Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative names: The Woman Demon
Category: Demon
The Myth
Onna-oni is the name given to a woman said to have transformed into an oni. In the surviving account, however, the creature is primarily known through a widespread rumor in medieval Kyoto rather than through an actual encounter or description of its appearance.
Around the Ōchō era (1311–1312), a rumor spread that a woman from Ise Province had become an oni and had been brought to Kyoto.
About twenty days later, people in the Shirakawa district of Kyoto began wandering through the streets saying that they were going to see the oni. Rumors constantly changed its supposed location: some claimed that it had been seen at Saionji, others that it was heading toward the retired emperor’s residence, while others insisted that it was currently somewhere else.
Despite all the excitement, nobody could actually claim to have seen the oni. At the same time, nobody could confidently declare that the story was false. People of every social rank continued talking about the supposed demon.
One day, the writer of Tsurezuregusa traveled from Higashiyama toward the area near Angoin. He encountered residents from the area north of Shijō Street running northward in excitement, shouting that an oni was at Ichijō Muromachi.
From around Imadegawa, he could see an enormous crowd gathered around the imperial viewing stands for the Kamo Festival. The area was packed with people and filled with commotion. Although the writer wondered whether the rumors might have some truth to them, people were sent to investigate, yet none returned claiming to have actually encountered the oni.
The disturbance continued until sunset and eventually even resulted in fights among the crowd.
At the same time, a sickness was spreading throughout the area that caused people to suffer for two or three days. Some people therefore claimed that the false story about the woman who had become an oni had been a portent of the disease.
The account connects the rumor with the widespread Three-Day Disease and the feverish excitement surrounding public entertainment and religious festivities in Kyoto.
Sources
Takahashi, Toshihiro. “女の鬼 [おんな‐おに] (Onna-oni).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). July 20, 2020. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1077741577.html