A is a type of yōkai or Japanese

monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

. They are characterized by their two

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

s – a normal one located on her face and a second one on the back of the

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

beneath the

hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

. There, the woman's

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

splits apart, forming lips,

teeth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...

and a

tongue The tongue is a muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surfa ...

, creating an entirely functional second mouth. In

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of year ...

and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, the futakuchi-onna belongs to the same class of stories as the

rokurokubi ''Rokurokubi'' (ろくろ首, 轆轤首) is a type of Japanese ''yōkai'' (apparition). They look almost completely like humans with some differences. There is a type whose neck stretches and another whose head detaches and flies around freely ...

, kuchisake-onna and the

yama-uba , Yamamba or Yamanba are variations on the name of a ''yōkai'' found in Japanese folklore. Description The word can also be written as 山母, 山姫, or 山女郎, and in the town of Masaeki, Nishimorokata District, Miyazaki Prefecture (no ...

, women afflicted with a curse or

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

that transforms them into yōkai. The supernatural nature of the women in these stories is usually concealed until the last minute, when the true self is revealed.

Origins of the second mouth

The origin of a futakuchi-onna's second

is often linked to how little a woman eats. In many stories, the soon-to-be futakuchi-onna is a wife of a miser and rarely eats. To counteract this, a second mouth mysteriously appears on the back of the woman's head. The second mouth often mumbles spiteful and threatening things to the woman and demands food. If it is not fed, it can screech obscenely and cause the woman tremendous pain. Eventually, the woman's hair begins to move like a pair of serpents, allowing the mouth to help itself to the woman's meals. While no food passes through her normal lips, the mouth in the back of her head consumes twice than the other one would. In another story, the extra mouth is formed when a stingy woman was accidentally hit in the head by her husband's axe while he was chopping wood, and the wound never heals. Other stories have the woman as a mother who lets her stepchild die of

starvation Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, dea ...

while keeping her own offspring well fed; presumably, the spirit of the neglected child lodges itself in the stepmother's or the surviving daughter's body to exact

revenge Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...

Prototypical story

This is the most famous and prototypical story of a futakuchi-onna: In a small village there lived a stingy miser who, because he could not bear the expense of paying for food for a wife, lived entirely by himself. One day he met a woman who was full of beauty; with every villager admiring her looks. Although she did not eat anything, the miser immediately took the woman as his wife. Because she never ate a thing, and was still a hard worker, the old miser was extraordinarily thrilled with her, but on the other hand he began to wonder why was his storage of rice was steadily decreasing. One day the man pretended to leave for work, but instead stayed behind to spy on his new wife. To his horror, he saw his wife's hair part on the back of her head, her skull split wide open revealing a gaping mouth. She unbound her hair, which reached out like tentacles to grab the rice and shove it into the hungry mouth. He immediately ran away of fear, after a horror moment about his wife having a mouth in the back of her head.

In popular culture

* Keiko Yukitomo plays a friendly futakuchi-onna in '' Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare'' (1968). At one point she reassures people that she and her companion, a

Kasa-obake 一柳2008年77頁。 are a mythical ghost or ''yōkai'' in Japanese folklore. They are sometimes, but not always, considered a ''tsukumogami'' that old umbrellas turn into. They are also called ,造2007年 76-77頁。初見2009年 73頁。 ,水 ...

, "are not evil monsters" and are there to help, and is true to her word. At one point in the film she pretends to be a courtesan to get through a palace gate, then frightens away would-be clients with her second face. * In the manga '' Gantz'' a creature that has the characteristics of both the futakuchi-onna and the

(i.e. second mouth on the back of the head and the ability to elongate the neck) is seen in later chapters of the series, albeit briefly. It is not stated if this is another variation of the creature or a way to feature both at the same time. * The long running anime series '' GeGeGe no Kitaro'' often features futakuchi-onna as an antagonist to Kitaro. Her skin is a pale white with raven black hair which can form snake-like ropes that stretch out and snare victims, often to pull them towards her horrifically large mouth on the back of her head which has sharp teeth. She is also known to work with other yōkai antagonists Kamaitachi and Tantanbō. * The 2005 movie '' The Great Yokai War'' briefly features a futakuchi-onna. * In the

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

'' The Last Blade'', the character

Akari Ichijou This is a list of characters from ''The Last Blade''. Akari Ichijou is a 14-year-old girl in ''The Last Blade''. Born and raised in Tokyo, she was constantly battling diseases on her own until she finally understood her true calling: teleportat ...

uses various attacks that involve yōkai. One of them is a special move that summons "a hundred yōkai" that parade across the screen in a procession. A futakuchi-onna is featured in this procession. * '' Samurai Sentai Shinkenger'' and ''

Power Rangers Samurai ''Power Rangers Samurai'' is the eighteenth season of the children's television series ''Power Rangers'', which is based on the Japanese ''Super Sentai Series''. The season was the first to be produced by SCG Power Rangers, after Saban Brands ( ...

'' villain Tayu Usukawa is themed after the futakuchi-onna. * In '' Shuriken Sentai Ninninger'', one of the "Monster of the Fortnight" Youkai the Ninningers fought was a futakuchi-onna. * The television horror anthology series '' Masters of Horror'' featured a creature similar to a futakuchi-onna as a main character in the episode ''Imprint''. * The

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

Mawile is based on the futakuchi-onna. According to some of its Pokédex entries, its second mouth was created as a result of transformation of its steel horns. * The comic '' Eerie Cuties'' featured a futakuchi-onna as a history teacher. * The adult-oriented strategy game ''

Sengoku Rance ''Rance'' is a role-playing video-game series created, developed, and published by AliceSoft.''The ''Rance'' Series''. Retrieved froThe Rance Series It is the longest-running erotic video game series in history, with nearly 30 years between the ...

'' features a female

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

character named "Orime" who is based on the futakuchi-onna. * In the

The Secret World ''The Secret World'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing video game set in a modern-day real world under attack from occult forces. Ragnar Tørnquist led development of the initial game for Funcom. ''The Secret World'' uses a subsc ...

'', the Futakuchi-onna is a rare enemy located in Tokyo. * In ''

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children ''Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'' is a contemporary fantasy debut novel by American author Ransom Riggs. The story is told through a combination of narrative and a mix of vernacular and found photography from the personal archives ...

'' and its

film adaption A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

, the character named Claire Densmore is inspired by the futakuchi-onna where she has a mouth with sharp teeth that is covered by her curly hair which she mostly eats with. * In the

Skullgirls ''Skullgirls'' is a 2D fighting game developed by Reverge Labs and published by Autumn Games. In ''Skullgirls'', players fight each other with teams of one, two, or three characters, attempting to knock out their opponents or have the most cumul ...

'', the location of the parasite Samson on Filia gives her the appearance of a futakuchi-onna. * In the mobile game ''Onmyoji'', Futakuchi-onna is a shikigami with two huge arms on her head that resembles pigtails. *In the upcoming videogame '' Mamono'' (a

-inspired RPG game), the futakuchi-onna is one of the trainable monster girls. *In the game ''Tee K.O.'' from '' The Jackbox Party Pack 3'', there is a featured playable character that is a futakuchi-onna. *The virtual YouTuber ''

Futakuchi Mana A is a type of yōkai or Japanese monster. They are characterized by their two mouths – a normal one located on her face and a second one on the back of the head beneath the hair. There, the woman's skull splits apart, forming lips, teeth an ...

'' is a futakuchi-onna. * The popular Roblox horror game '' The Mimic'' contains a futakuchi-onna named Rin (Book II, Jealousy, Chapter I) who the player(s) must feed poisoned rats to. In this game, however, the backstory consists of two poverty-struck sisters. * In the manga ''

Chainsaw Man is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Its first part was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 2018 to December 2020; its second part began serializati ...

'', Pingsti (a member of Quanxi's harem) is seemingly based on the futakuchi-onna. Her hair is shaped as a ponytail with a face that turns into a monocle to identify the devil(s) a person is contracted with.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Futakuchi-Onna Female legendary creatures Yōkai Mythological monsters Monsters

Origins of the second mouth

Prototypical story

In popular culture

See also

References