Taka onna – 高女 – [Yokai]

Description

TakaOnna – [Yokai/Yurei] – 高女 – “The Tall (or ‘High’) Woman.”

•About this yokai: The ghost of an ugly peeping tom that can extend her height to peek in through windows.. Frequently appears in “yūkaku” (Red light/Pleasure Districts.) & peeks inside at people enjoying themselves the second floor of brothels. A pleasure which she never knew in life… At least… that’s the popular description that most Bestiary Authors gave her in the 1900’s (And it’s stuck to most bestiaries today.)

• History: this yokai made its earliest appearance in Gazu hyakki Yagyo “Night Parade of 100 demons illustrated”  by Toriyama Sekien, 1776.] – the entry only contains a picture and her name, no legend or written commentary is included –but She does have blackened teeth (Ohaguro) so if she was at a brothel, we know she’s was, at the very least, “High-Class” – Get it? It’s a pun.

The rest of her ‘legend’ was made up and shared between various bestiary authors in the 1960s-2000s.

• Similar yokai:  kera kera onna, Ohaguro bettari. – An especially recent modern interpretation or urban legend about a ghost similar to this yokai is “Hachishaku-sama”.

Sticker Art by @Samkalensky (yo thats me!) – Part of my Night Parade of 100 Demons – Yokai & Japanese folklore sticker collection, weather-resistant 8″ Glossy sticker. (by default this is my tallest sticker available so far haha, she also makes a great bookmark.) – Check my shop & follow @samkalensky for many more!