Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Yamauba’s Topos, Archetype, and Gender
Yamauba as Yōkai
The Term Yamauba (Yamanba or Yamamba)
Yamauba’s Topos: Mountains Where Eerie Things Happen
Appearance of Yamauba in the Muromachi Period
Appearance of Yamauba and the Role of Yamabushi
Yamabushi Subjugating Yamauba
Yamauba as Archetype
Yamauba’s Gender
Yamauba’s Features
Organization of the Book
1. Man-Eating, Helping, Shape-Shifting Yamauba: Yamauba’s Duality
Yamauba versus Oni/Oni-Women
Cannibalism, the Destructive Side of Yamauba’s Duality, and the Power of Transformation
“Kuwazu nyōbō” (“The Wife Who Does Not Eat”)
“Ushikata to yamauba” (“The Ox-Leader and the Yamauba”)
“Sanmai no ofuda” (“Three Charms”)
Helper and Fortune Giver: The Positive Side of Yamauba’s Duality
“Komebuku Awabuku” (“Komebuku and Awabuku”)
Female Cohabitant in Oni’s House
Devouring and Helping Yamauba: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Hanayo no hime (Blossom Princess) of Otogizōshi
The Noh Play Yamanba, a Starting Point
Yamanba’s Oni Image
The Noh Play Kurozuka (Adachigahara): The Crossroads of Yamauba and Oni-Women
Kurozuka (Adachigahara), Oni, and Women
Two Sides of the Oni-Woman
Yamanba in Kurozuka
Concluding Remarks
2. Mother Yamauba and Weaving: Childbirth and Bloodsucking, Spinning and Spiders
Yamauba Worship
Mother of Divine Children and Anthropophagy
Legends of Yamauba on Mt. Akiha
Yamauba monogatari: Yamauba Legends on Mt. Hongū
Yamauba as Mother of Kintarō
Childbirth, Bloodsucking, and Oni
Strings, Spinning, and Spiders
Similarities between Yamauba and Spiders
Oni versus Tsuchigumo, Yamagumo, and Yamauba
Feared and Worshipped Yamauba
3. Reading Minds and Telling Futures: “Yamauba and the Cooper,” “The Smile of a Mountain Witch,” and Throne of Blood
Mind-Reading Yamauba: “Yamauba to okeya” and Satori
Premodern Setsuwa of Mind Reading
Retelling and Re-creating Yamauba Stories
Possible Sources of Ōba’s Mind-Reading Yamauba
Selfless Yamauba of “The Smile of a Mountain Witch”
Fortune-Telling Yamauba: The Old Woman in “Naranashi tori” (“Picking Wild Pears”)
Shamanistic Yamauba in Hanayo no hime
The Witch in Throne of Blood
From the Woman in Kurozuka to the Witch of Throne of Blood
Desires, Impermanence, and the Wheel
From Yamauba in the Noh Play Yamanba to the Witch of Throne of Blood
Mind Reading, Future Telling, and Re-creation
Yamauba and Oni-Women, Revisited
Legends of Yasaburō Basa
Yasaburō Basa as Oni-Woman
Datsueba’s Association with Yasaburō Basa and Yamauba
Medieval Prototypical Female Features
Commonalities between the Yasaburō Basa Story and Premodern Setsuwa
Ibaraki Dōji, Shuten Dōji, and Yasaburō Basa
Yasaburō Basa’s Influence on the Noh Play Yamanba
“Yamauba no nakōdo” (“Yamauba Go-Between”), a Variant of Yasaburō Basa
Concluding Remarks
Yamauba’s Antisocial Behavior and Dementia
Gluttonous Yamauba and Dementia
Mukashibanashi “Obasute-yama”
“Obasute-yama” in Other Literary Tradition
Did the Custom of “Obasute-yama” Really Exist?
“Obasute-yama” from a Poem to Narratives: Creation, Dissemination, and Transformation
Aging, Yamauba, and Healthy Life Expectancy
Yamauba and Village Markets
Market, Shibuya, and Yamanba-gyaru
Yamanba-gyaru Fashion and Ganguro
Yamanba-gyaru Disappear from Shibuya
Yamauba and Yamaubaesque
Yubaba in the Film Spirited Away
Yamauba in the Manga Hyakkiyakō shō
“Holy Man of Mt. Koya”
“Yamauba”
Yamauba in Poetry: Watashi wa Anjuhimeko de aru (I Am Anjuhimeko)
Conclusion
Japanese and Chinese Names and Terms
Notes
References
About the Author
Index