Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Yomotsu Shikome, Ugly Women of Yomi
Category: Goblin
The Myth
Shikome are hideous female demons who serve the inhabitants of Yomi, the Japanese land of the dead. They resemble ugly human women but often possess beast-like features, including claws, paws, pointed ears, and patches of furry hair. They typically have long black hair, sagging, misshapen breasts, and wide, twisted smiles. Despite their frightening appearance, Shikome spend considerable effort trying to make themselves beautiful. They apply thick white makeup, blacken their teeth, and wear elaborate, multi-layered kimono. Their excessive grooming only emphasizes their ugliness, making them grotesque figures in Japanese folklore and art.
Shikome are dangerous servants of the underworld, known for their incredible speed and ravenous appetites. They can reportedly leap a thousand ri in a single bound and devour food at astonishing speed. Their pursuit of fleeing victims is relentless, although their hunger can sometimes be exploited to delay them. They appear in numerous yōkai picture scrolls and have influenced depictions of other supernatural women whose unattractive appearances satirize beauty and fashion.
The most famous account of the Shikome appears in the ancient Japanese myth of Izanagi and Izanami. After his wife Izanami died in childbirth, the grieving god Izanagi descended into Yomi to bring her back. Izanami explained that she had already eaten the food of the dead and could not simply return to the world of the living. She asked him to wait while she sought permission to leave, making him promise not to bring light into the underworld.
Unable to endure the wait, Izanagi entered the palace of the dead and used a broken-off comb transformed into a torch to illuminate the darkness. He discovered that Izanami’s body had rotted, her flesh was covered in maggots, and she had become a horrifying sight. Enraged that he had broken his promise, Izanami ordered her servants, the Yomotsu Shikome, to capture him. As the demons pursued him, Izanagi threw down his woven headdress, which transformed into a vine of grapes. The Shikome stopped to devour them, allowing him to escape temporarily. When they resumed the chase, he broke the teeth from his comb and scattered them, whereupon they transformed into bamboo shoots. The hungry demons stopped again to eat.
These delays gave Izanagi enough time to reach the entrance to the underworld. He rolled a great boulder across the passage, sealing the entrance and trapping Izanami and the Shikome in Yomi. The episode establishes the demons as swift and relentless pursuers whose appetite can nevertheless distract them, making them formidable servants of the realm of the dead.
Sources
“Shikome.” Yokai.com. https://yokai.com/shikome/