Yama-uba

Yamauba (山姥 or 山うば), Yamamba or Yamanba are variations on the name of a yōkai found in Japanese folklore.

Description

Depending on the text and translator, the Yamauba appears as a monstrous crone, “her unkempt hair long and golden white ... her kimono filthy and tattered,” with cannibalistic tendencies. In one tale a mother traveling to her village is forced to give birth in a mountain hut assisted by a seemingly kind old woman, only to discover, when it is too late, that the stranger is actually Yamauba, with plans to eat the helpless Kintarō. In another story the yōkai raises the orphan hero Kintarō, who goes on to become the famous warrior Sakata no Kintoki.

Yamauba is said to have a mouth at the top of her head, hidden under her hair. In one story it is related that her only weakness is a certain flower containing her soul.

Noh Drama

In one Noh drama, translated as, Yamauba, Dame of the Mountain, Komparu Zenchiku states the following:

The play takes place one evening as Hyakuma is traveling to visit the Zenko Temple in Shinano, when she accepts the hospitality of a woman who turns out to be none other than the real Yamauba, herself.