Yamauba
Yamauba ( Japanese 山 姥 , German mountain witch ), also Yamamba , is a Yōkai (monster) of Japanese mythology . She is often confused with the unrelated Yuki Onna (snow woman).
Appearance
The Yamauba looks like an old, usually ugly woman. Her hair is unkempt, long, and golden white. Her often red kimono is dirty and torn. The mouth is said to extend over the entire face ( Kuchisake-onna ) and in some descriptions she has a second mouth on her head ( Futakuchi-onna ). However, she can change her appearance and uses this to capture her prey with great success.
behavior
The Yamauba lives deep in the forests and mountains of Japan . Different areas claim that the Yamauba is a native, e.g. B. Sabane ( 佐 羽 根 ) near Miyako , where she is said to have lived in a cave on Mount Nabekura ( 鍋 倉山 , Nabekura-san ), the Tōhoku region and the Ashigara Mountains. In most of the stories she lives in a hut.
The Yamauba targets travelers who get lost in their forests. How you proceed varies from story to story. In some, she transforms into a beautiful woman or a person close to the victim. In others, she keeps her witch-like shape and plays the helpless elderly lady. As soon as she has gained the trust of her victim, she eats it on the spot. She can liven up her hair or, in some stories, turn it into snakes to pull her prey into the mouth on her head. She also offers her “help” to the stray, leads him to a dangerous area on the mountain, where he falls to his death and is eaten by her. In yet other stories she lures the victim into her hut, fattening and eating it.
In addition to killing adults, she is also blamed for child disappearances, and parents often use her as a child scare.
Because her behavior resembles a female oni , some scholars believe that she is simply a named member of this group. But she is not invincible like the Oni . Some narratives make her a creature of the night that cannot move during the day. In at least one tradition, their only weakness is a flower that contains their soul. As soon as this flower is destroyed, the Yamauba also dies. She is often portrayed as being quite gullible, and stories of being tricked by her victim are quite common.
The Yamauba is skilled in the arts of magic and with healing potions and poisons. Sometimes she exchanges this knowledge with people who have to bring her a substitute sacrifice for it, which she then eats, or who enter into a similarly malicious trade.
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Despite their predatory nature, the Yamauba also has a benevolent side. For example, she raised the orphan and hero Kintarō , who becomes the famous warrior Sakata no Kintoki . This relationship is the basis for the Nō -Drama Yamauba of Seami Motokiyo that it shows as loving mother. This influenced several modern narratives that portray her as a matronly figure or even as the embodiment of love. For other storytellers, she is just a lonely wanderer and a symbol of harmony with nature.
Origins
Some scholars place their origins in the Edo period , when a great famine ravaged Japan and many villagers threw their elders into the forests because of a lack of food or even ate them. The Yamauba is said to have been born out of a psychological coping mechanism.
Legends about the Yamauba date back to the Heian period . At that time, a village called Sabane built the Nembutsu Pass bypass ( 念 仏 峠 , Nembutsu-tōge ) around a cave that was to be the home of this witch.
The Yamauba legend is still very much alive in Japan. In the late 1990s, young Japanese women began to bleach their hair, tan very heavily, and put on white makeup. Because of the similarity to the appearance of the mountain witches, this fashion trend was called Yamamba .
See also
Individual evidence
Web links
- Yamauba in the Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System (English)