- Yama-uba
is a
yōkai ("spirit" or "monster") found inJapanese folklore . The name may also be spelled Yamamba or Yamanba. She is sometimes confused with theYuki-onna ("snow woman"), but the two figures are not the same. [ [http://www.shejapan.com/jtyeholder/jtye/living/ghost/ghost3.html Yuki-onna and Yama-uba] at [http://www.shejapan.com/ shejapan.com] ]Appearance
Yama-uba looks like an old woman, usually a hideous one. Her unkempt hair is long and golden white, and her
kimono (usually red) is filthy and tattered. Her mouth is sometimes said to stretch the entire width of her face, and some depictions give her a second mouth at the top of her head. She is able to change her appearance, though, and she uses this tactic to great success in capturing her victims.Behavior
Yama-uba inhabits the deep
forest s of themountain s ofJapan . Various regions claim her as a native, includingSabana (where she is supposed to have once lived in a cave at the base ofMt. Nabekura ), theTōhoku Region (northernHonshū ), and theAshigara Mountains. Most stories say that she lives in ahut .Yama-uba preys on travelers who have become lost in her wooded lair. Her exact tactics vary from story to story. Sometimes, she changes her appearance to that of a beautiful woman or possibly one of her victim's loved ones. Other times, she retains her hag-like form and plays the part of a helpless old woman. Once she has gained her quarry's trust, she often closes and eats them then and there. She is able to animate her hair (or turn it to
snake s in some legends) and use it to pull the prey into the maw atop her head. She may also offer to "help" the lost soul and then lead him to a dangerous area of the mountain where he falls to his death and allows her to feed. Alternately, she may offer to lodge the victim in her hut. Once the luckless traveler is sufficiently fattened up, she pounces. In addition to killing adults, Yama-uba is often blamed for missing children, and parents use her as a sort ofbogie man .Because her behavior is similar to that of female oni, some scholars suggest tha Yama-uba is simply a named member of that class of creature. Others suggest that several Yama-uba live all throughout Japan. Unlike the invincible oni, however, Yama-uba is fallible. A few tales make her a nocturnal creature unable to move about in sunlight. At least one tradition holds that her only weakness is a flower that holds her spirit, so that if the flower is destroyed, the mountain crone is as well. She is often depicted as quite gullible, and tales of her would-be prey fooling her to make their escape are common.
Yama-uba is skilled in the arts of sorcery,
potion s, andpoison s. She sometimes trades this knowledge to human beings if they bring her a substitute victim to eat or satisfy some similarly wicked bargain.Despite her predatory nature, Yama-uba has a benevolent side. For example, she raised the
orphan hero Kintaro , who became the famous warriorSakata no Kintoki , a relationship that forms the basis for the "noh " drama "Yama-uba". In this story, Yama-uba is portrayed as a loving mother, which has influenced some more modern tales to depict her as a matronly figure. Some even make her a representation oflove . Other storytellers hold that she is simply a solitary wanderer who represents harmony withnature .Origins
Some scholars place Yama-uba's origin in stories about times when great
famine caused Japanese villagers to cast their elderly out into the woods for lack of food (others say they cannibalised the elderly). Yama-uba would thus be born out of the psychological undercurrent from such actions.Legends of Yama-uba have existed since at least the
Heian period . At this time, a village namedSabane built theNenbutsu Toge bypass around acave that was thought to house thewitch .She is the subject of several
Noh plays, including one entitled simply "Yamanba".Yama-uba's legend is still very much alive in Japan. A late 1990s
fashion trend called "Yamanba " took its name from Yama-uba, since those who followed it were said to look like a stapleNoh mask, based on the mountain crone.In popular culture
* The 2005 movie "
The Great Yokai War " briefly features a yama-uba.
* InSteve Berman 's short story "A Troll on a Mountain with a Girl" published in "Japanese Dreams" (ed. by Sean Wallace, published by Prime Books) features a yama-uba.References
ee also
*
Baba Yaga
* Yamamba
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