This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Futakuchi-onna" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(April 2018)
Futakuchi-onna (ふたくちおんな, "two-mouthed woman") is a type of yōkai or Japanese monster. She is characterized by her two mouths – a normal one located on her face and a second one on the back of the head beneath the hair. There, the woman's skull splits apart, forming lips, teeth and a tongue, creating an entirely functional second mouth.
In Japanese mythology and folklore, futakuchi-onna belongs to the same class of stories as rokurokubi, kuchisake-onna and yama-uba, women afflicted with a curse or supernatural disease that transforms them into yōkai. The supernatural nature of the women in these stories is usually concealed until the last minute, when the true self is revealed.
The origin of futakuchi-onna's second mouth is often linked to how little a woman eats.[1] In many stories, the soon-to-be futakuchi-onna is a wife of a miser and rarely eats. To counteract this, a second mouth mysteriously appears on the back of the woman's head. The second mouth often mumbles spiteful and threatening things to the woman and demands food. If it is not fed, it can screech obscenely and cause the woman tremendous pain. Eventually, the woman's hair begins to move like a pair of serpents, allowing the mouth to help itself to the woman's meals. While no food passes through her normal lips, the mouth in the back of her head consumes twice than the other one would. In another story, the extra mouth is formed when a stingy woman was accidentally hit in the head by her husband's axe while he was chopping wood, and the wound never heals. Other stories have the woman as a mother who lets her stepchild die of starvation while keeping her own offspring well fed; presumably, the spirit of the neglected child lodges itself in the stepmother's or the surviving daughter's body to exact revenge.
Prototypical storyedit
This is the most famous and prototypical story of futakuchi-onna:
In a small village there lived a stingy miser who, because he could not bear the expense of paying for food for a wife, lived entirely by himself.
One day he met a woman who was full of beauty; with every villager admiring her looks. Although she did not eat anything, the miser immediately took the woman as his wife. Because she never ate a thing, and was still a hard worker, the old miser was extraordinarily thrilled with her, but on the other hand he began to wonder why his storage of rice was steadily decreasing.
One day the man pretended to leave for work, but instead stayed behind to spy on his new wife. To his horror, he saw his wife's hair part on the back of her head, her skull split wide open revealing a gaping mouth. She unbound her hair, which reached out like tentacles to grab the rice and shove it into the hungry mouth. He immediately ran away of fear, after a moment of horror about his wife having a mouth in the back of her head.
^. 27 February 2007 . Archived from the original on 2007-02-27. Retrieved 15 April 2018. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
April 11, 2024
futakuchi, onna, this, article, relies, largely, entirely, single, source, relevant, discussion, found, talk, page, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, citations, additional, sources, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, april. This article relies largely or entirely on a single source Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources Find sources Futakuchi onna news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2018 Futakuchi onna ふたくちおんな two mouthed woman is a type of yōkai or Japanese monster She is characterized by her two mouths a normal one located on her face and a second one on the back of the head beneath the hair There the woman s skull splits apart forming lips teeth and a tongue creating an entirely functional second mouth An image of futakuchi onna from the Ehon Hyaku MonogatariIn Japanese mythology and folklore futakuchi onna belongs to the same class of stories as rokurokubi kuchisake onna and yama uba women afflicted with a curse or supernatural disease that transforms them into yōkai The supernatural nature of the women in these stories is usually concealed until the last minute when the true self is revealed Contents 1 Origins of the second mouth 2 Prototypical story 3 See also 4 ReferencesOrigins of the second mouth editThe origin of futakuchi onna s second mouth is often linked to how little a woman eats 1 In many stories the soon to be futakuchi onna is a wife of a miser and rarely eats To counteract this a second mouth mysteriously appears on the back of the woman s head The second mouth often mumbles spiteful and threatening things to the woman and demands food If it is not fed it can screech obscenely and cause the woman tremendous pain Eventually the woman s hair begins to move like a pair of serpents allowing the mouth to help itself to the woman s meals While no food passes through her normal lips the mouth in the back of her head consumes twice than the other one would In another story the extra mouth is formed when a stingy woman was accidentally hit in the head by her husband s axe while he was chopping wood and the wound never heals Other stories have the woman as a mother who lets her stepchild die of starvation while keeping her own offspring well fed presumably the spirit of the neglected child lodges itself in the stepmother s or the surviving daughter s body to exact revenge Prototypical story editThis is the most famous and prototypical story of futakuchi onna In a small village there lived a stingy miser who because he could not bear the expense of paying for food for a wife lived entirely by himself One day he met a woman who was full of beauty with every villager admiring her looks Although she did not eat anything the miser immediately took the woman as his wife Because she never ate a thing and was still a hard worker the old miser was extraordinarily thrilled with her but on the other hand he began to wonder why his storage of rice was steadily decreasing One day the man pretended to leave for work but instead stayed behind to spy on his new wife To his horror he saw his wife s hair part on the back of her head her skull split wide open revealing a gaping mouth She unbound her hair which reached out like tentacles to grab the rice and shove it into the hungry mouth He immediately ran away of fear after a moment of horror about his wife having a mouth in the back of her head See also editCraniopagus parasiticus and Diprosopus scientific explanation Edward Mordrake Obake Shigeru Mizuki Tomie KawakamiReferences edit 27 February 2007 https web archive org web 20070227233426 http www youkaimura org futaku htm Archived from the original on 2007 02 27 Retrieved 15 April 2018 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a Missing or empty title help Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Futakuchi onna amp oldid 1214831925, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
