Japanese Urban Legends

Onibaba

Onibaba is a legend of tragedy and in my mind proves the point,evil can stem from some of the best intensions.It started a long time ago in Kyoto with a wealthy couple who had a baby girl.Sadly the child was born sickly and never made a sound.Concerned about their daughter the couple asked numerous doctors and medical experts,but they were unable to cure the child.In desperation the couple consulted a local fortune teller.He told them of a sinister cure which could bring their daughter back to health.He informed them,if you feed the liver of an unborn fetus to your child,she will be cured.

The couple decided the child's nanny who had a daughter herself similar of age,would go in search for the cure.She knew this trip would take weeks,months,and even years. So she gave her daughter an amulet bringing luck and protection with it.Then ventured off into the country side,vowing not to return until she found a cure.

For months she searched for a pregnant woman who would be willing to give up their unborn baby.To no surprise she was unable to find a willing person.So she figured that a more drastic measure was needed.She would take one by force.

She built herself a makeshift shelter in a cave next to a quiet road.There she waited patiently for a pregnant woman to walk by.Months passed,then years,then decades,with no pregnant women in sight,until one fateful day.She saw her target walking up the hill alone .Eager to get her cure she jumped on the poor woman .Cutting open her stomach and hacking out the liver from the unborn baby.With a feeling of success washing over her she noticed an amulet around the dead woman's neck .It was then she released,in her desperation to find the cure she had just slain her daughter and grandchild.This drove the woman to insanity and as legends tell she transferred into a yokai.

Still to this day it is reported that she is waiting in her cave near the road for her next victim.However pregnant women are no longer her target.She will attack any passerby.