Have you ever had one of those dreams where everyone you know — your friends, your family, your coworkers — and even strangers are mocking you, laughing and laughing, and all you can feel is shame? Or maybe you are afraid of scary clowns, messing with your minds as their cackles and giggles echo in your mind? Well then today’s yokai is for you.

Kerakera-onna

Imagine you are walking down a street, late at night. Perhaps going home after a long day of work, tired, anxious to get out of the cold air and into your warm home for some dinner. You turn down an alley, the fastest way home even if a little creepy. Suddenly, you think you see something out of the corner of your eye. You turn… but nothing is there. Then you turn back, laughing at your silliness, when suddenly your laughter is echoed back at you. A giggle at first, then quickly growing into a high pitched, resonating cackle that fills the whole sky and your whole head, ringing in your ears. You panic, looking all around you, until you see the source: looming huge in the air ahead of you is the giant ghost of a middle-aged woman, thick and heavy makeup slathered on her face, pointing and laughing right at you.

You turn and run, panicked, but she is too big to get away from. Everywhere you go, she is there, laughing and laughing at you. You run into an open area with lots of people, and they don’t see her or hear her at all! But you do! She is always right there, behind you, cackling like a witch onto the back of your neck!

First introduced by yokai painter Toriyama Sekien, this yokai was one of the most popular ones on the Edo period. She is not deadly, or even physically dangerous, but she has a deeper, psychological effect that may end up doing more damage than your regular slash-em-up yokai. Her name comes from the sound of cackling, “kerakera,” in Japanese. She is the ghost of a prostitute — according to Sekien, one who has been *ahem* well-employed by many men. She appears as a middle aged, very large woman, wearing garish makeup. And even though all she does is laugh at you, it is supposedly enough to make the weak-hearted faint where they stand.

Kerakera-onna

Remember, you can buy high-quality fine art prints of this series from osarusan.etsy.com, or by sending me an email using the contact form on this site! | あなたはこれまでに夢の中で知り合い（同僚、家族、友達）から、または見知らぬ人から笑われ続けて恥かしがっている夢を見た事はありませんか？怖いピエロにおびえた事はありませんか？ケタケタという笑い声が脳裏から離れず苦しんだ事は？
今回の妖怪はそんなあなたにぴったりの女ですよ。

Kerakera-onna

夜道を一人歩いている事を想像してみて下さい。きっと長い仕事の後疲れていたら、寒い外から一刻も早く温かい家に帰って夕飯をとりたいと思うでしょう。そして例えすこし気味悪かろうと小道に入って近道をしようとる。するとそこに突然、視界の隅に何かが見え、振り返る・・・。しかしそこには何もない。気にし過ぎかなと笑いながら元に向きなおすと、不思議な事にあなたの笑い声がこだまとなって帰ってくる。始めはくすくすと笑う声であるが徐々に声は大きくなり甲高い笑い声が空全体に響き渡り耳と頭に鳴り響くのです。あなたはパニックになり辺りを見回し、ついにその正体を見つけます。そこには大きな中年の女が不気味に浮かび上がっておりあなたに向かって笑っているのです。

すぐさま道を引き返し逃げようとしてもその女はあまりに巨大すぎてとても逃げきれません。どこに行こうともその女はずっとあなたに向かって笑い続け、たとえ多くの人がいる大通りに出たとしても、あなた以外は誰ひとりその女の声が聞こえるものはおらず、見えもしないのだというのです！女はずっとあなたの首の後ろで魔女のように笑い続けているのです・・・。

鳥山石燕によって紹介されているこの妖怪は、江戸時代にとても有名な妖怪の一つでした。彼女は死に至るような攻撃をするわけでもなく特別に危険な妖怪でもありませんが、他の肉体的なダメージを与える妖怪よりも深い精神的な打撃を会えるのです。

倩兮女は淫婦の霊である。鳥山石燕によると、多くの男を弄んできた女が巨大な中年の女の姿が派手な化粧をして現れたものであるといわれています。

Kerakera-onna