Continuing with Oni Week, today’s yokai is the most famous woman oni in Japan. She has been mentioned briefly on the blog before, in my entry for Onibaba, but as she is just such a quintessential Halloween monster I felt she deserved a revisit. She could be considered a type of yamauba, or else a kijo (a woman oni). She is, by far, the most famous woman oni of all time, and a very popular subject of old art as well, from paintings to ukiyoe prints to noh plays.

(Yesterday’s and today’s yokai are illustrations I originally had planned for Night Parade, but ended up not being able to fit them in. Wait for the sequel!) | 鬼週間の続きとなる今日の妖怪は、最も有名な女の鬼です。彼女については軽く以前のブログOnibabaでも触れましたが、この鬼は典型的なハロウィーンの妖怪ですから再び登場させる意義があると思いました。彼女は山姥か鬼女の種類とも考えられていて、非常に有名で多くの浮世絵の題材にされたり能楽の演目にもなっています。（今回の鬼と前回の鬼はNight Parade：百鬼夜行に載せるつもりでしたが収まりきらなかったものです。他にもありますのでまだ楽しみにしていてください

Kurozuka

Kurozuka (黒塚)

This demon goes by many names. Kurozuka, or the witch of “the black mounds,” is one of her more famous ones, but she is also commonly called the oni of Adachigahara, or even just simply Onibaba, “the demon hag.” The first two names come from where she lived, in an area called Kurozuka, near Adachi, in Fukushima. The name Onibaba can be a bit confusing, as it can refer specifically to this particular demon woman, or to any of the many demon women in Japanese folklore. That’s why when talking about this one, It’s better to mention Kurozuka or Adachigahara just to keep the story straight.

The story has changed over the years and through various adaptations. Here’s a paraphrase from the entry that I wrote about demon women two years ago:

Perhaps the most famous onibaba story is the tale of the demon of Adachigahara. In this story, a wealthy couple has a child who, for the entire 5 years of her life, has never spoken a single word. The couple consults a doctor, who tells them that the only way to cure their daughter is by feeding her the fresh liver of an unborn fetus.

They call their daughter’s nanny and put the task of retrieving the liver onto her shoulders. Rightfully expecting that it will take some time to find a willing baby liver donor, the nanny gives her own daughter a protection charm, kisses her goodbye, and leaves on her long journey.

The nanny travels for days, months, and even years without finding anyone willing to give up their baby. Eventually, her travels take her to the moors of Adachigahara. Here she finds a cave and decides to hole up and wait for a pregnant woman to pass by on the road. It takes many more years, but eventually a lone pregnant woman does pass, and the nanny leaps out of the cave and slays her, taking the fresh liver from her womb. It is only after the deed is done that the nanny notices the young woman is wearing the very same protection charm that she had given her daughter so many years ago!

The knowledge of what she had done weighed so heavy on her that the nanny went insane and transformed into a yokai. And she remained there, on the moors of Adachigahara, for many many years, catching and eating travelers who would pass by.

That’s the version of the story I’m most familiar with. There is also an old black and white film called Onibaba (which is great if you’re into older cinema!) which, despite the name, has very little to do with this Onibaba. In this film the demon woman is created in a matter similar to yesterday’s yokai, Shuten-dōji, by putting on a demon mask and trying to scare a traveler, and then the mask bonds to her face and causes her to turn into the demon she was posing as. Quite different from this one, as you can see.

In the noh play Kurozuka, she is eventually visited by Buddhist priests, whom she tries to kill. While she is out gathering firewood, the priests find her room full of dead bodies and bones and they recognize her as the demon she is. She goes after them, but (in a common noh-style deus ex machina), they are able to hold her back with their Buddhist prayers, and drive the evil spirit from her, banishing it forever.

Do you like Japanese ghosts and demons? Are you a fan of strange Japanese horror? Then get my book, The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons from Amazon.com today! |

Kurozuka

Kurozuka (黒塚)

くろづかにはいくつかの名前があり、黒塚は有名であるが他にも安達ヶ原の鬼婆、または単に鬼婆とばれることもある。最初の二つは彼女のいた福島県にある安達ヶ原から名前がつけられており、鬼婆という名は定義がおぼろげで鬼の女を指す事もあれば日本の伝説に現れる多くの女の妖を指す事もある。したがって今回はこの特別な鬼婆を黒塚か安達ヶ原の鬼婆とする。

この伝説は時を経るにつれ色々と脚色もついてきている。伝説によると、ある公家屋敷で産まれた子が病にかかっており五歳になっても口が聞けないでいたという。その姫を不憫に思った乳母の岩手は易者から「病気を治すには退治の生き肝が効く」と聞いた。

乳母は生き肝をとるべくみちのくへと旅立ち、奥州の安達ヶ原に辿り着いた。そこにある岩屋を宿にして“肝”が来るのを待った。

幾年か過ぎ、ようやく若い夫婦が訪ねてきた。妻は身ごもっており産気づいているという。岩手は夫が外に出ている間に女の腹を裂き胎児の生き胆をとりだした。
肝を取り出した後、岩手は女の持っていたお守りを目にした。なんとそれは何年も前に彼女の娘に持たせたお守りと同じものであったのである！

自分の娘を殺してしまった岩手はあまりの出来事に気が狂い、物の怪となった。その後安達ヶ原に住みつき旅人を襲い喰らうようになったという。

この話は鬼婆というモノクロ映画（もし古い映画がお好きならこれはとてもいい映画です）とよく似ている。鬼婆というタイトルにではあるが、今回の話より昨日紹介した酒呑童子と似ているようである。鬼の面をつけ旅人を襲いやがて面がはずれなくなり、本当の鬼になってしまう…。

能の黒塚では、黒塚のもとにある僧が訪れて彼女が殺そうと考えていたが眼を離した隙に僧が隠してあった頭骸骨を見つけてしまうという話である。その僧は黒塚が鬼であると勘いて逃げ出し、黒塚を退治するというものである。

他の妖怪にも興味をもっていただけたなら、是非アマゾンから「The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons（百鬼夜行）」をどうぞ！