Ushi-oni

◆ The legend

A yokai said to have the head of an ox ("ushi") with the body of an oni, or legs like a spider's. Its stories are told mostly along the coasts of western Japan, from Kinki to Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu, where it is said to appear on beaches and rocky shores at night and attack people. In some places it lives in mountain pools or waterfalls instead, and its looks and nature vary from place to place. Some yokai pictures from the Edo period show it as a truly strange creature: an ox's head on a spider-like body.

In the Iwami area of Shimane Prefecture and elsewhere, there's a tale of the ushi-oni appearing together with the nure-onna, the "wet woman." A woman holding a baby by the shore asks you to hold the child for just a moment. You take it, and the baby grows heavy as stone and won't leave your arms. And while you're stuck there, the ushi-oni comes up out of the sea. A chilling legend indeed.