Muzan’s Demon Slayer hat has a hidden horror tradition behind it

When Tanjiro Kamado first met Muzan Kibutsuji on Demon Slayer, the series’ Big Bad probably wasn’t This is exactly This is what the majority of viewers had expected. For the legendary Demon King who’s been alive for more than a millennium and set Tanjiro on the path to becoming a Demon Slayer by mercilessly slaughtering most of his family, Muzan looked … well, a bit like Michael Jackson from the “Smooth Criminal” video: White pants, white tie, and slightly curled hair falling out from underneath his white hat and all. This outfit is more than a fashion statement. It’s yet another example of Japanese horror’s tradition of fearing modern things and their corrupting influence.

Demon Slayer It takes place during Japan’s Taisho Era (1912-1926), an era of stable modernization that followed the turmoil of the Meiji Restoration. This was a time when foreign fashions became extremely popular in Tokyo, and elsewhere. Muzan fully embraces them. Demon Slayer isn’t the first work of fiction to link Western-style clothing to something terrifying and sinister. The same themes are found in the Japanese modern fantasy/horror novel that you read. Demon Slayer Happens to You will find yourself there.

Publication in 1908, only a few years after the Taisho Era began. Ten Nights of Dreams is the work of Natsume Sōseki, one of the most popular writers in Japanese history. Every school in the country covers at least one work by Sōseki, and while the 1908 anthology rarely makes that list, there isn’t a Japanese adult alive who doesn’t know the name of its author.

These stories were featured in Ten Nights of DreamsAlthough they are not all connected, apart from the fact that they occur in dreams, they appear to all revolve around the same central theme. This is a fear of the unknown modern future as well as a yearning for the all-powerful and peaceful worlds of tradition and naturalism. In “The Seventh Night,” a dreaming character finds themselves on a huge steamship billowing black smoke into the sky. As the ship travels westward, most of its passengers are not native English speakers and the dreamer feels alone and lost among them. “The Sixth Night,” on the other hand, is about the dreamer not being able to find beauty like that of the sculptures by the real-life artist Unkei (1150 – 1223) in wood from the Meiji Era.

The collection’s primary themes seem to come together in “The Tenth Night” about a dandy named Shōtarō who wears a so-called Panama hat and is actually the only character crossing over from one story to another, having been mentioned briefly in “The Eighth Night.” In the final tale of the anthology, Shōtarō arrives at a bucolic meadow and ends up fighting a herd of pigs trying to lick him. Given how all the previous stories sure do read like Sōseki working out his justified anxieties about his rapidly changing homeland, it’s tempting to interpret the story as more fears about how going full-hog (I said what I said) on foreign culture will lead to a catastrophe of some kind and the twisting of nature into something sinister.

Photo: Ufotable

It’s a choice that echoes through Muzan’s plotline, even if it’s not totally clear what kind of hat Muzan is wearing. Regardless of if it’s a true Panama hat (or a narrow-brimmed fedora, or a trilby without the distinctive fold in the back), the choice feels evocative of the same influences in Shōtarō’s stories. This isn’t to suggest that the author of Demon Slayer Koyoharu Gotōge, is literally and figuratively demonizing modernization and technology — seeing as he almost definitely used a tablet to draw his bestselling comic, and communicates using a cell phone instead of a Kasugai Crow. But given that Muzan’s hat is undeniably Western, it sure does seem like the anime has gone out of its way to establish the Demon King as a malicious force specifically associated with modernity. And it doesn’t end with his attire.

It couldn’t have been a coincidence that Muzan and Tanjiro first crossed paths in the entertainment district of Asakusa, a symbol of Western modernity bathed in artificial light with electric streetcars crossing the streets. Tanjiro, who is overwhelmed by the technology and noise just before meeting his characters, retreats into a stall and orders some noodles with Japanese mountain cheese yam.

The encounter between them sets the characters up as two polar opposites. You can see Muzan wearing his contemporary-style clothes, hat, and shoes that enable him to blend in with the world of electricity and technology. He is able to hide from plain sight. In the other corner, there’s Tanjiro in his traditional Ichimatsu (checkered)-pattern jacket, who’s having trouble assimilating and finds solace in food that reminds him of his rural upbringing in the natural world of Japanese mountains.

Whether it’s a deliberate nod to Ten Nights of Dreams Or not it’s definitely an example of Demon Slayer Follow the established patterns in a lot of modern Japanese fantasy and horror, which itself seems to have taken more than a few cues from Natsume Sōseki.

A 1927 novella Kappa Ryunosuke Akutagawa (another famous Japanese writer) creates a dystopian world where the Japanese water imps are adapted from nature and turned into worker kappa. This is after modern society adopts new ways of living. Gojira tells the story of an ancient beast (world of nature) that becomes destructive due to an encounter with atomic bombs (modernity/technology). You may have also seen the following: Ring, Sadako, the ghost child, is frequently seen wet and dripping, which makes her something similar to a water spirit (corrupted nature), that can kill people using VHS tapes. This modern technology was introduced in 1991. Ring novel came out. The Grudge franchise is a story about the destruction of a traditional Japanese family unit in modern suburbia, while 2021’s Suicide Forest Village Uses the internet to act as an intermediary between antagonists and malicious forces of nature.

Demon Slayer It seems like it is in conversation with these stories as Muzan is depicted as an evil force that has tapped into modernity and corrupts nature. Muzan, who creates Rui the Spider Demon and then makes a family of horrific Spider Demons is a great example. Traditional Japanese Buddhism considers spiders to be very helpful. This is the brief story The Spider’s Thread by Ryunosuke Akutagawa — published in 1918 smack in the middle of the Taisho Era — a spider is sent to Hell by the Buddha to help save a sinner. Muzan, the modern symbol, transformed this gentle creature into something frightening.

Photo: Ufotable

It’s true that in later episodes, Muzan also appears as a woman wearing a kimono when he’s holding court over other Demons, most of whom are also wearing traditional Japanese clothing. This might have something to do with Demons (or “Oni”) themselves being part of traditional Japanese culture. Oni myths date back at most to 10th-century Japan. In the millennium since then, these creatures have been part of Japanese folklore. Often, they are stock villains to heroic heroes in legends and classic theatre plays. You might also see anime. Dragon Ball Z they’re even treated like comic relief. In short, they’re not taken too seriously in their traditional state. Even in Demon Slayer Prior to Muzan’s introduction, Demons had been portrayed primarily as fearsome, seemingly mindless creatures. Although dangerous, they are not more dangerous than, for example, a hungry bear.

But, then Demon Slayer During his first appearance, the Demon King dressed as the most powerful Oni in fantasy terror and corruption. It showed that the Demon King is smart and capable of hiding in plain sight in the modern world, but also that he’s more than just one monster. His traditional roots were not enough to make him a powerful, supernatural threat. These complex themes could be telegraphed by a simple, white floppy hat.