Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Oni Musume, Demon Girl
Category: Demon

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The Myth

Oni Musume was a woman with a frightening appearance, characterized by horn-like protrusions known as velvet horns growing from her head. She was also said to have had a mouth split to the base of her ears and two fangs.

According to the sideshow’s opening monologue, the woman was named Omatsu, the daughter of Tajiemon, a farmer from Tasae Village at the foot of Mount Daisen in Hōki Province. She had possessed her unusual features from birth. Because she bit the midwife, her fangs were removed and her mouth was sewn shut.

During the performance, Omatsu appeared wearing a furisode kimono with a wisteria pattern, scarlet hakama, and a scale-patterned uchikake. Her clothing was gradually removed as part of the act. She then opened her mouth, stood up, and revealed her frightening face and unusual features to the audience.

The Oni Musume was displayed as a sideshow attraction in Nishiryōgoku Hirokoji during the Zenkoji Amida Buddha exhibition of 1778 at Ekōin Temple in Edo. The performance itself was relatively simple and apparently consisted mainly of revealing her strange appearance to spectators.

The attraction became extremely popular, and promotional yellow-covered books known as kiwamono were produced about her. Imitations of the Oni Musume also appeared across the Ryōgoku area. One imitation had a face made from tanned leather, with toad-like eyes, soapstone fangs, and calf horns. Because this artificial demon girl resembled the demons shown in illustrations, she reportedly became even more popular than the supposed original.

In kibyōshi literature, the Oni Musume was transformed into a more fantastical character. She could be portrayed as a beautiful girl or as a demon brought from Hell, with writers adding their own embellishments to her story. Even after the sideshow craze faded, the character was occasionally revived, and later works also parodied her through characters such as a “demon son” or a “human girl.”

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Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “鬼娘 [おにむすめ] (Oni Musume).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). April 7, 2012. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654253.html

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Kurozuka, Demon of Adachigahara, Onibaba (鬼婆)
Category: Demon

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The Myth

Kurozuka is a demonic woman who haunts the moors of Adachigahara. She is also known as the Demon of Adachigahara or Onibaba, the demon hag. Her original human form was that of a nanny, but after committing a terrible murder and discovering the identity of her victim, she lost her sanity and was transformed into a yokai.

Long ago, a wealthy noble couple had a daughter who was extremely sickly. Even though she was five years old, she had never spoken a word. After consulting priests and doctors, the couple finally met a doctor who claimed that the only cure was the fresh liver of an unborn fetus.

The couple ordered their daughter’s nanny to obtain the liver. Expecting the search to take a long time, the nanny prepared for a journey. She gave the girl a protective charm and promised that she would not return until she had obtained the liver.

The nanny traveled for days, then months, and eventually years, but could not find anyone willing to sacrifice their unborn child. Her search eventually brought her to the moors of Adachigahara in Fukushima. Desperate, she decided that if no one would give her a liver, she would have to take one herself. She made her home in a cave beside the road and waited for a pregnant traveler to pass.

Many years later, a lone pregnant woman finally appeared. The nanny sprang from her cave and killed her with a knife. She cut open the woman’s belly, killed the unborn child, and took its liver.

Only afterward did she look closely at her victim and recognize the protective charm around the woman’s neck. It was the very same charm she had given to the noble couple’s daughter many years earlier. The pregnant woman was the girl she had left behind.

The realization of what she had done drove the nanny insane, and she transformed into a yokai. She became a powerful demon woman capable of using supernatural abilities to lure travelers into her shelter. She would invite them to spend the night and then murder them while they slept. For many years she remained on the moors of Adachigahara, killing lone travelers who passed her cave and eating their remains.

In the Noh version of the story, Kurozuka is eventually visited by traveling Buddhist priests. She intends to kill them, but while she is away gathering firewood, the priests discover a room filled with corpses and human bones. They realize that the woman is the Demon of Adachigahara.

Kurozuka returns and pursues the priests, but they use Buddhist prayers to hold her back and drive the evil spirit from her. Once the demon is expelled from her body, she returns to the form of an old woman and dies.

The monks bury her remains and construct a grave among the black mounds where she had haunted and murdered travelers.

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Sources

“Kurozuka.” Yokai.com: The Japanese Yokai Encyclopedia. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://yokai.com/kurozuka/

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: 鬼, おに, Ogre, Demon
Category: Demon

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The Myth

Oni are large, frightening demons, standing taller than the tallest human and sometimes even taller than trees. They are most commonly depicted with red or blue skin, wild hair, two or more horns, and fang-like tusks. Other oni may have different colors and varying numbers of horns, eyes, fingers, or toes. They wear loincloths made from the pelts of great beasts. All oni possess tremendous physical strength and endurance, and many are powerful sorcerers.

Oni are ferocious beings associated with disaster, disease, and the punishment of the damned. They inhabit Hell, remote mountains, caves, islands, and abandoned fortresses. They are omnivorous and are particularly associated with eating livestock and humans, as well as drinking alcohol.

Oni are said to be born when truly wicked humans die and descend into one of the many Buddhist hells. There they are transformed into oni and become brutal servants of Great Lord Enma, the ruler of Hell. Armed with enormous iron clubs, they torment and destroy humans for their own enjoyment. Their duties include inflicting terrible punishments upon the damned, such as peeling away their skin, crushing their bones, and subjecting them to other horrifying tortures.

The victims of these punishments are wicked sinners who are condemned to Hell but were not wicked enough to be reborn as oni themselves. Hell is therefore filled with oni, who also form the armies of the great generals of the underworld.

On rare occasions, a human can become so completely wicked that his soul is considered beyond redemption and he transforms into an oni while still alive. Such an oni remains in the human world and terrorizes the living. These earthly oni are the ones most frequently encountered in legends and are considered especially dangerous to humans.

Japanese mythology contains countless stories of encounters between oni and humans, including lords, ladies, warriors, and rogues. Although individual stories differ greatly, oni generally appear as villains and enemies of mankind.

Originally, the word oni had a much broader meaning. Spirits, ghosts, monsters, and other supernatural beings could all be called oni. The name derives from a word meaning “hidden” or “concealed” and was written using the Chinese character for “ghost.” In early Japan, before supernatural beings had been more clearly categorized, oni could refer to almost any supernatural creature, including ghosts, obscure gods, large or frightening yōkai, and even exceptionally vicious humans. Over time, the meanings of the various types of supernatural beings became more specific. Female demons are generally called kijo rather than oni.

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Sources

“oni.” Yokai.com: The Japanese Yokai Encyclopedia. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://yokai.com/oni/

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Jiro Saburo’s Wife, Demon Wife
Category: Demon

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The Myth

Jiro Saburo’s wife was a cruel and intensely jealous woman who eventually transformed into a terrifying demon after her husband abandoned her. Before her transformation, she was already known for her vicious temper and unbearable jealousy, particularly toward the female servants of her household.

She became furious whenever a female servant even looked at her husband or spoke with him. Her constant abuse eventually drove all of the servants away. As the family’s wealth declined, her behavior became increasingly bitter and violent, and she refused to listen to anyone who tried to correct her.

Jiro Saburo finally warned her that if she did not change, he would leave the household. Enraged, she attacked him and choked him, declaring that even if she could not kill him while alive, she would kill him after her death. She accused him of wanting to leave her for another woman.

Jiro Saburo eventually disappeared. When his wife discovered that he had fled, she became consumed by hatred. She searched everywhere for him, repeatedly swearing that she would never allow him to escape her. During the day she wandered about looking for him, while at night she wept and repeated that she hated him for abandoning her.

After forty or fifty days, she had become almost unrecognizable. Her eyes were bloodshot, her cheekbones protruded, and she had become filthy and disheveled. She refused to wash or eat and behaved so strangely that the villagers became afraid of her.

Then her house suddenly became silent. At midnight, however, the villagers heard her speaking inside as though someone had come to visit her. The following day the house was silent again. Several brave villagers eventually looked through a hole in the wall and saw something horrifying.

Two horns had grown from the woman’s head. Her mouth had split almost to her ears, and fangs had emerged from both sides. Her eyes shone fiercely, making her indistinguishable from a demon. Terrified, the villagers abandoned the neighborhood.

People who knew where Jiro Saburo was hiding hurried to warn him. He remembered his wife’s threat that she would return from the dead to kill him and feared that she would find him.

A traveling monk named Gen’ō was staying nearby. He was the famous monk said to have destroyed the Sesshō-seki, the Killing Stone. Jiro Saburo went to him, explained everything, and begged for help.

Gen’ō told him that his wife’s obsession had transformed her into a demon. She had entered the demonic realm with nothing in her heart except the desire to kill her husband. According to Gen’ō, six days had passed since her death, and that night she would receive permission from the Sixth Heaven to travel through the three thousand worlds in a single night.

Gen’ō instructed Jiro Saburo to return home. There they found the corpse of his wife lying in the ruined house, its face already resembling that of a demon or rakshasa.

The monk stripped Jiro Saburo naked and covered his body with the Nio Hannya Sutra. He then ordered him to climb onto the demoness’s back, wrap his arms around her neck, and never let go.

Jiro Saburo obeyed despite his terror. As night fell, Gen’ō left him alone and told him that his survival depended entirely on holding on. Jiro Saburo remained clinging to the corpse and continuously recited Buddhist names.

In the middle of the night, the demoness’s cold body gradually began to grow warm. Suddenly it rose to its feet. Its eyes shone brightly, flames came from its mouth, and it spoke.

“Oh, how wonderful! Tonight I have been granted permission to kill you. Now, let’s see where you are.”

The demoness ran away, carrying Jiro Saburo on her back. She raced across mountains, rivers, and valleys like a bird flying through the night, searching everywhere for him. Jiro Saburo realized that this was his only chance to survive and held onto her neck with all his strength, determined not to release her even if his arms were torn away.

The demon searched throughout the night but never realized that Jiro Saburo was clinging to her back. When dawn approached, she returned home in frustration.

“I’ve searched so hard, but I can’t find you. I suppose you must have died before me.”

She laughed bitterly, lamenting that she had failed to find him. Immediately afterward, the demoness collapsed to the ground, and Jiro Saburo lost consciousness.

At dawn, Gen’ō returned and woke Jiro Saburo. Seeing that he had followed his instructions and survived the night, the monk told him that he no longer needed to fear his wife. Together they buried the demoness’s corpse and gave her a proper burial.

Not long afterward, Jiro Saburo cut off his topknot and became a disciple of Gen’ō.

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Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “次郎三郎妻 [じろうさぶろうさい] (Jirō Saburō Sai).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). June 16, 2019. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1074775106.html

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Aoandon, Blue Lantern
Category: Demon

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The Myth

Akanyūdō is a red yōkai wearing a white cloth. It has the appearance of a Buddhist monk or priest, with its body and face covered in a vivid red color.

The creature is depicted in the Hyakki Yagyō Emaki, a Japanese scroll of supernatural creatures. Akanyūdō is shown in the same posture as another yōkai that is identified as Ganjōji (元興寺) in other works. No further legend or behavior is given for Akanyūdō in the source.

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Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “赤入道 [あかにゅうどう] (Akanyūdō).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). August 1, 2015. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1035781303.html

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Kowabakarachiki
Category: Demon

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The Myth

Kowabakarachiki is a strange monster depicted stomping on a man. Its barking cry is described as “akirence,” while the man being stepped on cries out, “Oya wo ya, whatever.”

The creature appears in the Hyakki Yakō Monogatari, where it is listed as “Bamba Kowabakarachiki.” It does not appear in the Chinese texts associated with Heian and Han traditions, and the source describes it as a later local creation.

Kowabakarachiki was created as a wordplay based on the Yuri language, or Kaku language. Its name is said to play on a phrase meaning roughly “Koha — this is, well, stupid.” The strange cry of the monster and the words shouted by the man are constructed in the same playful manner.

The creature is therefore a yokai built around deliberately strange, foreign-sounding speech, turning unfamiliar language into a source of humor and supernatural absurdity.

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Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “コワバカラチキ (Kowabakarachiki).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). October 19, 2013. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010654442.html

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: 百々目鬼, どどめき
Category: Demon

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The Myth

The Dodomeki is a cursed woman with exceptionally long arms covered in hundreds of tiny bird eyes. She was originally a human woman who developed a habit of stealing money. As a consequence of her wicked deeds, hundreds of small bird eyeballs eventually sprout from her arms, transforming her into a monster.

The creature’s appearance is built around a series of Japanese wordplays. Having “long arms” is an expression for someone who has a tendency to steal, so the Dodomeki possesses long arms both figuratively and literally. Copper coins, called dōsen, had holes in their centers and were colloquially called chōmoku, meaning “bird’s eye,” because of their appearance. Thus, a woman who stole copper coins became a monster whose arms were covered in bird eyes.

Money could also be called oashi, literally “feet,” because money comes and goes as though it had feet. The expression ashi ga tsuku means “to catch someone who has committed a crime.” By replacing ashi with chōmoku, which could also refer to money, the expression becomes a pun meaning “covered in bird eyes.” These wordplays were incorporated into Toriyama Sekien’s description of the yokai.

A much older legend tells of Fujiwara no Hidesato, a nobleman who had been granted the position of kokushi of Shimotsuke Province after defeating the rebel Taira no Masakado. While hunting in his newly acquired territory, Hidesato encountered an old man who warned him that an oni had appeared at the horse graveyard at Utsunomiya. Hidesato took his bow and arrows and went to investigate.

He waited at the horse graveyard until nightfall. During the hour of the ox, an enormous demon appeared and began ravenously devouring the carcasses of dead horses. It stood more than ten feet tall, possessed sharp, spiked hair, and had glowing eyes covering its entire body. Hidesato carefully aimed at the brightest eye and fired an arrow directly into it.

The arrow struck the demon, which roared in pain and fled into the woods. Eventually it collapsed at the foot of Mount Myōjin. Yet the wounded demon still possessed tremendous power. Flames erupted from its body, while its mouth split open and released poisonous fumes. The intense heat and toxic air overwhelmed Hidesato, forcing him to abandon the fight and return to his palace.

When Hidesato returned the following day, he found that a large area of ground had been blackened and burned. The demon itself, however, had disappeared.

Four hundred years later, during the Muromachi period, a village had developed on the northern slope of Mount Myōjin. Strange events began occurring there. The head priest of the local temple suffered mysterious injuries, while unexplained fires repeatedly broke out around the temple.

A new head priest, the virtuous Saint Chitoku, was summoned to discover the cause. Chitoku noticed that a young woman frequently visited the temple whenever he preached his sermons. He eventually realized that she was actually the wounded demon from Hidesato’s battle, disguised as a human woman.

After surviving the battle, the demon had retreated into nearby caves to recover. In human form, it repeatedly returned to the place where it had fallen at Mount Myōjin. There it gradually sucked back up the poisonous fumes it had released during the battle and collected the blood it had spilled. Because the village temple had been constructed directly over the old battlefield, the demon began causing fires and attacking the priest in an attempt to drive the people away.

One day, Saint Chitoku confronted the disguised demon. She revealed her true nature as a Dodomeki, but she did not attack him. While repeatedly visiting the temple, she had listened to Chitoku’s powerful sermons, and his teachings had deeply affected her.

The Dodomeki promised that she would never again commit evil. From that time onward, the area around Mount Myōjin became known as Dodomeki.

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Sources

“Dodomeki.” Yokai.com: The Japanese Yokai Encyclopedia. Accessed September 7, 2026. https://yokai.com/dodomeki/

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Oni no Nembutsu, Demon Soliciting Alms
Category: Demon

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The Myth

The Oni no Nembutsu is a mischievous demon depicted as an oni dressed in the robes of a Buddhist priest and begging for alms.

The creature belongs to the tradition of the oni, supernatural demons commonly portrayed as frightening but also capable of humorous and mischievous behavior. In the depiction, the demon takes on the appearance and role of a Buddhist religious figure, humorously placing a fearsome supernatural being in the position of a priest who depends upon others for offerings.

The figure was used in the popular tradition of Otsu-e, where mischievous demons could be portrayed in humorous situations and accompanied by moralizing text. The image of the demon dressed as a priest and soliciting alms became one of these humorous supernatural subjects.

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Sources

University of Michigan Museum of Art. “Ôtsu-e: Demon Soliciting Alms (Oni no Nembutsu).” University of Michigan Museum of Art. 18th century. Accession no. 1964/2.102. Accessed September 6, 2026. https://umma.umich.edu/objects/otsu-e-demon-soliciting-alms-oni-no-nembutsu-1964-2-102/

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Ao Andō, 青行燈
Category: Demon

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The Myth

The Ao Andon, meaning “blue lantern,” is a supernatural spirit associated with the Japanese tradition of hyakumonogatari kaidankai, gatherings in which people told one hundred ghost stories. It appears as a demonic woman with long black hair, blue skin, blackened teeth, sharp claws, and horns. She wears a white or blue kimono and emits an eerie blue light.

During the Edo period, hyakumonogatari kaidankai became a popular summertime activity, particularly among the aristocratic classes. Groups gathered together to tell frightening stories in the hope that the fear would provide relief from the intense summer heat.

One hundred candles were placed inside blue paper lanterns called andon. The guests took turns telling increasingly frightening stories about yokai, demons, ghosts, and other supernatural beings. After each story, one candle was extinguished. As the night continued, the room gradually became darker until only the hundredth candle remained, its dim blue light casting long and unsettling shadows.

According to superstition, something terrible would happen when the final candle was extinguished. The accumulated fear of the participants would cause an actual spirit to materialize from the darkness. This spirit was called the Ao Andon.

The Ao Andon was said to emerge from the smoke of the final candle and attack the storytellers. Exactly what happened during this attack was never established. It might slaughter the participants in a horrific finale resembling the stories they had told, or it might simply appear suddenly and give them one final fright before disappearing.

In practice, however, the final story was traditionally never reached. By the time ninety-nine ghost stories had been told, the participants were supposedly too frightened to tell the hundredth. The gatherings therefore ended before the last candle was extinguished and the Ao Andon could appear.

The belief behind the Ao Andon was essentially that speaking about supernatural beings could cause them to appear. By gathering together, telling stories about ghosts and demons, and concentrating their fear upon them, the participants risked bringing the very spirits they discussed into the room.

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Sources

“aoandon.” Yokai.com: The Japanese Yokai Encyclopedia. Accessed September 6, 2026. https://yokai.com/aoandon/

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