First Series