Yama-uba
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Yamauba, yamamba, and yamanba are variations on the name of a yōkai found in Japanese folklore. Mostly said to resemble women, yamauba may be depicted as predatory monsters or benevolent beings.
"Yamauba" (山うば) from the Hyakkai Zukan by Sawaki Suushi
Yamamuba (山むば) from Bakemono no e (化物之繪, c. 1700), Harry F. Bruning Collection of Japanese Books and Manuscripts, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.
"Yamauba" (山姥) from the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Toriyama Sekien
A depiction of Yama-uba by Totoya Hokkei (1780–1850)
Kintarō
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Kintarō is a folk hero from Japanese folklore. A child of superhuman strength, he was raised by a yama-uba on Mount Ashigara. He became friendly with the animals of the mountain, and later, after catc
Yama-uba
…in a mountain hut assisted by a seemingly kind old woman, only to discover too late that the stranger is a yamauba, with plans to eat her helpless son Kintarō. In another story, the yōkai raises the orphan hero Kintarō, who goes on to become the famous warrior Sakata no Kintoki. Yamauba have been portrayed…
A young Kintarō battling Namazu, in a print by Yoshitoshi
Yama-uba with Kintaro by Utamaro, 1796
Minamoto no Yorimitsu and Kintarō by Yoshitoshi, 1886, Warriors Trembling with Courage
Kintarō holding a carp and an axe (Masakari)