The Oni of Adachigahara

The Oni of Adachigahara

The Oni of Adachigahara is one of many Japanese folktales, this one centering around an evil oni.

Synopsis

In Mutsu there was said to be oni who took the form of an old woman. People would go missing in the area and it was thought she was eating them.

One day a priest was walking all day and could not find anyone to help him as he had lost his way. Tired, in the evening, he saw a slither of light in a group of trees and thought himself lucky to have found a house. The house was run down, but he found an old woman who was sat spinning wool.

He asked her if he could rest and spend the night here, and she eventually consents. They set up a fire in the home and she went to cook some rice for him. The fire died and she said she would collect some more wood, but while she gone he was not to look in the inner room of her home.

Curiosity eventually overcomes him and he found a room of bones, with blood covering the floor. He fled the house and heard the woman behind him. Screaming for him to stop, asking why he looked into the room. She chased him with a knife, but by morning she disappeared. The priest was very happy to have made it out alive.¹

Footnotes

1. Ozaki, Y.T. (2015) “Japanese Fairy Tales” USA: Cavalier Classics.

	Check out the Japan Archives, our Japanese History Podcast. Instagram (Japan): @japan_archives
	Check out our Gaming Channel on Youtube. Instagram (Minecraft): @mycenria
	Find the website useful? Please consider donating to help up keep the website running.