Back at Part-Time Monster this week discussing the Japanese version of the Old Crone: Onibaba. Have a look!
*Warning: story includes fetal murder and images of nudity.
4 thoughts on “Onibaba: The Demon Hag”
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Ariel Hudnall 
Yikes, that’s quite the story. Makes me want to guard my own liver with extreme caution. š
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What I really want to know is why the liver? š In most European tales, it’s always the heart…. but Asian folklore makes use of the liver quite a bit.
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Great post, Alex. I read āThe Goblin of Adachigaharaā when I was in school, but I forget the authorās name (I think it was in āJapanese Fairy Talesā or some such). The character reminds me in some ways of Black Annis from English folklore (and is a character Iām rather fond of). Although the stories are different, the Maiden, Mother, Crone aspect is commonly found throughout cultures.
From what I remember, just north of Tokyo (near Fukushima) there is a place known as the black mound (within Kanzeji Temple?). Beneath a forlorn tree lie the remains of Onibaba. Apparently, there is also a small museum in Adachigahara displaying the cooking pot and knife she used on her victims. Unfortunately, I never got to visit either as the TÅhoku earthquake struck a few weeks earlier and travel to the region from where I was at the time just wasnāt going to happen. Have you visited it yourself?
The film is excellent by the way. Good choice!
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Truly a creepy story. More than the aspect of the age of Onibaba, it stracks me that her wrong doing in the end harm just the person she wanted to help. To me, the messge seems to be: don’t do wrong even if you mean good, because wrong still remains wrong.
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