Japanese Demon Lore
Oni, from Ancient Times to the Present
2021 Elli Köngäs-Maranda Prize, cowinner
“As the first book-length study in English devoted to yamauba, this manuscript will make a valuable contribution to the fields of folklore, Japanese literary and cultural studies, and feminist criticism.”
—Mayako Murai, Kanagawa University, Japan
“This fascinating study offers an extensive overview of the development of the yamauba literary/mythic trope. It will be an invaluable tool for those who have interest in the derivation and development of the yamauba image.”
—Rebecca Copeland, Washington University
“Mountain Witches successfully offers a uniquely comprehensive genealogy of the yamauba as a cultural icon. Specialists and non-specialists alike will appreciate how it demonstrates the longevity and multiplicity of yamauba as a living tradition that continues to resonate with contemporary Japanese life.”
—Asian Ethnology
“Reider has given readers the first book-length study of the yamauba in English. Not only is it remarkable for being the first, but equally remarkable is how extensive and detailed it is. For readers interested in witches, folklore, Japanese culture, and female monsters, Mountain Witches: Yamauba belongs on your shelf.”
—Supernatural Studies
“Erudite, cross-disciplinary, and accessible, Mountain Witches: Yamauba contributes new insights and superb scholarship to studies of Japanese folklore and myth. Certainly, Reider’s study will intrigue readers interested in Japanese literature, feminist studies, and female monsters.”
—Journal of Folklore Research
“By revealing the rich, multilayered nature of the mysterious yamauba, the book stimulates the imagination, and inspires readers to relate the figure to a broad range of issues.”
—Japan Review
“A significant contribution to folklore studies.”
—Western Folklore
“Highly recommended. . . . Mountain Witches opens a new chapter on those mysterious human-formed creatures, not only in Japanese folk traditions but also on stages worldwide.”
—Journal of American Folklore
Mountain Witches is a comprehensive guide to the complex figure of yamauba—female yōkai often translated as mountain witches, who are commonly described as tall, enigmatic women with long hair, piercing eyes, and large mouths that open from ear to ear and who live in the mountains—and the evolution of their roles and significance in Japanese culture and society from the premodern era to the present. In recent years yamauba have attracted much attention among scholars of women’s literature as women unconstrained by conformative norms or social expectations, but this is the first book to demonstrate how these figures contribute to folklore, Japanese studies, cultural studies, and gender studies.
Situating the yamauba within the construct of yōkai and archetypes, Noriko Tsunoda Reider investigates the yamauba attributes through the examination of narratives including folktales, literary works, legends, modern fiction, manga, and anime. She traces the lineage of a yamauba image from the seventh-century text Kojiki to the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo, and explores its emergence as well as its various, often conflicting, characteristics. Reider also examines the adaptation and re-creation of the prototype in diverse media such as modern fiction, film, manga, anime, and fashion in relation to the changing status of women in Japanese society.
Offering a comprehensive overview of the development of the yamauba as a literary and mythic trope, Mountain Witches is a study of an archetype that endures in Japanese media and folklore. It will be valuable to students, scholars, and the general reader interested in folklore, Japanese literature, demonology, history, anthropology, cultural studies, gender studies, and the visual and performing arts.
