Demonic Dames: Watch out for the Vengeful Women of Japanese Legends

Japan has had stories about oni (demons or ogres) and yuurei (ghosts) for hundreds of years. As time passes, new vengeful spirits continue to appear and their stories are told even in the present day. The following is a series of hannya - women who became oni during their lifetimes due to hatred or jealousy and who have become, in time, characters in the noh theater (classical Japanese musical drama). Nobody would want to have to deal with such spirits.

Kiyohime

Kiyohime was a woman upset with her lover. This man, the priest Anchin, became distant towards her and eventually stopped loving her. Realizing that she had been dumped, Kiyohime followed him until he reached a river. There, she turned into a snake and swam below his boat. Terrified by her monstrous form, the monk sought refuge at a temple where the priests hid him under a big bell. Kiyohime found the monk by sensing his smell. Upset, she coiled around the bell and began to hit it with her tail. Then she breathed fire upon the bell - melting it and killing the man who had dumped her.

‘Kiyohime Changes from a Serpent’ by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka. (Public Domain)

Yuki-onna

There are numerous legends about the snow woman, Yuki-onna. She is usually described as wearing a white kimono with the right side over the left side (a kimono is always tied left over right, as right over left is reserved only for the dead). She has white skin and very long hair. She appears when it is snowing and floats above the snow like a ghost. Yuki-onna freezes her victims and then kisses them in order to feed upon the human life essence, resulting in the victim’s death.

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Painting of Yuki-onna in the moonlight. ( Public Domain )

Yamauba

Having their origins in the medieval period, the yamauba are a kind of ogre women. Originally, they were women marginalized by society and forced to live alone in the mountains. It is said that some yamauba like to eat human flesh. There are numerous stories about yamauba. One popular tale tells of a yamauba which hosts a woman who was about to give birth. That yamauba planned to eat the newborn child. Another story says that while mothers are away from a village yamauba go to eat their children. To add to their frightening nature, it is said that they have more mouths hidden beneath their hair.

"Yamauba" from the Hyakkai Zukan by Sawaki Suushi. (Public Domain)

 

Uji no hashihime

Another legendary story is about Uji no hashihime. She was a woman whose husband fell in love with another. Extremely upset, she prayed to a deity to turn her into an oni in order to take revenge by killing her husband, his mistress, and his other relatives. In order to achieve this, Uji no hashihime bathed in the Uji River for 21 days, she combed her hair in order to look as if she had five horns, and she painted her body with red vermillion. Then, she killed all those who had trespassed against her. In addition to this, anyone who laid eyes on her instantly died of fear.

Hashihime as appearing in the Kyōka Hyaku-Monogatari from 1853. (Public Domain)

Oiwa

Another story about vengeance was made known to the public by the kabuki drama “Yotsuya kaidan”. This tells the tale of Oiwa, a woman married to Iemon, a ronin (“a masterless samurai”). Even though he was already married to Oiwa, Iemon wanted to wed a very rich local girl who had fallen in love with him. In order to put his plan into motion, he sent his wife some poisoned medicine. However, this was not strong enough to kill the woman; it only disfigured her. After seeing how ugly she looked and finding out how she had been betrayed, Oiwa accidentally killed herself with a sword. But afterwards, her disfigured face began to appear everywhere, haunting Iemon. Ultimately, Oiwa’s disfigured face appeared upon the face of Iemon’s new bride. Scared out of his wits, the man decapitated his new wife. Then Oiwa haunted Iemon until he finally embraced death himself.

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Utagawa Kuniyoshi's depiction of Oiwa coming out of a lantern. (Public Domain)

The Agi Bridge Demon

Last but not least, there is the story of the demon of Agi Bridge. This story begins with a man who kept bragging to his friends that he was not afraid to cross over Agi Bridge, nor that he was afraid of the demon guarding the bridge. As an oni can change its appearance as it wishes, the demon from Agi Bridge appeared to the man in the form of an abandoned woman. The moment the man laid eyes upon the woman, the demon regained its terrifying form. Scared witless, the man ran away and could not be caught by the demon. Upset and wanting revenge, the demon then took on the appearance of the man’s brother and knocked on the man’s door at night. The man opened the door and received his visitor, believing that it was his brother. Then the demon revealed its true identity once again and bit off the man’s head. The demon then danced with the head in front of the man’s entire family before disappearing into thin air.

These are but a few of the Japanese legends regarding vengeful women. There are many more which have been written down or transmitted orally up to the present day.

Surimono by Totoya Hokkei, image of Yama-uba. (Public Domain)

Top Image: Hashihime. Source: CC BY SA

By Valda Roric