
Folklore being
Futakuchi-Onna
A yokai with a second mouth at the back of her head, depicted in the Edo-period collection Ehon Hyaku Monogatari (1841).
Overview
Futakuchi-Onna is a yokai depicted in the Edo-period collection Ehon Hyaku Monogatari (1841). She appears as a woman with a hidden second mouth at the back of her head.
Context of Appearance
The narrative is set in Shimousa Province and frames the second mouth as the visible result of a stepmother who mistreated her stepchild. The second mouth is normally hidden beneath the hair, but at times of hunger the hair is said to move like serpents to carry food to it.
Referenced Traditions
She appears in Ehon Hyaku Monogatari (Tōsanjin's Nightly Tales), Book Two, entry 17 "Futakuchi-Onna," published in 1841 with text by Tōsanjin and illustrations by Takehara Shunsensai. The story belongs to a family of stepmother-cruelty narratives in Edo-period yokai literature.
Sources
絵本百物語(桃山人夜話)巻第二 第十七 二口女
Primary source桃山人 著・竹原春泉斎 画
継母の嫉みそねみというものよ。下総国の継子いじめを因とする後頭部の第二の口の発現譚
https://www.toyo-bunko.org/gazou/201412/show201412saisyokukaiga.phpWikipedia 日本語版 — 二口女
Secondary sourceWikipedia contributors
日本の江戸時代の奇談集絵本百物語1841年にある妖怪。後頭部にもう一つの口を持つ
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%8C%E5%8F%A3%E5%A5%B3
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