Onibaba (folklore)
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A is an
oni An is a kind of ''yōkai'', demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. Oni are mostly known for their fierce and evil nature manifested in their propensity for murder and cannibalism. Notwithstanding their evil reputation, oni possess i ...
woman from Japanese legends.


Mythology

They are normally considered to be women who have turned into oni as a result of karma and resentment, with the younger ones being called "kijo" while the ones that look like old ladies are called onibaba (鬼婆, "demon hag"). They often appear in Japanese legends, folktales, fairy tales, and performing arts, and famous among them are
Momiji ''Acer palmatum'', commonly known as Japanese maple, palmate maple, or smooth Japanese maple (Japanese: ''irohamomiji'', , or ''momiji'', (栴), is a species of woody plant native to Japan, Korea, China, eastern Mongolia, and southeast Russia. ...
(from The Legend of Momiji and '' Momijigari'') from Togakushi,
Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...
(now the town of Kinasa,
Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...
,
Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...
) and
Suzuka Gozen Suzuka Gozen (鈴鹿御前) is a figure in Japanese folklore. She is described in the Muromachi era traveler's journal "Kouunkikou" (耕雲紀行), the fairytale "Tamura no Soushi" and the Hobutsushu written by Tairano Yasuyori in 1179, among oth ...
from the Suzuka Mountains. The onibaba of Adachigahara (
Kurozuka Kurozuka (, "black mound") is the grave of an onibaba in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture (previously Oodaira), Adachi District or the legend of that onibaba. It lives in Adachigahara (the name of the eastern shore of Abukuma River as well a ...
) had "baba" in her name, but she is also considered a kijo. Also, the
Tosa Obake Zōshi The Tosa Obake Zōshi is a Japanese yōkai emaki. Set in the Tosa Province (now Kōchi Prefecture), and 16 sections about yōkai in total, its creation period has been determined to be from the Edo period. Its author is unknown. There are two kind ...
(author unknown) that spelled out tales of yōkai in
Tosa Province was a province of Japan in the area of southern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Tosa bordered on Awa to the northeast, and Iyo to the northwest. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō syste ...
(now
Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...
) had, under the title of "Kijo," stated that an oni woman (kijo) with hair of a length 4 shaku and 8 sun (about 150 centimeters) ate a fetus from a pregnant woman, although the origin of this story is the onibaba legend of Adachigahara from
Fukushima Prefecture Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miya ...
that later spread to Tosa, and due to this spread, it became told about along with local legends there. The word "kijo" is also used as a general term for women with hideous hearts like that of an oni.


See also

*
Baba Yaga In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga, also spelled Baba Jaga (from Polish), is a supernatural being (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) who appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman. In fairy tales Baba Yaga flies around in a ...
*
Black Annis Black Annis (also known as Black Agnes or Black Anna) is a bogeyman figure in English folklore. She is imagined as a blue-faced hag or witch with iron claws and a taste for human flesh (especially children).Briggs, Katharine (1976). ''Encyclopedia o ...
* Boo Hag *
Crone In folklore, a crone is an old woman who may be characterized as disagreeable, malicious, or sinister in manner, often with magical or supernatural associations that can make her either helpful or obstructive. The Crone is also an archetypal fig ...
*
Hag HAG is a Swiss maker of model trains. The company was founded by Hugo and Alwin Gahler on 1 April 1944 in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The Gahler brothers originally manufactured model trains in O scale but due to competition, particularly by Märk ...
*
Kurozuka Kurozuka (, "black mound") is the grave of an onibaba in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture (previously Oodaira), Adachi District or the legend of that onibaba. It lives in Adachigahara (the name of the eastern shore of Abukuma River as well a ...
*
Muma Pădurii In Romanian folklore, Muma Pădurii () is an ugly and mischievous or mad old woman living in the forest (in the heart of virgin forests, in a hut/cabin or an old tree). She is the opposite of fairies such as Zână. She is also the protector of th ...
*
Onibaba (film) is a 1964 Japanese ''jidaigeki'' film written and directed by Kaneto Shindo. The film is set during a civil war in the fourteenth century. Nobuko Otowa and Jitsuko Yoshimura play two women who kill soldiers to steal their possessions, and Kei S ...
*
The Witch (fairy tale) "The Witch" is a Russian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Yellow Fairy Book''. A version of the tale, under the title "The Twins and the Snarling Witch", appears in ''A Book of Witches'' by Ruth Manning-Sanders. Synopsis A poor widowe ...
*
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 ...


References


External links

* {{Japanese folklore long Oni Japanese folklore Yōkai Female legendary creatures