Jorogumo

The Jorōgumo is a one of the many Yokai-Onna monster women of Japan that can appear as a beautiful woman to lure men to dinner. People unfamiliar with yokai may think that sounds great… Allow me to clarify that YOU are THEIR dinner. As an added bonus? The true form of Jorōgumo is that of a giant spider monster. You risk finding this man eating yokai anywhere in Japan except for Hokkaido, as they are said to be a regular golden orb weaver spider that has lived for 400 years before developing magical powers and transforming.

The spider theme isn’t simply that the random beautiful woman in the woods may turn into a giant spider, although that’s probably enough. This yokai believes the adage “There’s no kill like overkill” and can unleash a horde of smaller spiders that shoot fire. I like to joke about how pointless it is to try and fight yokai, but seriously… This is a giant maneating spider lady that can summon smaller spiders that can shoot fire. By the time you’re on fire your situation has actually improved, because at least you’ll be cooked soon instead of slowly eaten alive.

So… So far so terrifying as it is. Let’s look at how they trick people! Their name simply means “woman-spider”, although their name can also be pronounced in a way to mean “entangling newlywed woman”, and there are some interesting tales that look at how exactly they seek to entangle. In one tale, they appear as a young woman holding a baby that approaches a warrior telling them the child is theirs to get close. In another they appear as an older woman promising a young daughter of theirs if you just follow them to their creepy home. This seems to be the urban stories that end with an attic full of drained corpses being found, even in the middle of a busy city. Jorōgumo in the wilderness just seem to snare people in webbing when they’re asleep and yank them off to be devoured. A lot of these stories surround waterfalls, if you want an idea of where not to nap should you not want to be cooked by the fire breathing spider minions of the giant hungry spiderlady yokai.

As with dodgy emails, remember that everything which looks too good to be true probably is, and a beautiful stranger instantly throwing themselves at you probably has ulterior motives even if they aren’t a hungry Jorōgumo. #spider #yokai #japan #doingthethingsaspidercan #spooder