Who Is Ōyake no Toyoo?
The young man loved by a serpent woman
Ōyake no Toyoo is the hero of "The Lust of the White Serpent" (Jasei no In), a story in Ueda Akinari's Ugetsu Monogatari. He is the third son of Ōyake no Takesuke, the head of a fishing family at Miwa-ga-saki in Kii Province. A gentle young man, he prefers learning and the arts to the family trade.
In Episode 4, he lends his umbrella to Manago, a beautiful woman he meets while sheltering from the rain, and they fall in love. The sword she gives him turns out to be stolen, and he is arrested. Even after he moves to his sister's home in Yamato, Manago follows him. At Yoshino an old man sees through her disguise. Toyoo marries a woman named Tomiko, but Manago possesses her. In the end the priest Hōkai of Dōjōji gives him a kesa (monk's robe), and Toyoo resolves to subdue Manago with his own hands.
The story is known for being based on the Chinese legend of the White Snake.
