The Many Faces of Motherhood: Yamanba (Mountain Witch)

If you’re familiar with Taiwan’s shadowy corners, you’ve likely heard of mischievous spirits known as môo-sîn-á. These naturally naughty beings specialize in capturing human souls and luring people deep into the mountains. According to anthropologist Lin Mei-Rong (2015), they are not merely spirits feared by folk communities but also unsolicited rulers of the forest—figures embedded in the folk legends familiar to nearly every Taiwanese person.

Across the sea, in the high mountains and dense forests of Japan, lurks a similar figure: the yamanba (Itō Ryūhei, 2015). Japanese folklorist Komatsu Kazuhiko (2018) describes this female demon—renowned for her enormous mouth and taste for devouring humans—as nothing less than the legendary queen of Japan’s world of yōkai (supernatural creatures). Many local tales warn that children playing near the mountains at dusk could be taken by an “inbā,” another name for the yamanba. The striking similarities between môo-sîn-á and yamanba suggest a shared narrative archetype and parallel social experiences embedded in both Japanese and Southeast Asian folklore.

In Komatsu Kazuhiko’s 知識ゼロからの妖怪入門 (2015), the yamanba is referred to by various aliases—Mountain Mother, Mountain Princess, and Mountain Woman—figures whose presence is found throughout Japan. She is typically portrayed in negative terms: clothed in rags, her hair unkempt, and preying on humans. Yet, some legends recount yamanba who return human kindness or bestow good fortune.

In these folktales, yamanba possesses supernatural abilities—capable of producing endless treasures from her body. Even after death, crops or wealth are said to emerge from her corpse. This imagery closely parallels deities from agricultural origin myths in Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, where divine beings produce bountiful food from their bodies and cause crops to sprout from their corpses after death.

This recurring motif of a fertility goddess whose body yields crops after death—known as the “Earth Mother” deity type (Yoshida Atsuhiko, 1990)—dates as far back as the mid-Jōmon period and is represented in clay figurines and pottery. In this sense, the folkloric yamanba remarkably inherits the attributes of the Jōmon-era Earth Mother goddess. Unsurprisingly, she often assumes a maternal dimension and is frequently depicted in stories and ukiyo-e art as the mother of Kintarō, the mighty child hero. Scholars have noted that yamanba’s maternal image is not solely monstrous; she also embodies qualities of impermanence, mystery, and the transgression of gender norms.

In the tradition of Noh theater, the eminent Muromachi-period playwright Zeami authored the play Yamanba, which reveals deep philosophical and aesthetic insights. Here, the yamanba is not merely a monster but a symbolic figure imbued with Zen philosophy, one who transcends time and space. She is not a ghost born of resentment but a natural spirit connected to mountains, rivers, trees, animals, and all living beings. This notion of being one with nature appears in Zeami’s other works, such as the Old Pine Spirit in Ōmatsu, the Butterfly Spirit in Kochō, and the Banana Plant Spirit in Bashō.

As a natural spirit, yamanba delights in the beauty of snow, moonlight, and blossoms across the four seasons. Yet she remains trapped in the cycle of samsara, weighed down by delusion and attachment. She personifies the Zen Buddhist teaching that “good and evil are not opposites, and right and wrong ultimately converge.” In the end, she vanishes like an echo in a deep valley or dissolves like mist and haze, leaving no trace (Yoshiba Yoshiko, 1998).
 

In modern children’s literature and picture books, the image of yamanba has undergone “deconstruction and reconstruction” (Taniguchi Hideko, 2004). No longer merely a terrifying or alienated figure, she has reemerged as a symbol of female power and autonomy. Taniguchi notes that yamanba possesses superhuman strength, lives deep within secluded mountains, and is free from the constraints of ordinary social norms—all traits that symbolize women’s liberation from traditional gender roles. Taniguchi further argues that yamanba transcends conventional female roles. She represents both fertility and motherhood, yet rejects the normative ideals of chastity, obedience, compassion, tolerance, and modesty expected of women.

From an anthropological perspective, yamanba—dwelling in the mountains—can be seen as descending from a lineage akin to that of witches, choosing a solitary existence in the wilderness over integration into village life. She roams freely through daunting terrains, moving with ease even in the dead of night. This refusal to assimilate into settled society may explain why she is often viewed as ghost-like.

Yamanba’s maternal image is richly layered: she is both nurturing and menacing, capable of both giving and devouring—much like nature itself. From the refined elegance (yūgen) of Noh to the frightening tales of folklore, and to her empowering reinterpretation in modern literature, yamanba reveals the fluidity and multiplicity of the maternal role. She is not a figure to be confined by definition, but one who actively subverts it—an embodiment of motherhood’s shadow and a distilled metaphor for maternal power.

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2. Komatsu, Kazuhiko. ミクロネシアの離島で日本文化を考える：妖怪譚を中心に，南太平洋から見る日本研究：歴史、政治、文学、芸術, 2018, pp. 11–26.
3. Komatsu, Kazuhiko, and Yū Shibata. 知識ゼロからの妖怪入門 . Gentōsha, 2015.
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7. Yoshida, Atsuhiko. 山姥と記紀神話および縄文時代の宗教儀礼. Doctoral dissertation, Gakushuin University, 1990.