Greetings yokai fans!
This yokai took a little longer than expected due to both the level of tiny detail in the drawing, and because midway through I decided I wanted to change it from the sketch. You may remember from the sketch that I initially had the yokai closer to the watermill, standing in the water.
Part way through I felt that the watermill dominated the image, not the yokai, and it wasn’t particularly well focused. So I moved the yokai to the front and center, and sunk her down into the water where she would be a bit more mysterious and threatening.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy today’s entry!
川姫
かわひめ
Translation: river princess
Alternate names: kawa onago (“river girl”), kawa jorō (“river whore”)
Habitat: along riverbanks, near bridges and watermills
Diet: young men
Appearance: Kawahime live underneath bridges and watermills in western Honshū, Kyūshū and Shikoku. They look like beautiful human women, however in some places they are said to have some kappa-like features as well.
Behavior: Kawahime spend most of their time in the water. They lurk underwater in the shade of structures like bridges or watermills and wait for young men to venture close to the water. They leap out of the river and land on a bridge or a riverbank. When a young man approaches, the kawahime emerges from the water. She bewitches him, making him fall completely in love with her. She is then free to drain him of his life force.
Interactions: In areas where kawahime are known to appear, elderly villagers warn young men to stay clear of strange women by the rivers. When a kawahime is nearby, young men are told to keep their gaze pointed towards the ground, hold their breath, and walk away as quickly as possible.
Origin: Kawahime may originate from ancient superstitions about outsiders. Long ago, when everyone in a village knew each other, it was rare to leave your home town. It would have been very suspicious to encounter a lone, unknown woman along a riverbank. If she were from a neighboring village, a young man would be courting trouble from her relatives by needless socializing with her. Cautionary tales about the dangers of unknown women and yōkai lurking at the outskirts of villages may have been invented to avoid strife with neighboring villages and help reinforce a community’s bonds.
Legends: A young man was traveling through a valley on his way to visit a friend. Near the riverside, he came upon upon a lone, beautiful woman coiling a spool of thread. The man found this suspicious. He thought she must be some kind of bakemono. He threatened the woman, but she only responded with a creepy laugh. To see if she really was a yōkai, he drew his sword and slashed at her thread in two. The woman cackled and dove into the river.
The young man finally arrived at his friend’s home. When he told his friend what had happened, his friend warned him that the sword which cut her thread will have lost its ability to cut. He lent him a different sword for the journey home.
When the young man returned home, he passed through the same valley. The suspicious woman was waiting for him by the riverside. She challenged him saying, “Your sword which cut my thread cannot harm me!” However, the young man was carrying his friend’s sword. He cut the woman down, slaying her. That woman was actually a kawahime.